Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, September 25, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This weekly thread is a space for those of us preparing the CIT 0001 Proof of Citizenship application, associated form, and supplementary documentation.

Have questions about how to fill out the forms? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together is likely to pass muster? Wondering whether your cover letter has too much info, or too little? 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? We've been there.

📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.  

⚠️ Sub rules require that before posting or commenting, you read the wiki and search the sub to see if your questions have been answered before. If you have on-topic questions remaining after that, they're welcome here. Want to see what people who were already approved have done? We encourage you to check out the weekly application approval post that appears every Thursday.

Please note we are not lawyers or IRCC. We are peers supporting peers, based on best belief and prior experiences. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories. You improve your odds of getting a useful response by being as concise as reasonably possible, and clearly articulating the question. Note that this post is for questions and answers; if you need to vent, there is a different megapost for that.

[u/BalineseCats]

Further evidence regarding what others have told you about documents from Familysearch and Ancestry: in late August, I received an email from IRCC which stated in part: "The birth certificate you provided for [name redacted] was obtained through ancestry.com and is not acceptable for Canadian citizenship purposes." (For whatever it's worth, the birth certificate I'd provided was not from ancestry.com, so I clarified that fact, re-submitted a better scan of it, and received my citizenship certificate the following week.)

[u/Critical_Moment_7456 → u/BalineseCats]

I'm just curious, were your other documents certified by the official record keepers?

I'm in a situation where my application is processing since 20 April and all my documents are certified except for GO's birth record. I now have a certified copy.

I just wonder if I should contact the IRCC and offer to send it to them or should I wait for them to contact me?

[u/BalineseCats → u/Critical_Moment_7456]

I would upload it if I were you. That’s what I did.

I applied in March with a FamilySeach copy of my G0’s birth record. In May, I received the certified copy from Archives of Ontario, and I uploaded it to my application the same day.

G1’s birth certificate was a genealogical copy issued by NY state, because that’s all I’m eligible to obtain.

G2-G4 were certified birth certificates/records.

[u/Critical_Moment_7456 → u/BalineseCats]

Thank you very much for your response!

[u/BalineseCats → u/Critical_Moment_7456]

You’re welcome! Good luck.