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Timeline for Proof of Citizenship application

pbowers

Member
Apr 21, 2018
10
1
It has been about 3 weeks since my application status at the Processing Center changed to "Decision made--Letter has been sent," but I haven't received it yet. I'm in the Southeastern U.S. Anybody out there know if this is normal? I don't often receive mail
 

hawk39

Hero Member
Mar 26, 2017
689
284
It has been about 3 weeks since my application status at the Processing Center changed to "Decision made--Letter has been sent," but I haven't received it yet. I'm in the Southeastern U.S. Anybody out there know if this is normal? I don't often receive mail
If you provided your e-mail address on your application, any correspondence would be sent through e-mail; it may have been caught by your spam filter so you should check your spam folder (hopefully yours does not have an auto-delete feature after a certain amount of time). If not, then everything would be through snail mail and that would depend on the speed of the postal service. Albeit, 3 weeks is pretty excessive for mail between the US and Canada.

My personal experience (as well as others that have posted their timeline on this forum) is that if there is a positive result, your eCAS timeline would simply go from 'In process' to "Certificate mailed' (without the line 'Decision made'). The line "A letter has been sent' without "Decision made' is usually a request for more information and documents. If you are being sent a letter after 'Decision made', then it may be a negative result. I read your last posting and you said that the province was not able to get you a birth certificate despite an updated baptismal certificate from the church. Were you able to find and send another document with your application instead of the birth certificate to verify his birth?
 

pbowers

Member
Apr 21, 2018
10
1
If you provided your e-mail address on your application, any correspondence would be sent through e-mail; it may have been caught by your spam filter so you should check your spam folder (hopefully yours does not have an auto-delete feature after a certain amount of time). If not, then everything would be through snail mail and that would depend on the speed of the postal service. Albeit, 3 weeks is pretty excessive for mail between the US and Canada.

My personal experience (as well as others that have posted their timeline on this forum) is that if there is a positive result, your eCAS timeline would simply go from 'In process' to "Certificate mailed' (without the line 'Decision made'). The line "A letter has been sent' without "Decision made' is usually a request for more information and documents. If you are being sent a letter after 'Decision made', then it may be a negative result. I read your last posting and you said that the province was not able to get you a birth certificate despite an updated baptismal certificate from the church. Were you able to find and send another document with your application instead of the birth certificate to verify his birth?
I used a certified baptism record from the church in Moncton where my father had been baptised, as well as records from US Immigration indicating when he crossed into the US with his family. I received an email saying that my application had been approved (they needed to know whether to use my married or maiden name on the certificate), and that's when my status changed to "decision made." My application had been in the Client Support Center since October of 2018, so I don't know if certificates sent from there may take longer. But yes, three weeks does seem like a long time!
 

pbowers

Member
Apr 21, 2018
10
1
If you provided your e-mail address on your application, any correspondence would be sent through e-mail; it may have been caught by your spam filter so you should check your spam folder (hopefully yours does not have an auto-delete feature after a certain amount of time). If not, then everything would be through snail mail and that would depend on the speed of the postal service. Albeit, 3 weeks is pretty excessive for mail between the US and Canada.

My personal experience (as well as others that have posted their timeline on this forum) is that if there is a positive result, your eCAS timeline would simply go from 'In process' to "Certificate mailed' (without the line 'Decision made'). The line "A letter has been sent' without "Decision made' is usually a request for more information and documents. If you are being sent a letter after 'Decision made', then it may be a negative result. I read your last posting and you said that the province was not able to get you a birth certificate despite an updated baptismal certificate from the church. Were you able to find and send another document with your application instead of the birth certificate to verify his birth?
Ignore my last response-- I just checked my application status again, and it said that a certificate had been mailed on February 11, so there was a bit of a lag time--2-3 weeks-- between when the decision was made and the certificate was actually sent. I'm going to go do a little happy dance now. Many thanks!
 

princecharles77

Star Member
Feb 15, 2020
67
39
Ignore my last response-- I just checked my application status again, and it said that a certificate had been mailed on February 11, so there was a bit of a lag time--2-3 weeks-- between when the decision was made and the certificate was actually sent. I'm going to go do a little happy dance now. Many thanks!
When did you receive your certificate in the mail? Did they send it priority or first class? Thanks!
 

wolkies

Full Member
Apr 6, 2019
30
1
Apparently my saga continues...

Here is my Proof of Citizenship timeline:
  1. We received your application for a citizenship certificate (proof of Canadian citizenship) on October 18, 2018.
  2. We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s) on October 24, 2018.
  3. We sent you a letter on November 27, 2018. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.
  4. We sent you a letter on November 28, 2018. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.
  5. We sent you correspondence on March 4, 2020. If you have not yet provided the information or the requested documents, please do so as soon as possible. Please wait until you receive the correspondence before sending us additional information, as the correspondence will outline all information that is required.
  6. We sent your citizenship certificate on March 19, 2020 to: xxxxxxxxx. If your certificate was sent to a Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate, you will be contacted when it arrives. Mailing times will vary by region and could take up to four months. If we have sent your certificate to the wrong address, please contact us.

    I was told via email on March 5, 2020 "Your file has been approved already and your certificate should be on its way shortly." My status at this time was changed to "Decision Made". Day after day I checked the mailbox and no certificate. Daily I still checked my ecas status.
    On March 19th, my status changed to "complete".

    As of today, I still haven't received my certificate. They listed my correct address in the March 19th update. I live in the NYC vicinity and I realize that Covid-19 could be causing delays both in USPS and Canada Post.

    If the certificate was indeed mailed from Sydney, NS on March 19, 2020, it's 18+ calendar days since it was mailed.

    Should I be concerned that it's lost? Does anyone know if it's normal for it to take almost 3 weeks to arrive? Could it be hung up in US Customs?
 

wolkies

Full Member
Apr 6, 2019
30
1
First, congratulations! My application took about the same amout of time as yours, and I know what it's like to anxiously check the mail day after day, knowing that the process is ALMOST over.

I wouldn't be concerned that it's lost--Covid 19 is apparently causing mail delays in NYC, according to this article:
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/04/02/coronavirus-post-office-usps-postal-service/

Stay well and try not to worry...
Thanks for your insight :) Covid-19 could be causing mail delays.
 

Laurahd

Hero Member
Jun 26, 2019
736
235
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Mississauga
App. Filed.......
15-10-2019
AOR Received.
03-12-2019
Med's Done....
23-10-2019
Anyone else who has applied recently and can share their timeline?
 

604Legend

Newbie
Mar 18, 2021
8
8
Anyone else who has applied recently and can share their timeline?
Application was mailed in December 2019 from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Status "Decision Made"
  1. We received your application for a citizenship certificate (proof of Canadian citizenship) on January 2, 2020.
  2. We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s) on March 9, 2020.
  3. We started processing your application on March 30, 2021.
 
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Reactions: Laurahd

Laurahd

Hero Member
Jun 26, 2019
736
235
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Mississauga
App. Filed.......
15-10-2019
AOR Received.
03-12-2019
Med's Done....
23-10-2019
Application was mailed in December 2019 from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Status "Decision Made"
  1. We received your application for a citizenship certificate (proof of Canadian citizenship) on January 2, 2020.
  2. We sent you correspondence acknowledging receipt of your application(s) on March 9, 2020.
  3. We started processing your application on March 30, 2021.
Have you applied by paper or online? Is it the first application? Are you able to link to your gckey account?
 

Laurahd

Hero Member
Jun 26, 2019
736
235
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Mississauga
App. Filed.......
15-10-2019
AOR Received.
03-12-2019
Med's Done....
23-10-2019