Hi everyone!

I'm helping a family member with a Canadian citizenship certificate application through their Canadian father. The applicant was born in Hong Kong and has a Hong Kong birth certificate.

Here's our timeline:

• August 13, 2025: Application received by IRCC
• August 27, 2025: AOR received
• October 29, 2025: Processing started
• October 2026: Still In Process, with no updates since October 2025

It's been over 14 months now, and we're honestly getting a little worried.

Has anyone who applied around July or August 2025 actually received their citizenship certificate yet? If so, how long did it take?

Also, has anyone been stuck In Process for this long and eventually received approval?

Would really appreciate hearing your timelines and experiences. Thanks everyone!

Update / Clarification:

The applicant’s father became a naturalized Canadian citizen before the applicant was born in Hong Kong, so this is a first-generation born abroad case.

Has anyone with a similar first-generation application from July or August 2025 already been approved?

My cousin applied in July 2025. Got their grant invitation near immediately [I know, I was jealous too considering I applied a few weeks before them]. Then nothing.

They texted that they got a refund check in the mail yesterday, but there has been no status update online. (They didn't tell me for how much, so I will ask.) I said this was good news. Just a little hope that older applications are moving.

ETA: It is a refund of the Right of Citizenship Fee they paid with the 5(4) grant. Could this be a denial?

Hi everyone,

I noticed that my job occupation appears to be mentioned in the recent IRCC list, and I’m trying to understand what this could mean for people currently working in this field.

For those who are in a similar situation, what are your plans moving forward? Are you planning to continue in your current occupation, explore other eligible pathways, or wait for more official clarification from IRCC before making any decisions?

I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences. Hopefully, we can share useful information and help each other understand the potential implications of these changes.

Thanks!

I know where they can find some. Has she looked in PSU? There's like a whole bunch of people there.

(I understand she's talking about a stream and policy that doesn't really include us - this is just a little jokey joke.)

Hi, for those that have had success obtaining ATIP notes, what did you select for the "category that best describes you"? I'm assuming since I'm an American living in the US, I would select "Foreign National Outside of Canada". But, I paused for a second since "Canadian Citizen" is an option. I know I don't have the proof yet, but isn't the whole thing with C3 and applying for proof of citizenship mean that one would believe they are a citizen? But, I feel like the purposes of this request that's not what they are looking for, but was just wondering what other people have selected in that situation and successfully received ATIP notes (and citizenship proof).

I don't want to misrepresent myself, but I didn't want somehow to get my proof application kicked out because they're like, oh, this guy doesn't even consider himself a citizen, why is he asking for proof?

EDIT: I messaged BANQ through the webform and they emailed me saying they'd forwarded my message to Finance, then that department emailed me and said that it was an error/I was all set and my document had been sent out same day. Phew!

-----

Has anyone else requested a certified doc from BANQ, paid, and then later received the link again via email like hey, pay within ten days or we'll close this request? I paid for my requested doc on September 29th and received a receipt/confirmation of payment. When I got this email this morning I immediately replied with the PDF of the receipt and a screenshot of the email confirmation I received, saying that I did pay. And the link in today's email just brings me to an error message anyway, since that request is paid for. If this happened to you, did you take any additional steps aside from replying? I'm hoping to hear back shortly like oh hey sorry, you're all set, but just in case I don't I'm wondering what else I should maybe do so they don't screw up and cancel my request. I'm assuming parts of this are automated but I don't know which parts. Thanks all.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

August 2025 AOR here, still at 3 months, 400 applications processed last month. :(

Can I get a show of hands, or can someone point me to whichever spreadsheet - database - website is still tracking that category of applicant?

Bonus: can anyone opine on whether the fact that we 5(4) applicants officially withdrew our CIT-001 applications as part of the grant process is the very action that put us into the current "complicated status"? That is, we are no longer being considered as applicants for proof of citizenship after C-3. I know there were one or two cases soon after C-3 where someone received a certificate dated since birth, but that seems to have stopped.

​

Hi r/stuckcanadians,

I’ve been building Found Canadians / Citizenship Journey, a community platform to help people compare Canadian citizenship application timelines, track supporting documents, and understand the costs involved.

Website: https://foundcanadians.app

The goal is to bring voluntarily submitted information together into useful, anonymous statistics so people can see what others are experiencing while they prepare their applications and wait for updates.

APPLICATION TIMELINES

You can record and update milestones such as:

• Date sent, shipping service, and delivery date.

• Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR).

• In Process.

• Decision Made.

• File Complete.

The dashboard brings these reports together to show shipping times and median/average times between milestones. You can also track separate applications you’re authorized to represent, such as those of family members.

DOCUMENT TRACKING

There’s a separate section for tracking requests for Canadian, U.S., and other overseas supporting documents, including:

• Birth, marriage, and death certificates.

• Naturalization paperwork.

• Baptismal and archival records.

• Other supporting identity and government records.

You can record when documents were requested, payment links or payments, update emails, and when the documents arrived. This includes Quebec BAnQ and DEC requests.

COST TRACKING

You can also record:

• Document creation, certification, and acquisition costs.

• Shipping expenses.

• Third-party services, including lawyers, immigration firms, genealogists, archivists, and other assistance.

This helps you understand your own application’s overall costs. Optional anonymous cost sharing can also help the community understand what different preparation routes actually cost.

CONTRIBUTING IS OPTIONAL

If you’d like to contribute, you can enter your application dates and return to update your milestones as your file progresses. You don’t need a completed application, and you don’t have to answer every optional question or use the document and cost features.

Verified email sign-in lets you return and manage your own records. You can also browse the public dashboard without submitting anything.

PRIVACY

Your individual submissions, name, email, private explanations, and service-provider names are not publicly displayed. The only applicant data publicly available is anonymous aggregate data compiled from records whose owners have consented to that use.

Private data will never be monetized, sold, or shared outside the site, now or in the future. Necessary hosting, sign-in, and optional email processing are disclosed separately in the privacy policy.

FEEDBACK WELCOME

This is an independent community project—not an IRCC service. I cannot access anyone’s IRCC file or confirm its status, and community timelines are not guarantees of when another application will move forward.

I welcome any and all feedback, particularly about the design, navigation, milestones, document tracking, cost tracking, filters, or anything confusing or missing.

Feel free to comment here or use the site’s feedback section. Thanks to anyone who chooses to contribute, share suggestions, or simply take a look.

Good news .... Tonight, our G1/G2/G3 family group received our citizenship certificates, after 14+ months of waiting. We are relieved and excited and overwhelmed. I am going to put my info here, for those interested. I sincerely hope that this, and the other approval tonight, are signs that we will soon see many, many more PSU approvals coming.

G1/G2/G3 family (I am the G2)

Applications delivered: 7/28/25

AORs: 8/12/25

Referred to PSU: 8/12/25

-- Our initial application included BaNQ-certified Quebec baptismal records for our two G0s (my grandparents).

-- I later submitted DEC-certified Quebec birth certificates for both G0s. The first birth certificate was submitted March 2026, the second in late Sept 2026.

After applying 10/2/2025 both me and my mom (G2 and G1) have been approved. We went into processing 11/27/2025 with no updates since. I applied for urgent processing 3/1/2026 as we were applying for nursing jobs in Canada. We both recently received job offers these past few months and my mom just uploaded her job offer letter last week. So not sure if that is what finally kicked it out or if it was a coincidence. I am still shocked and annoyed for all those waiting before me still.

Continuing to do more research. I’m primarily trying to satisfy myself that IRCC will be satisfied when they finally look at our apps for real. I would potentially change my G0 and my spouses G0 and G1. Just curious on what that looks like for people since it would fundamentally change the CIT001 information.

Thanks 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

https://x.com/smeurrens/status/2108322576707793321?s=20

TLDR: As of this April, IRCC policy is/was indeed that applicants for citizenship by descent are presumed to be Canadians "automatically" and therefore ineligible for immigration visas.

Obviously, as evidenced by many reports of people getting PR cards and work permits processed in the interim, this is not always followed in practice. Nevertheless, on paper, IRCC's position is that anyone in this queue/subreddit is a Canadian citizen until proven otherwise.

I am not a stuck Canadian myself and this is not legal advice. Having said that, if I were in the specific situation (having an immigration status that may or may not be in jeopardy), I would pursue mandamus immediately with this policy as the primary exhibit.

Hi Guys. I need your advice on something. On Sep 29th, I received P2 email. Submitted everything for both of them. Oct 2nd, I received eCOPR for my husband but not for my child. When called IRCC, they confirmed that they sent eCOPR for both on the same day, and it should be a technical glitch; it should come anytime soon.

It's been 2 days since we spoke. How long should we wait before we call back? Is there anything else we can do? Please advise me :)

Hey all! I posted last week I believe, about a virtual interview my employee had to attend. Well, we have an update!
IRCC attended about an hour late. She was actually about to give up after she got kicked out of the waiting room about three times because Teams kept timing out. I told her to take the entire day if she needed to, and luckily, she waited it out.
It was a very anti-climactic interview. She was asked to show the identity documents she provided with her application, and that was it. (She used her USA passport, and her driver’s license.)
They do not allow you to ask any questions that are not related to the identity documents. They will not answer any questions about wait times, the application process, or anything like that. They confirmed identity documents, told her they would reach out if there were any more questions, and wished her a good day.

That puts the time to clear the pre C-3 backlog at 14 years.

Are we doomed fam? It ain’t looking good.

Anybody got some hopium for me?