I'm in a group chat with many other surrender letter recipients. Several of us received revalidation emails this morning.
Some of us submitted extra docs after the surrender letters, others did not.
Still not sure what the issue ever was or how this happened, but I will go to Service Canada tomorrow to try to pick up my passport that's been hanging out in passport jail for 2 weeks.
I posted last week about getting a surrender letter, having my passport held by Service Canada, and not knowing if I should leave the country for an academic conference in the US.
I visited the CBSA office in the Vancouver airport before leaving, and they said that it might take secondary processing and a good bit of time, but that I should eventually be let back in the country so long as I presented my US passport, the surrender letter, my BC ID, and the work permit I had before citizenship (expires 2029). This was confirmed by an immigration lawyer I spoke to on the phone. For good measure, I brought every document I would need to re-apply for a new work permit at the border, in case I needed it.
I decided to go to my conference and I had a great time learning about evolutionary biology from people around the world.
Last night, I got off the plane prepared to spend hours being questioned, but this wasn't necessary. I presented my US passport, I was asked a bunch of questions about my job, they asked for my work permit, I presented it while explaining that I actually had received citizenship but it was being re-reviewed. The agent did not seem interested in this at all. I was waved through with no secondary processing.
Just wanted to share this. I have immense privilege as I already had status in Canada and a US passport. But in case anyone is in the same boat, here is evidence (n = 1) that it's possible.
I was one of the people who received a surrender letter Saturday.
Relevant note: Before getting the citizenship certificate, I had received a temporary work permit. My wife and I are both scientists, and we were looking into the PR process when I learned about C-3 and realized I am probably a citizen.
I received my citizenship certificate in April, and I moved to Vancouver two weeks ago. The first things I did when arriving were to give up my US drivers license for a BC one, get a permanent SIN, and to apply for a passport. I was supposed to pick up my passport from Service Canada today. I had planned to travel back to the US this weekend to give a talk about my research at a biology conference, and legally I am supposed to have both passports when traveling in between the US and Canada, especially on planes.
Today at Service Canada, they said I couldn't pick up my passport as IRCC has put a "stop" on it. They physically have my passport printed at the downtown Vancouver office, but they are not allowed to give it to me. When Service Canada emailed the IRCC to ask what was going on, the IRCC said I needed to reply to Saturday's email. (I already had, but no reply from them.)
Service Canada then said to call the IRCC. Tip: you can get a free Canadian number via the Fongo World Edition app so you can call from anywhere. I was able to get through, and the IRCC agent said I was the first she had heard about the surrender letters, and she had never seen anything like this before. My file had no details about what documents were missing, but said something to the effect of: "The certificate is showing as cancelled in our system because there is no option for suspended, however the individual remains a Canadian citizen and the certificate is suspended, not cancelled."
I asked what I should do about my upcoming trip, and was told that my citizenship certificate is invalid, and because I am a citizen my temporary work permit is invalid, and I should not leave Canada. *Note: I spoke to CBSA today (6/17) and they gave me options for re-entering, I'll make an update comment.
The IRCC representative on the phone was sympathetic, but did not have information about what specifically was missing or what I could do. They suggested calling CBSA for advice about travel, but I could not get through to anyone. I live next door to my MP's office, weirdly, so I walked over there today and asked for information and help from them as well. My MP's office had no new information, but said I was the third person to ask about this, and literally while I was in the office a fourth person emailed them about this issue.
My fear is that we have no timeline for when these things will be processed. I am in Canada, Canada legally considers me a citizen, but I currently cannot get Canadian ID or a Canadian bank account.
I hope my driver's license isn't impacted by this, but I have no way of knowing. To see the status of drivers licenses in BC, you need to be able to log in to their portal with Canadian ID or Interac, neither of which I can get due to this.
I feel hesitant to share this but felt like it was critical information for others in my situation to know.
Edit: Wow guys, thanks for the support! To people who are suggesting I try my luck at the border with just my US passport - I am going to see the CBSA office at the airport today to see what they think. I am not going to take any unnecessary risks. As I wrote to someone in a DM, presenting my VERY cool research about the evolution of sulfur bonding in proteins is not worth getting indefinitely stuck in the US away from my wife!