Notwithstanding an incessant stream of whine and rant, tending to divert or obscure sincere questions and answers, there is LITTLE if any mystery. IRCC is a bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is what bureaucracies does. Between each task in processing a citizenship application there is a queue. And that is where the vast majority of applications are at any given time, merely sitting in a queue waiting for the next task to be done by whoever will be doing that task.
The total time someone at IRCC is actually engaged in
processing a given application is almost certainly LESS than the hours in a single standard work DAY. That is, adding up all the time a particular application is being actively
processed, adding together all the time spent by every IRCC official, agent, or officer actually
processing the application, that quite likely totals maybe a mere few hours.
So the answer to the question "
how come they aren't processing it?" is EASY: The application is in QUEUE, waiting for someone to do the next task. And that is where it will likely be for MANY MORE MONTHS to come, albeit a different queue following the completion of each respective task.
We do not precisely know all the tasks done at CPC-Sydney between AOR and the designation "In Process." Best we do know is that "IP" (again, "In Process") means that all CPC-Sydney tasks have been completed except, perhaps, the final task of actually putting the physical file in the mail to be sent to the respective Local Office where the application will be
processed. It should be recognized, however, that just opening the application package and conducting the completion check is part of the process, that is "
processing" as such, as are the various tasks done between that action and the referral to the local office.
CPC-Sydney tasks attendant AOR:
-- Completion check
-- Opening GCMS citizenship application file (noting that all IRCC clients have a GCMS file much broader than this application file) and probably an initial GCMS background check
-- Initiating referrals to RCMP and CSIS for criminal and security background checks, respectively
Task either attendant AOR step (done by same agent or official that does completion check and opens GCMS app file), or is the first post-AOR task at CPC-Sydney: probable triage screening separating files for referral to particular processing streams within CPC-Sydney.
Among the tasks done in CPC-Sydney we know and can otherwise reasonably infer, including some which may be done, AFTER AOR, to selected applications rather than all, there is clearly an extensive GCMS background check and this is a more or less full GCMS check, not at all comparable to what a Help Centre call agent might see when it opens a client's GCMS; this includes FOSS, which in turn includes name-record checks into multiple databases including RCMP and U.S. criminal record databases. This step/task probably includes preliminary screening to identify things like whether a Finger Print request will be sent to the applicant; may identify some applications for which there will be an upfront check of the applicant's CBSA Travel History. In the past this also was part of the screening to identify applicants to be sent a pre-test RQ but it is not clear this is still being done at this stage.
While we do not know for sure, it seems likely the same agent or official doing the latter will also be individual who determines which local office will process the application. And then makes the referral.
There are some probable alternative paths in this process. I identified one: applicants for whom IRCC accesses and reviews the applicant's CBSA travel history. Maybe this is done for ALL applicants, which may involve a somewhat cursory comparison to the applicant's reported travel history to identify if there are significant discrepancies in PoE arrival dates. Or perhaps applications are separated and one stream goes into its own queue for this while most proceed without this . . . which could explain significant differences in the timeline between AOR and IP for different applicants. (That said, the bigger differences in this timeline appear to mostly correlate to the date the application was submitted, meaning most submitted around the same time tend to see a comparable AOR to IP timeline.)
Among other alternative paths in between AOR and the actual referral to the respective Local Office, as I noted there is the possibility of the application going into a FP request queue. Some applications may be separated from the mainstream, totally routine path, to be put in queue waiting for more detailed screening to identify or flag potential concerns or issues. And of course any additional, separate task, will quite likely involve going to and sitting in, waiting in, another queue. It seems clear that some applications arrive in the Local Office already flagged for this or that issue (albeit the two most common appear to be presence-related questions and potential prohibition questions).
All that said, it may be that in terms of actual eyes and hands-on tasks in CPC-Sydney, there may be only TWO agents or officials handling the ROUTINELY processed applications (thus, for example, NOT including those for which there is a CPC-Sydney generated FP request), the opening-the-file (including completion check) agent or official, and the one conducting the second-tier screening. Such that the total time in CPC-Sydney is almost entirely (except for the half hour to hour and a half time spent in doing these two tasks) is:
-- queue time between arrival of package and opening-the-file (including completion check); for this, two to three months seems common but has at times varied from this, more often longer; AOR signals this task is done
-- queue time between opening-the-file (including completion check), as indicated by AOR date, and the second-tier screening; this appears to vary more and vary some for applicants who apply around the same periods of time, from just weeks to several months
Here is the thing: the vast majority of applicants do NOT need to be helicopter-applicants hovering over every step of the process. This forum tends to encourage excessive monitoring of the progress of applications. IT IS MOSTLY A WAITING GAME. And currently the wait times have once again gone long . . . as it historically is wont to do, at various times being longer or short . . . including times not all that long ago when processing was TWO to THREE years for a very large percentage of applicants.
Venting and ranting and railing and whining is very much a part of this forum. Sharing the pain and commiserating is indeed very much a part of what is done here. Unfortunately more than a few of those whining the most tend to barge into many topics in which real questions are being asked.
Name of the game is WAITING. No matter how many times the children in the backseat whine "
are we there yet?" the question does NOT accelerate the process, does not mitigate the WAIT. And the answer does not really matter or change: the real answer being, simply,
NO, NOT there yet.
