Status card wait in Vancouver

[u/AdditionalRun1095]

I’m not sure if i can even post this here, but I just have a question that I’m hoping somebody can help me with?

I put in my application for status in person at the Vancouver office back in February of 2026. They told me I would receive my card in the mail no later than August of 2026. It is now October, my entire family who put their applications in after me, most mailed in, not even in person, have received their status cards and I have heard nothing.

I have tried calling for 2 months. they never answer, my mom and I have both left voicemails, emails etc. is there an alternative number for the Vancouver office or a better way to get ahold of them? It’s very difficult for me to get there during opening hours in person, as I hold a full time job Monday - Friday, as do most people, and this is honestly getting ridiculous!! I’m going to have to take a whole day off just to go down to Vancouver to figure out what exactly is going on, I’ve tried calling the office in Ontario as well and they have no answers for me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[u/puppyisloud]

When you finally hear something please update us.

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/puppyisloud]

Hi! This is going to be a bit of a long one.

So I went there today and just what a joke. It doesn’t seem like anybody knows what’s going on. They are just getting to January files now. I applied the first week of February so who knows how long I’ll have to wait. She wouldn’t tell me or give me a rough timeline. I said they told me 6 months. She said you just applied in February, I said.. you’re aware it’s October right? Yet my other family members that applied after me have all got their cards so it doesn’t make any sense ?? She told me she “can’t speak on that” whatever that means.

I also asked how we’re supposed to get ahold of them, and just my luck, I had actually missed a call from them while I was driving there, and the voicemail said they were returning my call regarding my application and to call back if I had any questions. That’s great. I’ve been calling for TWO MONTHS almost every single day, multiple times a day, nobody answered and it took 2 months to get a returned call from the time I left my original voicemail, how am I supposed to call you back when you don’t answer and it takes 2 months to return a voicemail?

I asked if that’s the usual timeline for getting a response to a voicemail and she said yes it can take upwards of 2 months because they don’t have a receptionist. So if you want to speak with somebody, be prepared to make a trip downtown Vancouver and take a day off work if you’re a Monday - Friday worker like most people are 🙃

I then asked to check to make sure they even had my file still, and she couldn’t find it and asked if it was under a different name. So I gave my maiden name. It was filed under the wrong name. So if they did happen to process it and I received it, it would have been invalid because my maiden name is not my legal last name. She says “oh we’ll have to rectify that in the system at some point” … you don’t say. Also, at some point? Be so for real right now. Do it now. Before you mess it up again.

Absolutely mind blowing, disorganized and incompetent at that point. As you can imagine, I left pretty pissed off at the entire situation. I get it, it isn’t necessarily her fault, but some straight answers as to what the actual fk is going on would be fantastic.

[u/puppyisloud → u/AdditionalRun1095]

That's awful, I'm so sorry you are dealing with this.

I mailed my application in a couple weeks ago and was concerned it would take longer because of mailing it. You would assume going into an office would go faster than mailing it in.

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/puppyisloud]

I also had to wait a couple hours to even speak to somebody because as soon as I was getting called to go up after the first person the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building 🤦🏻‍♀️ I have terrible luck it seems.

[u/Overall-Reason5796]

I’m similar timing to you and also waiting.

Was also told end of August for one of our group due to post secondary.

We emailed infopubs@sac-isc.gc.ca in the summer and it took about a week to hear back with an update. Not sure if this is the same email address you used? They called first, then sent a follow up email. This was in July.

End of August I got a letter acknowledging receipt of application.

Good luck.

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Overall-Reason5796]

Yes.. we’ve been calling and emailing since mid August. No response. I never got a letter acknowledging receipt of application cause I applied in person, so they didn’t need to send a letter, I just got a piece of paper with a date stamp that says that’s when they received it because I went directly to the office.

They haven’t reached out to myself or my mom and we’ve both been calling / leaving voicemails and emailing since August I’m just so confused.

[u/Sad-And-Mad]

Was this an application for Indian status or do you already have it and you were just applying for an SCIS card? Because the cards are quick but actual Indian status applications have been taking 1-2 years lately. I have a family member who just got hers last week and she applied in person in August 2025

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Sad-And-Mad]

This was for Indian status, my entire family did the same process after me, and they all have received their cards and everything. My mom received hers in January and a week after she got hers I filed my paperwork. They told me the maximum wait time then was 6 months.

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/AdditionalRun1095]

If it’s taking that long, and my family did it after me.. how have they got theirs and I have nothing yet… it doesn’t make any sense?

[u/handsfree-sanitizer → u/AdditionalRun1095]

I think your best bet would be to go talk to someone in person. Maybe it got lost in the mail? If it did, they can send you a new one or give you an update on the status of it

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/handsfree-sanitizer]

Yeah I’m going to have to take a whole day off work 😩

[u/Sad-And-Mad → u/AdditionalRun1095]

I have no idea honestly. The wait times have never made sense to me, I know a few people who applied before the family member who just got hers and they’re still waiting too. A few years ago when my son was born it took 8 months to get his and that was before the federal government cut their budget and laid off people in this department.

They should’ve mailed you a letter saying that they received your application and it will have a file number on it, you could try calling the main application office and quoting your file number

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Sad-And-Mad]

Yeah I never got a file number or anything. Just a piece of paper saying the date they recieved it. I’m not understanding how my entire family got theirs and they all applied for status after I did.. so now I’m going to have to take an entire day off work to go to Vancouver because they don’t answer their phones. I’ve been trying to call them for 2 months and left multiple voicemails and emails.

[u/Sad-And-Mad → u/AdditionalRun1095]

Vancouver won’t be able to help you, they aren’t the ones who actually go through the application, investigate lineage and award status, they just enter in all the data and get you in the system and in que. I believe the office you want is in Gatineau Quebec.

Call the Indigenous Services Canada's Public Enquiries line at 1-800-567-9604. The file number should be in the top right corner of the letter they sent you, it’ll look something like “R1000-100” (just with different numbers and letters obviously). Pro-tip, cite that file number any time you call them and if they request other documents from you then write it in the top right corner of every page you send them back. It’ll help them process your application faster. I was told this by someone who used to work for them

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Sad-And-Mad]

That’s not true... I’ve also called Quebec, them and Ontario said they can’t help me and due to my birth date it’s Vancouver that does it all, and I have to contact them. They just give me the number to the Vancouver office and say to contact them, but you can’t get ahold of them.

I have no file number, no letter, no nothing. Because I filed in person, they only gave me a slip of paper that says the date they recieved my application. I have literally nothing to reference except that slip of paper and maybe my moms file number.

The one time we got ahold of them about 5 months ago, just to see where it was because other people in my family started getting their status cards in the mail - with no letter or file number or contact mailed prior to that by the way - they confirmed my file was indeed at the Vancouver office, sitting on the desk. Now for the last 2ish or more months we’ve been trying to contact them we can’t get ahold of them.

This is why I’m beyond lost and confused because the only person in my family that ever received a file number was my mom. The rest of our family just received their cards in the mail and applied for status well after I did by mail, where as I applied in person, and nobody can freaking get ahold of this place?!?

[u/Sad-And-Mad → u/AdditionalRun1095]

Well it’s starting to sound like your application somehow got lost then, you should’ve at the very least received a letter telling you that they received and will be processing your application with a file number.

Best of luck to you, hopefully you don’t need to start over from scratch 🤞

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Sad-And-Mad]

I just wanted to reply to this so somebody else doesn’t read it and think they would get a letter of receipt of application… if you apply in person, you do not get mailed a letter saying they recieved it! I went in person today. The only time you get a letter of receipt of application is if you mail it in. If you go in person you will not receive one, you will just get your card in the mail once your application is processed.

[u/Sad-And-Mad → u/AdditionalRun1095]

I took my son to apply in person and we got the letter in the mail

[u/AdditionalRun1095 → u/Sad-And-Mad]

Yeah this is all so crazy. Especially to hand it in, in person and for this to happen… and they confirmed they had it 4-5 months ago.. why I didn’t get a file number when I directly handed it to somebody is beyond me. And if this so happens to be the case, they better fast track it considering they told me no later than August I’d receive my card in the mail and it’s now October and I brought it in back in February…