If you’ve applied for proof of Canadian citizenship — or you’re about to — the wait just got a lot longer. IRCC’s own processing-time tool now shows 25 months for proof-of-citizenship applications, up from 19 months in July, 12 in May, and just 10 back in January. Here’s why the timeline moved so fast, and what actually matters if you’re in the queue right now.
At a glance
- Current estimated processing time: 25 months as of August 10, 2026
- Climbed from 10 months in January to 12 in May, 19 in July, then 25 in August
- Queue stood at 121,800+ applications as of August 10 — up roughly 22,300 since July
- Main driver: the December 15, 2025 removal of the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent
Why the Wait Time Jumped So Fast
The short answer is volume, and the volume has a clear cause. On December 15, 2025, Canada eliminated the first-generation limit that used to cut off citizenship by descent after one generation born outside the country. Since then, anyone with an unbroken line back to a Canadian parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent can qualify — no matter how many generations separate them from Canada, and no matter where they live today. That single change opened proof-of-citizenship applications to a much larger pool of people than the program was built to process quickly, and IRCC’s own processing-time estimate has climbed almost every month since.
There’s a second, narrower factor worth knowing about: in June 2026, IRCC contacted a group of people in the United States who had already received their citizenship certificates, telling them their approved files were being reviewed. For about a month, the department paused finalizing new citizenship-by-descent decisions while it checked the documentation behind certificates already issued. That review affected a specific batch of cases, not every application in the system — but it landed in the same stretch of months as the post-Bill C-3 surge, and it didn’t help the backlog.
What This Means If You’re Applying Now
A proof-of-citizenship application isn’t a request to become a citizen — if you qualify by descent, you already are one. The certificate is documentary proof of a status you already hold, which is exactly why the current wait is so frustrating: people who are legally Canadian citizens today can’t get a passport, register for benefits, or prove their status until the paperwork catches up. Twenty-five months is IRCC’s current estimate, not a guarantee — it’s recalculated regularly and has moved every couple of months this year, so check the official processing times tool for the number that applies when you’re reading this, not the one printed here.
What You Can Do While You Wait
- Submit a complete file the first time. A missing document or an unclear ancestry chain is the fastest way to add months to a file that would otherwise move on schedule.
- Don’t file a second application to “speed things up.” A duplicate application doesn’t jump the queue — it usually just creates confusion between two open files under your name.
- Keep your contact and mailing information current with IRCC. A file that can’t be reached for a document request sits idle until it can be.
- Plan travel and paperwork that depend on the certificate accordingly. If you need a Canadian passport and don’t already have proof of citizenship on file, build the current wait time into your timeline rather than your old assumption.
- Hold off on an urgency inquiry until you’re past the posted processing time. IRCC generally won’t investigate a delay while a file is still within its own published estimate.
How Castle & Co. Can Help
Whether you’re putting together a citizenship-by-descent application for the first time or trying to figure out why a file already in the queue hasn’t moved, the goal is the same: a complete, correctly documented application that doesn’t lose months to an avoidable mistake. Our Citizenship services page has the full picture, or you can start with a free assessment and we’ll walk you through where your file actually stands.
