July 2023 application. Background screening still pending

[Tokibaee]

application for citizenship received on July 2023, citizenship test completed on August 2023. Uptill now background screening still pending. Requested an ATIP on may 2024, contacted my MP 3 weeks ago and she replied with the following yesterday: “your application is being processed outside regular processing times as it has undergone additional security screenings. Your application is being treated as non routine , due to an issue related to background check. IRCC is not releasing any information about their findings at this time. “. Can someone help explain what is going on, what could be causing this and what course of action should I take. Thanks

 

[forw.jane]

application for citizenship received on July 2023, citizenship test completed on August 2023. Uptill now background screening still pending. Requested an ATIP on may 2024, contacted my MP 3 weeks ago and she replied with the following yesterday: “your application is being processed outside regular processing times as it has undergone additional security screenings. Your application is being treated as non routine , due to an issue related to background check. IRCC is not releasing any information about their findings at this time. “. Can someone help explain what is going on, what could be causing this and what course of action should I take. Thanks

Security screening where they making sure you are not a national security threat. Normally it's takes a year to get done in many cases.

If cost is not a factor you can check with a lawyer for mandamus.

 

[Tokibaee]

Security screening where they making sure you are not a national security threat. Normally it's takes a year to get done in many cases.

If cost is not a factor you can check with a lawyer for mandamus.

Are you saying I have to wait for an extra year for additional security screening? What could be possible reasons for additional security screenings? Could it be cuz I travelled quite a lot during the 5 year period?

 

[Ali.arshady]

i have been waiting for BG completion for almost 10 month since January 2024, i would say your travel history may have affect on your BG check process . I have known someone who traveled a lot and got BG check completed in 2 months, where as mine without even one day travel history since 2018 ( not left the country ) still waiting and no clue how long we are looking at.

Basically, your country of birth and your name are the most important factors ( roughly 80%) makes this process so complicated and long run.

 

[forw.jane]

Are you saying I have to wait for an extra year for additional security screening? What could be possible reasons for additional security screenings? Could it be cuz I travelled quite a lot during the 5 year period?

@Ali.arshady gave a proper explanation

 

[Tokibaee]

Has anyone applied for writ of mandamus and found it effective? Or is it just an extra 2K lost

 

[msaleh]

i have been waiting for BG completion for almost 10 month since January 2024, i would say your travel history may have affect on your BG check process . I have known someone who traveled a lot and got BG check completed in 2 months, where as mine without even one day travel history since 2018 ( not left the country ) still waiting and no clue how long we are looking at.

Basically, your country of birth and your name are the most important factors ( roughly 80%) makes this process so complicated and long run.

I have been waiting for 15 months and till now not completed, there are some people waiting for more than 17 and 18 months, no one know how they are processing the file even if you already passed the SS before they keep delaying the SS for some people

 

[Seym]

Has anyone applied for writ of mandamus and found it effective? Or is it just an extra 2K lost

It's not really possible to answer this.
Many in the forum started the process and saw IRCC ask them to withdraw the mandamus in exchange of a quick decision, but we can't really know whether these situations were simply cases of IRCC dragging their feet for applications that were close to finalization anyway. It's not worth losing taxpayer money on lawyers for an application that was gonna be approved the next time an agent was gonna have a look after all.
But, if there's a "genuine" security reason why it's taking long, IRCC may just decide to, well, see you in court, in which case we're talking significantly more than 2k, and many months of delays before you see a federal judge, and it can go both ways there, and the prejudice you're facing will matter (and the bar will probably be higher than "well, I applied 18 months ago")
It's more of a calculated gamble than a magical solution, and when someone says to go for it, it should be seen as : spend some money to speak to a reputable lawyer about the specifics of your situation, and see with them what makes sense for you based on the educated guess of how they think it will go based on your situation, the facts you presented them and their knowledge of similar cases.