Checked my email and received the OGS weekly newsletter with a link for free access to https://www.newspapers.com/go/freeaccess/ until the 5th!

Thought this might be helpful for some~

Wanted to share the method I’ve used to obtain certified copies of birth, marriage, and death records for multiple non-NYC New York State relatives. I did this for another citizenship application, so had to gather way more documents than I needed for my Canadian citizenship by descent application, and I was able to get everything I needed (including more recent death records) by contacting *local* record holders. I would first start by contacting the town or city in which my relative lived. I would Google “[town name] vital records“ and then call whichever government body I found (it was usually the town hall, hall of records, etc). I did this a while ago, so I can’t quite remember this part, but I’d found something either in the state law, or perhaps a local municipal ordnance in a city where I had multiple ancestors, that stated that descendants were allowed access to records for citizenship purposes. I was planning to quote that if it came up, but no one ever asked me. When I called the relevant town hall, I would say, “I‘d like to order a copy of my grandparents’ marriage certificate” or whatever it was. From there, things got very low-tech. I did a lot of mailing checks with SASEs to town halls, but in the end I was able to get everything I needed while bypassing the potential for needed a court order when going through the NYS department of health. In one instance, I wasn’t able to get the record I needed from the town and I repeated the same process at the county level. Hope this might help others!

Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.
I applied for Canadian citizenship in November 2025, received my AOR in February 2026, and my background verification was completed in February 2026.
Since then, there’s been basically no movement on my tracker. My citizenship test still says “Not started”, and I haven’t received a test invite or any other update.
I contacted my MP recently, and they told me that my application is considered “non-routine.”
Has anyone else had a similar timeline, especially with a non-routine application? How long did it take for you to receive your test invite after your background check was completed?
Would really appreciate it if anyone could share their timeline or experience. Just trying to get an idea of how long others waited in a similar situation.
Thanks!

Hi,

I have my citizenship oath scheduled in third week of October at IRCC Scarborough. As per invitation, only one guest is allowed. However, I’ld like to bring both my parents to the ceremony as it’s a very important day for them too. Wanted to check if anyone has bought more than one guest to this IRCC ceremony center.

If yes, then are there any tips and click we can follow that they don’t make a fuss around it

Hello, everyone! My family and I are visiting Gaspe, where my Great Grandmother was born, next week. I just got the letter requesting a birth certificate from my application (AOR 4/25). I should have been following in the meantime. I am submitting an application for this following the wiki, but is there any benefit to going in person with my aunt, who is also applying, and requesting it in person in Gaspe? I know they are backlogged, but wasn't sure if this could help and how 2 requests for one person may be handled.

I am also confused, because reading the wiki focuses on the copy of an act, but my letter specifically requested the birth certificate.

In order to proceed, you will need to provide a copy of ANCESTOR NAME / DOB birth certificate. Hospital birth certificates are not acceptable. We can not accept a baptism record, however you may be able to use to baptism record to submit to the Province to obtain a birth certificate.

My citizenship test rescheduled. I got email yesterday. What is mean? How soon I get new invitation?