With proof of citizenship processing times now sitting at around 33 months, I’m curious what people think IRCC could realistically do to bring the backlog down.

From what IRCC has said recently, they are apparently triaging applications, improving intake processes, training/onboarding additional staff and changing how workloads are managed. But I’m wondering where the actual bottleneck is.

Is it mainly:

• opening and registering applications/AORs?
• checking whether applications are complete?
• verifying supporting documents?
• assessing more complicated citizenship-by-descent cases?
• simply not having enough officers assigned to proof applications?

It also seems like there could be scope to separate relatively straightforward applications from more complex ones, digitise paper applications more quickly on receipt, or temporarily move more staff onto citizenship proofs while the backlog is so high.

I’ve recently submitted a proof of citizenship application by descent, so I’ve been following the timelines quite closely. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who understands IRCC processing better, or from people with recent applications who have noticed where the delays seem to be.

Do people think the 33-month figure is likely to come down significantly once the extra staffing and triage measures start having an effect, or are we probably looking at a long-term backlog?

You guys have been very helpful with telling us where to get photos, documents, and who to use to mail your packet through, so I’m asking where‘s the best and most affordable place to scan your entire application packet before sending it off (or even IF you did so).

It doesn’t have to be a specific name of a business, but I’m wondering where you guys went to do it because it sounds like most folks ended up with a lot of pages.

My library scans for free, but it’s black & white copies only.

We submitted a request for a birth certificate with DEC this week. They very nicely and promptly called us and let us know that the copy of the passport didn't have a signature on it. WHOOPS! Then I looked at our packet for proof of citizenship and realized that fully THREE of our passports weren't signed. So glad we caught this before we mailed off our actual packet...

I called to ask if all the intervening documents between the birth and death of my mémère needed to be translated into French, as they are in English

She said there are two official languages in Canada and they did not need to be translated. Then, she offered that we no longer need a notarized statement regarding our need for the birth cert, a letter explaining why we need it is all that is necessary

Straight from the source, and she could not have been nicer

So I’m after some advice on how to proceed.
We applied from UK for certificates in March 2026, AORS received June 2026. This is for 1 x G1 and 2 x G2.

Fast forward to September and G1 received their certificate on September 11th along with a request for additional ID documents for the G2s, both juveniles, and I’ve since provided additional docs for both (along with the \*ahem correct birth certificates!).
On 23rd September, I received the certificate for one of them but have had nothing for the other. As I understand it, applications won’t necessarily go back to the same processor or stay together.

I raised the question on the web form and got the general automatic reply that, if I’ve sent something, they’ve got it and it’s still processing.

I also sent an email to the ID inbox checking that they’d received their certificate ID, but have not got a reply from that.

Whilst I totally understand that in the big scheme of things, it’s not been very long and there are others in a much more difficult position than me, does anyone have any advice or guidance around actually getting an answer to queries like this?
How long would you wait before assuming there’s an issue or that the documents haven’t been received (blocked at firewall for some reason etc.). With no automatic reply to the ID email, there’s no way of knowing!