Finally a citizen whoohooo...
As promised I will brief you on my procedure. I was selected to attend a pilot program by IRCC to receive a PDF certificate instead of a paper one in the mail (called E-Certificate) which will be available to download for life after becoming citizen. My file was randomly selected and the option to opt in was asked in my TEST INVITE email with a document explaining what is E-Certificate. I replied to the email and requested to opt in to the pilot program.
After I was scheduled for the oath ceremony, they sent a separate email for the instructions how to signup in a special portal to be able to download the E-Certificate. I signed up before the ceremony but I couldn't download the certificate (obviously
).
The ceremony was fairly easy and quick, we were only around 50 people and this ceremony was held ONLY for the people who had opted in for the E-Certificate pilot program. We were the first group of citizens in Canada who received E-Certificates (feels kind of special lol).
After the ceremony they mentioned we will be able to download the E-Certificates 2-5 days after sending the signed Oath Affirmation pdf. They sent us an email right after the ceremony and they asked us to reply to that email and attached the signed affirmation form.
I requested in the Oath affirmation submission email to make my certificate available ASAP since I am going to travel soon. It was available to download 1 hour after I replied to the email (Wohhooo that was super fast).
I also applied for the passport today (the day after the ceremony) and I will be able to pickup the passport on Nov 4.
Please update my file in the tracker.
Best of luck to all the new, and soon to be Canadian citizens.
Here is my full timeline (also in my signature):
Application Type -------------------------------------------------------------- Online
Certificate Type --------------------------------------------------------------- E-certificate
Location ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ottawa
Office -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NIAGARA FALLS
Citizenship Applied ----------------------------------------------------------- Oct 03, 2021
Citizenship AOR --------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 21, 2021
GCMS Notes requested ------------------------------------------------------- Jun 8, 2022
Ghost Update ----------------------------------------------------------------- Jun 13, 2022
Background Verification Completed ----------------------------------------- Jun 15, 2022
Test Invitation (July 4-24 window) -------------------------------------------- Jun 29, 2022
Test Taken (20/20) ----------------------------------------------------- ------- July 04, 2022
Test Status Updated to Complete -------------------------------------------- July 05 2022
Physical Presence, Language, Prohibitions to Complete -------------------- August 03, 2022
Oath updated to "In Progress" ----------------------------------------------- September 28, 2022
Online Certificate Procedure Email ------------------------------------------- September 29, 2022
Oath Procedure Email -------------------------------------------------------- October 3, 2022
Oath Ceremony --------------------------------------------------------------- October 20, 2022
E-Certificate available to download ------------------------------------------ October 20, 2022 (1 hour after Oath affirmation submission)
Passport Applied (non urgent, in person via printed e-certificate) --------- October 21, 2022
Passport Pickup Date --------------------------------------------------------- November 4, 2022 (10 business days after applied)