It was back in 2008 - around the same time when I wrote this post, and this one - that I decided to apply for my Canadian citizenship. I remember I was sitting at a beach hut in Hawkesbay, just chilling in my chaddee and banyan, when my cousin (who is a German citizen), started talking about taking a vacation to Indonesia. I was like sure, let's go, just give me a few weeks to get my visas sorted. That's when my cousin said that I should look into getting a Canadian citizenship so that it would be easier for me to travel. He mentioned that he knew people who had gotten their landing papers within six months of applying.
Fast forward a couple of years and I sent in my application in February of 2010. My first application was rejected because in the box in which I was supposed to mention my local office, I wrote "Pakistan" instead of "Islamabad, Pakistan." I was a bit baffled by the rejection because at the time, there was only one local office that was accepting these applications and that was in Islamabad. Anyhow, undeterred, I resubmitted my application, which was accepted and they asked me for my supporting documents, which I also ended up sending by June of that same year. P.S. Given how hot it is in Karachi throughout the year, I remember doing all of the above in my chaddee and banyan.
After that, there was a big and long silence from the Canadian immigration office. I did not hear a peep from them at all. All I was able to do was track my file number online while sitting at home and it showed me the status updates. After several months being "In Process," I saw that it changed to "Decision Made" in around 2012. I scourged the deep dark recesses of the Internet, basically these immigration forums run by super Indian uncles, and found that Decision Made on your file either meant that they have accepted your application or they have rejected it. More importantly, if you see it before your interview and medical exam, it means that you have been rejected. Since I had not been called for any interview, nor had I undergone any medical examination, I assumed that I had been rejected and waited for my rejection letter. My hopes went further down when I started hearing of extremely qualified people who had applied around the same time as me getting their rejection letters.
But the rejection letter never came. I thought that they had forgotten about me, so I also forgot about them, only to be occasionally reminded of it when my parents and other well-wishers would ask me the status of my application.
Fast forward to 2014 and my National Identity Card (NIC) expired. We had moved so I renewed it with my new address. For the Canadian application, it said that I should inform them in case of a change of address or any documents being renewed, so I sent them a copy of my new ID card and updated my address on the site. I guess that must have stirred up my file because within a month I was asked to send some more documents, within two months I got my medical exam done, and by August 2014, I had my landing papers, with me landing in Canada on August 25. I did not have to go to any kind of an interview. I once again scourged the forums and found that that was totally unheard of. Every one who had gotten their landing papers had to go for an interview. Well, everyone except me. I had basically gotten my permanent residence status, just sitting at home, without meeting a single official face to face or on Skype or anything.
The one and only time that I ever met someone from the Canadian immigration system was when I landed in Toronto in August, 2014, and that was the immigration officer who processed me. I stayed in Canada for a few months, only to return to Karachi for a couple of more years. When I landed again in Toronto in 2016, I did not interact with anyone. I simply put my permanent residence (PR) card and passport in a machine and it processed me, with me walking out of the airport with my luggage, without so much as a hello to another human being. I traveled outside of Canada several time between 2016 and 2020 - and a few times in my chaddee and banyan - but never had to deal with any immigration officer on my way back into Canada; only machines.
Fast forward to January 2020 and I became eligible to apply for my Canadian citizenship, which I did by filling out my application at home and sending it. I had to go to the UPS office to drop it off, which - of course - I could not do in my chaddee and banyan, because there was knee-deep snow outside. I eagerly awaited my test date, as you have to pass a knowledge and language test to be eligible for citizenship. Finally, I was going to meet some official from the immigration department!
But then COVID happened. Canada went into lockdown and they stopped working on citizenship applications. It wasn't until November 2020 that they started to have applicants test online. By April 2021, I had also received my test date and I took the test online, at my leisure, while sitting at home, at 1am, in my chaddee and banyan. I passed my test and my application progressed with me getting my oath scheduled for August 31, on which day I sat in my house, in my chaddee (but not banyan), and took the oath, officially becoming a Canadian citizen.
It took me 11 years but this is how I became a Canadian citizen while sitting at home in my chaddee and banyan.
* a 'chaddee' can be many things (including a long drive in someone else's car), but it mostly refers to a variety of shorts, knickers, briefs, Bermudas, or Spandex, all depending upon which way you swing.
** a 'banyan' is a white cotton vest worn beneath shirts and usually made by Mercury, a Pakistani brand that specializes in male undergarments; and when I say 'banyan' I can also mean a T-shirt.
