r/Canadiancitizenship

I did finally have a chance to go through the spreadsheet with a very fine toothed comb and the number of people with out applications delivered over 80 or so days ago (I think that gets us back before the April dates where delivery dates are close to 100% AORs received) is a small percentage of the totals.

Personally, I’m at over 100 days, Gen 2, non-urgent. As some of y’all may recall, when I started this process I couldn’t find my father’s birth record, so I collected supplemental documentation to prove my father was born (I had no birth record of any sort - birth, baptism, nothing before age 7), and that his father was my Gen 0, etc.

In terms of evidentiary quality - I have a lot of experience as a genealogist, so these were all high quality government issued records, not based on self-reported information - I felt they were very high. They also tied a lot of information together - I provided my grandparents’ voter rolls information from the riding in Toronto, which listed a street address, to US immigration records which showed my father was traveling with my grandfather and it listed that street address.

As slowly work my way to 110 days without an AOR, I’m getting worried that I’ve provided them with so damned much information, and they are going to try and verify what was provided as supplemental information, that I’m just never getting an AOR.

Who else seems to be in this boat with me, and what have you been able to do? What can be done? I was so proud of myself for going above and beyond and now I seem to be screwed.

I have read all of the weekly posts, and I’ve even asked questions in the weekly posts, but all I get is statements about how far the IRCC has gotten. This seems to be a problem a small number of us just have and the “Frustration Station” megathread just doesn’t seem able to address it.

I heard from other posts that even if you select paper, you get access to an e-certficiate. Can anyone vouch for this?

Kicking myself cuz I'm pretty sure I asked for a paper copy when I shouldve asked for e-certficiate. I don't even know why they have that option honestly. I heard you can submit a web form to request it to be an e-certficiate instead.

Ask concisely

The more details you throw at the reader, the more mental energy it takes to assess whether they understand its complexity enough to give you a useful answer. It's easier for them to skip past and answer a more clear-cut question.

Ask a focused question with the minimum amount of detail/context you believe is necessary for an accurate response. If you need to throw in more details to provide context for more questions, consider whether it might be worthwhile to ask one question at a time. Be wary of how digressions or speculation can distract from the crux of your question.

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For a post, click on the three vertical dots at the top right of the post, then select “Follow Post”.

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Remember the sub’s Rule 1 is be civil

Ask politely, without entitlement. Everyone is a peer generously offering their free time to help each other.

Answer compassionately, without condescension. Everyone was a newbie once, and unclear official instructions can confuse anyone.

Thank people when they’ve helped you get unstuck or think creatively. It's really motivating to know you've made a difference in someone's life!

Heed megapost descriptions

Each megapost has a description at the top of what’s on topic there. If you need to vent a frustration, everyone gets that! We've all had those moments. Just please use the Frustration Station megapost for that, and allow other megaposts and standalone posts to stay focused on issues that peers realistically have ability to solve.

Most megaposts are targeted for people at one specific stage (e.g. pre-application research, preparing forms, awaiting AOR, successful approval), so combining an on-topic question with a question about a wholly different stage is less likely to get good results. Take it to the right megapost for best results.

Participate anytime

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What pro tips and best practices can you add to this list? Thanks!

Hi, i have searched for items like this but cannot find what i am looking for.

I applied online for proof of citizenship for a minor.

What are the statuses compared to paper? Eg i assume there is no Aor in the same sense.

When does the UCI number get allocated etc.

Cheers

This thread is a special spin-off of the Tuesday weekly Genealogy Assistance thread.

This is a space to discuss the general issues facing people requesting records from Canadian provincial archives as well as US state, local and religious/church archives and to discuss turnaround times, delays, and other issues. You can also discuss costs including the newly raised costs for records from Quebec's archives and post your success stories and timelines here.

You can use this as a forum to commiserate and to discuss strategies and outcomes.

Hello! My family submitted our C-3 application as a group in March. My nephew was late getting his application together and it was submitted about 7 weeks later, after we had our AOR and associated UCI numbers. We cited our family's larger application (especially since it has the original documents) and associated UCI numbers in the nephew's application. The family's application is now "in process" with "6 months to go" but still no AOR on the nephew, who is showing "14 months to go." Any sense if they will forward the nephew's application to join the rest of the family once his is received? Hoping it would help him jump ahead in the line.

Fellow C-3 applicants and Found Canadians, anyone interested in meeting other members of this forum in real life? I'm a G-4 applicant in Seattle expecting an AOR any day now, not a lawyer or reporter, not offering any services, just interested in connecting socially, say at a cafe with a Canadian flag on the table.

Some great news for your Friday: yesterday, I received an email from IRCC “Case and Risk Management” (Passport Division) asking for my mailing address for my replacement passport. Just 24 hours later, I have a tracking number for an expedited replacement! They expedited it because I have air travel into Canada booked for in mid-July.

(Recall that I received multiple passport revocation notices on Jun 20 indicating the need for this replacement, after my citizenship certificate was revalidated)

Additionally, IRCC addressed the concerns I reported about another person’s “misdelivered“ passport notice I also received on June 20. They indicated that they successfully identified what caused the error and implemented fixes to prevent future issues. They also asked me to confirm that I did not retain this mistaken data; I confirmed that I deleted all traces of it to comply with the law.

I am extremely encouraged by this response, both for the sake of people’s passports, but also my concerns about other potential data leaks. I wish I had received some communication earlier, but I do understand somewhat the chaos of the past couple weeks. I didn’t receive responses as soon as I would’ve liked, but I ultimately, did receive them in time for my needs.

Based on reports of other people’s correspondence and citizenship certificate revalidations, It really does seem like they are trying to get things resolved.

=====================
Some background: I messaged the IRCC email address in the passport revocation letter(s) when I received them on June 20, and again on June 25 to indicate urgency because of upcoming air travel into Canada that requires my passport.

I also made several attempts to call IRCC, then spoke with 1-800-O-Canada, Consular Services, and Passport Canada over the past week. Each person I spoke with was understanding and as helpful as they could be, but nobody could access the information about my passport situation. The last thing I tried was having a Consular Services hotline rep message to my local consulate (Chicago) to request a call back.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I received the email response from IRCC barely 5 minutes after ending that call. Maybe it’s just coincidence, and they were just catching up on work after Canada Day, or maybe one of the notes in my caller file percolated to somebody who could help? Hard to say.

Because I made my consulate request an “emergency/urgent“ issue (at their direction, re: “my flight in < 20 days”), I received a call from the Chicago consulate shortly thereafter. I gladly told them the issue was already being resolved, but it’s also encouraging to see how responsive they are to Canadians in need abroad.

Of course, I wish the situation hadn’t happened at all, Especially given my stress about it and how many people are still impacted – but I must give credit where it is due: that, at least in my case, this mess is getting cleaned up!

Have questions about how to fill out the form or what to write in your cover letter? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together for your Citizenship Certificate application (CIT0001)? Want to know how to organize your documentation or how to pack it up for shipping? Worried about whether your photos will work? Have questions about what ID you can use? Not sure where to ship it to or what service or mail courier to use? Post it here!

Want to see what people who were already approved have done? Check out the weekly application approval thread that posts every Thursday.

Before you comment, please read the wiki and search previous posts in the subreddit to see if your questions have been answered there.

If you've read the FAQ and searched the forum and you still have questions about how to fill out the form, whether your supporting documentation will work, what to write in your cover letter or whether your photos will work feel free to post them here.

 

Please be aware that you may not get responses. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories.

Also please note we are not IRCC, which will make the final determination on your application.

Re-approvals: Minister Diab said earlier in the week that the suspension letter reviews would be completed 'within days' and yesterday we saw some re-approvals go out in the afternoon. We are now up to seven reported yesterday/today (some report including multiple family members), I saw one additional reported elsewhere. This is extremely encouraging news!

Keep them coming, IRCC!

I am not aware of any outreach to any letter recipient requesting additional documentation or other information such as updated citations or explanation for missing documents, so this seems to continue to support the 'incomplete processing by IRCC' theory, at least for now.

We appreciate everyone's cooperation regarding limits on speculation and minimal sharing of misinformation, which we try to address when seen- keep reporting things that don't pass the vibe check.

We had a good discussion yesterday about some misinformation that originated in a FB group, if there is anything else that comes up that we can help talk through, just ask. No shade to our peers on any other platform or in any other sub, moderation and staying ahead of potential wildfires is hard and constant work.

Approvals- The Minister in an emailed statement indicated that application approvals would also be un-paused 'within days'. I haven't seen any yet, and yesterday's approvals post didn't post due to a bug i'm troubleshooting with reddit - if you are approved this week, feel free to post to the main feed. We'll get that scheduled post running again for next Thursday just in time for lots of good news. Optimism!

If you post to the main feed about an approval or re-approval and your post is held by the auto mod for review, please be patient - we'll approve it asap.

There is also user flair for our re-approved members- 'I'm Canadian, AGAIN' - enjoy it if you want it. If suspendees want flair as well to make the wait more bearable through humor just let us know what it should read. Someone below suggested Schrödinger’s Canadian 🏴‍☠️ tell us what you want and we will make it happen.

Canada is playing Morocco tomorrow in the World Cup, 1PM EST - if you're in the US that's a great excuse to stay out of the heat for at least 90 mins. It was 109F/42.7 C 'real feel' in Boston yesterday, hope it feels nicer where you are.

For your amusement, a local weather typo: https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/s/OenrSPmn5C

Please also enjoy the r/Boston automod bot sass

Belated Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦/early Happy Independence Day, 🇺🇸 USA.

If I missed anything, add your q's to comments and we can try to answer them.

Hello! Today I received AORs for each of my 2 minor children.

I followed the link and instructions in the email to check status online, but for both kids I am getting “We were not able to identify you using the information you provided.”

I have tried searching by UCI and also by application number for each kid but I get the same results no matter what.

Am I trying to check too soon? Is there a delay after receiving AOR before you can log into the system and check?

Received news for me and my children this afternoon!!!!

Zero requests were made for updated documentation, in case anyone is wondering. Zero contact with us at all outside of the surrender notice and then the revalidation.

G4+G5.

So very happy and relieved and still stressed about everyone else.

Am I missing something, or is this more wild speculation just causing unnecessary confusion? The vibe over there seems to be that only people born after 1763 (I think that's the year they're stuck on) or maybe 1800 would qualify as a G0 for the purpose of C-3. I can't find an update from IRCC suggesting that this is true, and it would seem a little... well, odd to rule out the descendants of Acadians who very explicitly did not leave of their own volition. But unless I've missed a major update, am I free to just take this as more nonsense?

There seems to be a weird fear out there that a whole swarm of people with distant lineages are going to come and overwhelm Canada. But if those folks stop and think for a minute, they'll probably recognize that obtaining 7 or 8 generations' worth of documentation that would be up to snuff for IRCC's process is NOT a task most far-off descendants will actually undertake. I had my lineage info 100% ready to go and it still took me four months to gather everything I needed (and IRCC could still request more). There are also maybe 15 G7+ in the entire spreadsheet. Anything over G6 represents like 0.005% of all cases. Feels like a non-issue. Believe me, if you can reliably prove filial descent for anything past G6, you've already performed something of a miracle. It's really not going to be thousands; maybe dozens.

Hi! First time poster in this community, and hopefully this is ok to ask! I'm aware of the length (~15 month, yikes) posted processing time with IRCC. However, I'm wondering if that's accurate for all requests?

I've been a citizen since 1982 (I was a young child), but many years ago I misplaced my original citizenship card. It wasn't an issue as A) I've hardly ever needed it and B) virtually every agency/government department who needed proof of citizenship accepted the commemorative certificate/letter that I still had. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

In any event, I just submitted my application (via paper, ugh) to replace the lost certificate. Wondering if anyone has any insight if it might be processed somewhat faster than other applications?

Thanks!

Someone on the other sub did this for their ancestor's 150th, and since mine's is on July 4th, I decided to follow suit.

Happy to be able to share this with our super community here, and thanks for looking at it!

So grateful for this citizenship opportunity, and very sorry we never got to meet.

https://preview.redd.it/xmmkth339vah1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0708afb8a5207b7514b5320439e1d9730cc081a4

You can probably file this under “I’m waiting on my AOR and I have all the time in the world to think about this” but I’ve been thinking long term about how I’d like to be able to have my kids in Canada. My understanding is if I have not lived in Canada for 3 years prior, and my spouse is not born in Canada themselves, my children would not automatically become citizens. But I could sponsor them for permanent residency for 10 years, at which point I must show proof that my kids and I will be in Canada when they become permanent residents, at which time, my kids could then get citizenship via 5(2). Do I have this right? I’m purely thinking wayyyy to far ahead lol but as we all know the system is complicated and unclear as is.

I was adopted at age 9 after my parents died. Both parents were born in the United States . Fathers parents were Canadian , Grandmother's parents also Canadian. So, I have spent the last few months gathering birth, marriage documents, and adoption records. I am currently waiting for the BanQ for my grandparents' records.

I am unsure which document I need to fill out. The Cit0001 or another?

I understand it makes a difference if you were adopted by Canadian parents, verces American.