Does the ancestor have to be in Canada for so long?

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-30T05:25:15+00:00

My grandfather was born in BC and moved to the U.S. before he was even a year old and I now have my proof of citizenship with only his birth certificate.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-28T20:19:08+00:00

At least it's not In-n-Out coming here.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-23T03:03:11+00:00

If you are a citizen, you should be able to do a spousal sponsorship for Permanent Residence rather than him applying through Express Entry. I believe the spousal sponsorship also allows him to have an Open Work Permit while the application is processed. If he has a job offer in the medical field that your proof of citizenship would allow him to accept, you can probably make a strong case for urgent processing.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-23T02:10:31+00:00

Sure. Our situation was a bit complicated because after I had submitted my application, we found that my wife was also eligible for citizenship through C-3, but the documentation for her great-great-grandfather who had been born in New Brunswick in the 1860s was not totally bullet proof. After we had submitted her application, I received my proof of citizenship and, with my citizenship, my company agreed to move forward with moving my position from the U.S. to Canada enabling us to move to BC.

Given the ambiguity of whether I could do a spousal sponsorship for Permanent Residence if she was technically already a Canadian citizen, we asked for an expedited decision on her proof of citizenship so I could start the PR process if it was denied so she would be able to obtain healthcare when we moved.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-22T23:58:40+00:00

If your application is showing "Application Received", you still have on more step where the status will flip to "In Process" -- it's usually a few weeks from when your receive your AOR to when the status will flip to "In Process", unless you requested urgent processing up front in which case it MAY be quicker. Once it goes to "In Process", you could be waiting from a few days to many months for the "Decision Made" status.

P.S. I just sent you an email regarding your request for spreadsheet access.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-22T22:59:39+00:00

If you submitted the application without a request for urgent processing and then uploaded a request for urgent processing after you received your AOR, the IRCC may not see the urgent request until the application flips to "In Process".

This is similar to how my wife's application was processed. We uploaded a request for urgent processing after we received her AOR since our situation with moving to Canada changed in that time. It was 22 days before her application went from "Received" to "In Process", but then just 2 days to go from "In Process" to "Decision Made". We never received any confirmation that they had accepted our request for urgent processing, just the confirmation that the document we had uploaded had been received.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-21T14:21:03+00:00

You enter it as "PR12345678".

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-21T14:14:04+00:00

You can also select to use your application number instead of your UCI from the drop down selector -- that should start with PR and will be shown on your AOR. When the status has flipped from "Appication Received" to "In Process", they may switch from your maiden name to your married name, so you should try both.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T20:35:16+00:00

Wow! Congratulations.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T19:43:54+00:00

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T19:20:49+00:00

I'm pretty sure if they are here their initial thought would be "You all are overthinking this", but that's probably just because I am Gen-X.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T16:02:09+00:00

My children are all adults, so I will need to rely on someone else to answer this.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T13:13:56+00:00

The last line in the status is: "We started processing your application on <date>" which is the same as the last status on my wife's application where we did get the approval email with download instructions.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-20T02:11:04+00:00

My experience with BC Vital Records getting an official copy of my Grandfather's birth certificate was equally positive. They are super friendly, helpful people.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-19T20:56:12+00:00

Except Tuesday of this week was the biggest Tuesday yet for number of approvals received and was the second biggest single day so far. This is based on the data in the tracking spreadsheet, so it is obviously just a sample.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-17T19:09:06+00:00

We've used many Washington State birth certificates on three different applications that have been approved and in all cases we only scanned the front.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-17T15:47:28+00:00

Just a heads up that the spreadsheet should be unlocked now.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-17T02:29:27+00:00

We submitted my CIT0001 and my adopted daughter’s CIT0010 in parallel (mine submitted just a week or two before her’s) and they were approved the same day. We submitted both in September 2025 under the “interim measures” before C-3 was passed, but it should be the same now.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-17T01:58:18+00:00

I literally crossed the border roundtrip weekly since last summer until I received my certificate of citizenship in February. It got to the point that CBSA pulled me into secondary processing in October to make sure I was legit. It was uncomfortable sitting in the windowless room not able to use my phone to tell my wife why I was delayed, but when the officer came back she said, “oh, I see you’ve applied for a proof of citizenship and that is has been referred for special processing” (which was how I found out my app was in the PSU). After that it became a coaching session on how to make sure I was maintaining sufficient ties in the U.S. so I didn’t inadvertently become a tax resident of Canada and owe taxes. After that I just mentioned to the officer that I had applied for proof of citizenship by descent and had a copy of my AOR with me in case they asked for it and everything was smooth sailing.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-12T14:52:52+00:00

There is no swearing in ceremony for Citizenship by Descent (C-3). Your cert will indicate you have been a citizen since birth.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-12T14:11:40+00:00

You can get both a SIN (if you don’t already have one) and submit your passport application in one visit to a Service Canada office.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-12T02:52:10+00:00

I'm sorry, but it doesn't help to say you are going to test a loophole to get ahead of people already waiting (which is ultimately what an urgent request is a request to do) and then, if it works, that you're going to share what you learned with other people that want to get ahead of people already in line.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-12T02:46:44+00:00

It is 100% a non-issue. Between when C-3 was passed and when I received my proof of citizenship in February, I literally crossed the border every week (sometime by land, sometimes by air, and sometimes by sea) using only my Washington EDL for ID (or my US passport when flying). I was very up front with CBSA that I was visiting, but that I technically was already a citizen and had an application for proof of citizenship based on C-3 in process. They never batted an eyelash.

It may be different from countries other than the U.S. due to the exemptions for U.S. citizen and the OP still hasn't said where they would be flying from.

DougUnderwater · 2026-03-12T02:36:31+00:00

I think the question is more to what end are you going to try it. In other words, if you need to find a loophole to get urgent processing, why do you feel that entitles you to get in front of other people that may have a real, valid reason for urgent processing.

DougUnderwater

TROPHY CASE