While studying for the citizenship test, you might be wondering what happens afterwards? Whether you pass or fail, we have the answer for you.

Key Points

You will receive the results unofficially upon completion of the test and contacted once the results have been approved about whether you have passed or failed.

You may receive your results of the test in an interview with a citizenship official.

This interview may be in-person or over a scheduled video call.

Once you pass the citizenship test, you will get to take the oath and become a Canadian citizen.

You can fail the test three times before your application is rejected and you have to re-apply for Canadian citizenship.

In this post, you will learn about each additional step that you may have to take if you fail your citizenship test. However, once you pass, you are one-step closer to becoming a Canadian citizen!

After you complete your citizenship test, you will have an interview with a citizenship official. Here, you will receive the results of your test, have your language skills tested (if you are between the ages of 18 and 54), and verify your application and the original documents listed there. The citizenship official may also ask you some questions about your application if they have any. This interview, as a whole, is done to ensure that you meet all the requirements of becoming a Canadian citizen.

If you applied for citizenship as a family, younger or older family members may be asked to appear. There may be additional questions for them based on the application. You will be notified of this clearly, while you are being scheduled for your interview.

If you fail the test…

If you fail the first attempt taking the citizenship test, but you meet all other requirements for citizenship, a second test will be scheduled. This test will occur in approximately 4-8 weeks from the interview date.

If you fail your second attempt taking the citizenship test, you will receive a notice for a hearing with a citizenship official. This will typically last between 30 to 90 minutes. Here, you will face questions about your knowledge of Canada and/or your language skills.

If you fail this assessment, you’re application for citizenship will be rejected and you must re-apply for citizenship to try again.

For families who are applying for Canadian citizenship together, those who pass may move along in the process. You can request that citizenship application be paused for the family if one person were to fail, so that the group can continue together and attend the same citizenship ceremony in the future.

If you pass the test…

If the official at the interview reveals that you passed the test and confirmed that you meet all requirements for citizenship, you will be told that you can now wait for news regarding your citizenship ceremony. Congratulations! You may even receive a date and time for your citizenship ceremony in the interview. If you do not receive a date at the time of your interview, you will be sent the date and time of your ceremony later. This notice will be delivered in the same way you received notice for the citizenship test.

For the most up-to-date information on the interview following the Canadian citizenship test, click here.

To learn more about what to bring to the citizenship test, click here. 

Next Steps

Once this stage is complete, it is time to take the oath of citizenship. You will then become a Canadian citizen. For more information on this stage, please click here!