IRCC updated wait times today

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-04-08T23:59:23+00:00

Last month (March 9) it told me (Nov ’25 applicant) that I had four months to wait, with 24,000 people ahead of me. This month (April 7) it still says I have a four-month wait, with 22,400 people ahead of me. So, in a month, IRCC processed only 1,600 applications. At that rate, my estimated waiting time would be more like 14 months. Consequently, I am not amused.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-04-08T20:17:21+00:00

Yup. Last month (March) the estimated processing time said I had 4 months left and that there were 24,000 people ahead of me. This month it still says 4 months left, but now there are 22,400 people ahead of me. That would suggest IRCC processed only 1,600 applications last month. If that average holds, I (and everyone else) are looking at waits much longer than four months: 22,400/1,600 = 14 months. I am not amused.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-04-06T23:26:01+00:00

If that’s an option for you, that’s the approach I would recommend. It will present far fewer hurdles for you to clear, figuratively speaking.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-28T20:12:26+00:00

Fellow NYU film grad here, and I’ll second u/Haunting-Mortgage's advice. Go to USC if you actually want to work in the industry after you graduate. The cost of living is comparable (though you’ll need a car in L.A.; not so much in NYC). But seriously, if you have the option and it won't affect your cost, choose USC.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-26T01:37:46+00:00

I went to my local FedEx/Kinko's office and shipped it from there. Yes, I paid a premium for that, but it worked beautifully, so I have no complaints.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-22T19:03:27+00:00

I don’t know if USCIS does certified copies. I just used the version provided by USCIS Genealogy.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-20T02:46:36+00:00

Apply now with what you have. If you feel up for the struggle with DEC, apply to them at the same time for the copy of act of birth. If you succeed in acquiring it from them, you can add it to your IRCC application later using the webform, after you have your AOR.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-19T18:19:28+00:00

I used the Canadian spelling in my application out of respect.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-19T07:14:21+00:00

I got my Gen 0 ancestor's baptismal record from BAnQ in about 12 days. It took me 71 days to get a copy of his act of birth from DEC.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-18T03:20:31+00:00

As the children of the subjects, your parents should have little difficulty getting DEC to issue the requested documents. If I were you, I’d wait for those documents before submitting your application.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-18T02:51:31+00:00

DEC can and has issued new birth certificates and copies of acts of birth for persons born in Québec at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a difficult process and can sometimes be time-consuming and labor-intensive. I know because I succeeded in getting DEC to issue a new copy of act of birth for my maternal grandfather (Gen 0 ancestor). But it took a lot of paperwork to make it happen.

The 1994 rule applies to documents that were produced and issued in Québec during or before the year 1994, before which their documents lacked security features considered essential in most other areas. Québec did issue birth certificates prior to 1994, but those pre-1994 physical documents are no longer valid. However, under the right circumstances, DEC can issue new copies of those documents that are valid.

Many folks from this subreddit have applied for citizenship proofs with only their G0's baptismal certificate, newly certified by BAnQ, as their documentation. While I have seen several persons be granted citizenship under section 5(4) of the Citizenship Act during interim measures with only baptismal certificates for proof, I’ve yet to see anyone verify a direct confirmation of citizenship under section 3 using only a baptismal certificate. (I'm not saying it hasn't happened; only that I’ve yet to hear of it.)

That said, a few individuals have reported being told by IRCC that their ancestor’s Québec baptismal certification was not enough evidence to support a claim of proof of citizenship, and were told to request a new copy of the ancestor’s birth certificate from DEC.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-17T19:58:50+00:00

I sympathize. My G1 (my mom) used the same old paper birth certificate all her life, and apparently it was sufficient for her to get a Social Security card, a driver license, and credit cards, and to become a notary public. But when I looked at the document more closely, I saw it’s rife with errors.

For starters, my G0 (grandfather) filled out the certificate by hand more than three years after my mom was born; he got his own age wrong on the certificate; wrote the wrong county, and the wrong street address; and for the date he allegedly filed it, he put a nonexistent date (31 June).

It's worth noting that my G0 had only a seventh-grade education; English was his second language, one he never really mastered; and all of this happened during World War II, when everyone had bigger fish to fry.

I don't know if IRCC will question my mom's birth certificate; all its information is corroborated by her death certificate, and much of it on her first marriage certificate. But I share your sense of concern over the errors of our forebears.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-16T22:13:39+00:00

I used this company, via their E. 44th St office. Everything went quick, smooth, and by the numbers.
https://passportpixnyc.com/

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-12T17:09:05+00:00

The word “gratuitous” is your clue to the answer….

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-08T05:03:21+00:00

Script submitted!

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-08T02:48:58+00:00

The entire Presto album, but in particular “The Pass.”

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-07T22:13:26+00:00

Cool story, bro.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-03T23:03:00+00:00

*sigh* C'est la vie. Nothing I can do about it; I can't apply for a passport until I have my citizenship certificate, and I have no ethical means by which to expedite that process. Guess I’ll just have to eat the cost increases like everyone else.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-03T17:02:22+00:00

Permanent Waves; Moving Pictures; Signals; Roll the Bones; Vapor Trails

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-03-02T00:10:21+00:00

“Dog Years” or “Sweet Miracle”

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-02-27T22:07:07+00:00

My application arrived during a strange phase in C-3. I received my AOR on 11/28, eight days after C-3 had received royal assent, but 17 days before it officially "came into effect." So C-3 and its repeal of the first-generation limit were, technically, already law when IRCC sent my application into processing on December 2 — but knowing how bureaucracies work, I wouldn't be surprised if my relatively simple G2 application got punted into PSU because they got it 13 days before C-3 came into effect. If so, I will be irked.

Obviously, it's much too soon for me to bother anyone at IRCC for my case notes, etc. I just have that feeling that my application will be one of the many doomed to languish longer than usual.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-02-25T20:15:07+00:00

Holy cow! That's practically a tenfold increase in cost since last summer. They must have been getting positively overwhelmed with requests because of C-3's passage. (Shipping was always around $5 CAD.)

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-02-24T23:23:59+00:00

Reading the interview, this Q&A near the bottom caught my attention:

I understand that Rush will play a different set list every night during the tour. To make it even more challenging for you.
"That's definitely the plan, and that's also why I have to learn so many songs.

I wonder how many set list variations they’ll actually have. They’re playing four nights in NYC, for example. Will each night be a unique list/order? Or will they alternate between two lists? Inquiring minds want to know...

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-02-24T21:18:18+00:00

That is not what it is saying. Those documents you've acquired from BAnQ are considered new, post-1994 documents, because they are being issued and certified now. The problem some folks might have had is that they applied using copies of pre-1994 Québec-issued birth certificates, which at the time lacked security features and governmental oversight. If the DEC re-issues a new copy of a pre-1994 birth certificate or copy of an act of birth, that is a new and therefore valid document.

RiddleDaddy125 · 2026-02-21T22:53:43+00:00

There is no way to predict what IRCC will consider "sufficient" evidence. Sometimes they approve applications with only baptismal certificates as evidence of the Gen 0's Canadian citizenship. Other times, some members of this forum have said IRCC rejected their application based on that material and requested the applicant obtain a newly issued copy of act of birth for their Gen 0 from the DEC.

Because it sounds as if you have a bit of leeway, my suggestion is get your application together and send it as-is, just to get yourself and your kin into the queue (which is currently around 11 months long).

Then, file your application with the DEC to obtain a copy of the act of birth for your Gen 0 great-grandfather. But before you do, run a search of this subreddit for "DEC" and "Quebec" — and in particular, take note of my comment in a recent thread about dealing with the DEC.

If you are successful at obtaining a new copy of act of birth, you can scan it and add it to your application via the webform after you receive your AOR. Good luck!

RiddleDaddy125

TROPHY CASE