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Castle & Co. does not provide job placement or recruitment services.
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Please Provide Full Details:

1. Proposed Position(s), Work Location(s), Hourly Rate, Hours per Week, Contract Duration.
2. Staffing at Location: Total Employee Count & Number of Temporary Foreign Workers currently employed.
3. Year of Business Incorporation/Establishment.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

1. Nature of Care (childcare, senior support, medical needs) & Profile of Care Recipient(s) (e.g., age, specific health conditions).
2. Living Arrangement (Live-in vs. Live-out), Hourly Rate & Hours per Week.
3. Prospective Applicant (if known): Age, Highest Educational Credential, Language Proficiency (English/French), and Related Work History.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Sponsor’s Legal Status (Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident) & Current Residence (Country/Province).
2. Partner Being Sponsored: Citizenship & Current Country of Residence.
3. Number of accompanying dependent children.
4. Sponsorship Background:
- Has the Sponsor submitted a sponsorship application in the past?
- Was the Sponsor sponsored as a spouse in the last 5 years?
5. Is the Sponsor currently in Undischarged Bankruptcy, receiving Social Assistance (welfare), or in default of child support or immigration loans?
6. Relationship Details: Date of Marriage or date common-law cohabitation began.
7. Admissibility Issues: Does the sponsor or the applicant have any history of criminal charges, severe health conditions, or prior visa denials from any country?
8. Current Status & Past Marriages: If the applicant is currently residing in Canada, what is their active immigration status? Have any prior marriages for either party been officially dissolved by divorce?
9. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

1. Applicant Citizenship & Current Country of Residence (Please specify your Status, e.g., Worker, Student, PR).
2. Reason for Travel, Intended Arrival/Departure Dates & Length of Stay.
3. Are you visiting specific relatives or friends? (Please specify relationship).
4. Details of any previous Canadian or US visa applications or refusals.
5. Available Funds & Reasons to Return Home (e.g., Employment, Assets, Family obligations).
6. Additional Notes.

Please Include the Following:

If through your Canadian ancestry (you may already be a Canadian citizen by law — no residence, tax or language history needed):

1. Which relative connects you to Canada (parent, grandparent, great-grandparent…) and how they became Canadian (born in Canada, naturalized, or by descent).

2. What you can provide to support your claim (e.g., birth/marriage certificates, your ancestor's citizenship or naturalization record).

If you are a permanent resident (citizenship by grant):

1. Date your Permanent Residence was obtained.

2. Total number of days spent in Canada during the past 5 years (estimate is fine).

3. Did you hold temporary status in Canada (e.g., Student, Worker) before becoming a PR? If yes, type and duration.

4. Have you filed Canadian Income Tax Returns for at least 3 of the last 5 years?

5. Proficiency level in English or French (Basic, Intermediate, Fluent).

6. Prohibitions & Background: any criminal history (convictions, probation, or parole, inside or outside Canada); and whether you are currently subject to a Removal Order or under investigation by immigration authorities.

Additional notes (either case).

Please Include the Following:

1. Applicant (Parent/Grandparent):
- Citizenship & Current Country of Residence.
- Details of prior Canadian or US visa applications or refusals.
- Do you have any significant pre-existing medical conditions?
2. Host (Child/Grandchild in Canada):
- Legal Status (Citizen or Permanent Resident).
- Household Composition: Total count of individuals residing in the home (including spouse and dependents).
- Gross Annual Household Income.
3. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Employment Status: Do you have a valid Job Offer? (Include Employer Name, Role, LMIA approval status, or if applying as an Intra-Company Transferee).
2. Open Work Permit (if applicable): Please specify your category (e.g., Spouse of Student/Worker, PGWP, or International Experience Canada/IEC).
3. Background: Summary of relevant Work History and details of any previous Canadian visa applications or refusals.
4. Additional Notes.

Please Provide the Following Details:

1. Proposed Study Plan: Program Name, Academic Level (e.g., Diploma, Master's), and status of Letter of Acceptance (LOA).
2. Language Proficiency: Standardized Test Scores (IELTS, CELPIP, TEF).
3. Economic Establishment: Source of Funds & Ties to Home Country (reasons to return).
4. Visa History: Details of any previous applications or refusals for Canada or the US.
5. Additional Comments.

Please Provide Full Details:

1. Current Immigration Status: Type of permit (e.g., Visitor, Student, Worker) & Expiration Date.
2. Justification for Extension:
- Study: (e.g., New Letter of Acceptance).
- Work: (e.g., Updated LMIA or Job Offer details).
- Visitor: (Purpose of continued stay, e.g., ongoing tourism, family visit, or pending Spousal Sponsorship).
3. Additional Notes.

Please Provide Details for Principal Applicant and Spouse:

1. Personal Profile: Age, Citizenship, Marital Status, Highest Educational Credential, Language Proficiency (IELTS, CELPIP, TEF), and Settlement Funds.
2. Work History (Past 10 Years):
- Total years of Foreign Skilled Work.
- Total years of In-Canada Skilled Work.
3. Proposed Province of Residence (e.g., Ontario, Quebec, BC).
4. Canadian Ties: Relatives in Canada, prior Canadian study/work history, or Valid Job Offer.
5. Additional Notes.

1. What program do you need help with?
2. Share your current citizenship, residence, and immigration status—and whether you have family in Canada.
3. Are you looking to apply, renew or appeal?
4. Let us know if you're working toward a deadline or have key dates in mind.
5. Observations (provide details).

Castle & Co. — Canadian Immigration Consultants

Citizenship Certificate by Descent Now Takes 25 Months — What It Means for Your Application

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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.

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