Applying for Canadian citizenship is an exciting milestone, but completing the application accurately is essential — especially when it comes to listing your travel history. This section can be more detailed than many applicants expect. Understanding what information is required, how to gather it, and what to do if you’ve missed a trip can help prevent delays or complications with your application.
What Is the Travel History Section and Why It Matters
When completing the Canadian citizenship application, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires you to provide a full record of your travel outside Canada.
This information helps IRCC verify two key things:
- Your residency in Canada before applying for citizenship.
- Your background history, ensuring that your time abroad doesn’t raise security or criminal concerns.
Many applicants assume they only need to include travel from the past five years — but that’s not the case. The citizenship application asks for your complete travel history for your entire lifetime, not just recent years.
What to Include in Your Travel History
When listing your travel details, you must include every trip outside Canada, even short visits or same-day travel. Be sure to provide:
- The dates of departure and return for each trip.
- The countries visited, even if only for a layover.
- The purpose of the visit (for example: vacation, business trip, or layover).
- Your status in that country during your stay (visitor, student, worker, etc.).
This may sound tedious, but accuracy is extremely important. Even short or forgotten trips can lead to discrepancies in your application if not reported.
How to Find Accurate Travel Information
If you’ve traveled extensively, keeping track of every trip can be challenging. Fortunately, there are several ways to reconstruct your travel record:
- Review your old passports for visa stamps and entry/exit dates.
- Check your airline records and archived emails for flight confirmations.
- Use online resources like the U.S. I-94 website, which provides a record of entries and exits for travelers who visited the United States.
- Request your CBSA Travel History Report, available through the Canada Border Services Agency. This report lists all entries and exits to and from Canada.
For frequent travelers, such as pilots, truck drivers, or transportation industry workers, maintaining a personal travel log can make this process easier in the future.
If You Forgot to List a Trip
Mistakes can happen — especially when compiling years of travel data. If you realize that you forgot to include a trip after submitting your citizenship application, don’t panic.
You can notify IRCC by submitting the missing information through a web form on their official website. Include the details of the forgotten trip and upload any supporting documents. Promptly updating your information shows good faith and can help avoid complications later in the process.
New Update: Facial Biometrics for Canadian Travelers Entering the U.S.
Starting December 26, 2024, Canadian citizens entering or exiting the United States through international airports will undergo facial biometric screening as part of new U.S. border security procedures.
Travelers should be prepared to have their photo taken by border officers during boarding or entry checks. For now, this screening will be limited to international airports, but land border crossings may adopt similar measures in the future.
Key Takeaways for Applicants
- The travel history section of the Canadian citizenship application must include all trips outside Canada, not just those from the past five years.
- Be as accurate and complete as possible — even short layovers should be listed.
- Review old passports, flight records, and CBSA data to ensure accuracy.
- Update IRCC immediately if you realize a mistake after submission.
- Stay informed about new border control updates, such as the U.S. biometric screening requirement.
How NPZ Law Group Can Help
The citizenship process can be detailed and time-consuming. At Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C., our team assists clients in preparing accurate and complete citizenship and immigration applications for both the U.S. and Canada. We simplify the process, ensure all forms are properly completed, and help you avoid common mistakes that could delay approval.
Call: 201-670-0006 (ext. 104)
Visit: www.visaserve.com
FAQ: Canadian Citizenship and Travel History
Q: How many days must I have lived in Canada to qualify for citizenship?
You must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days (three years) within the past five years before applying.
Q: Do I need to list layovers or short visits in my travel history?
Yes. Even brief layovers or same-day trips must be included.Q: What happens if I forget a trip?
You can submit a correction through the IRCC web form as soon as you realize the omission.