Canada Citizenship Certificate Wait Time Jumps to Nearly 3 Years

Canada's processing time for new proof of citizenship certificate applications has soared to nearly three years, leaving applicants awaiting a decision for nearly 33 months. This significant increase surpasses the 25-month wait time from August, which itself was an eight-month rise from the 17-month wait time in January. The delay has escalated sharply, with processing times jumping from 10 months in January to 33 months in September. This is the largest monthly increase observed during this period.

The escalating delay arises as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) faces a backlog of 136,000 citizenship certificate applications awaiting decisions. Roughly 14,200 applications were added to the queue in a single month. IRCC's processing-time estimates consider factors such as the number of applications in the queue, available staffing, and anticipated new applications.

Applicants might encounter even longer waits if IRCC demands additional documents or clarification. This is especially true for cases where names or records differ across generations. However, applicants can request urgent processing in specific situations, such as when proof of citizenship is necessary for education, employment, travel emergencies, statelessness, moving a minor child to Canada, or accessing social benefits.

Students can also seek urgent processing when applying for admission to educational institutions. Nonetheless, urgent processing does not guarantee approval of the citizenship claim.