Proof is taking 12-18 months?

[saria1]

I emailed the consulars office in NYC concerning no AOR from CIC about my proof of citizenship. In the response it was said it's 12-18 months for proofs from the time the AOR is issued. Could this be true, if so, why is the CIC website still saying 6 months?

A copy and paste of the response from the consulars office:

"The Canadian Consulate does not have access to other government department databases, consequently you would have to contact the processing centre in Sydney (Nova Scotia) directly yourself for assistance with this.

In addition, there are no e-mail addresses, or FAX numbers available for the processing centre or for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Consequently you can either write to the processing centre directly, or call their Call Centre (888-242-2100) the next time you are actually IN Canada as there is no phone number provided for outside Canada. You might also consider having a friend or family member call from within Canada and conference you in so you can try to speak with someone at the call centre directly.

Their postal address is as follows:
CPC-Sydney
P.O. Box 10000
Sydney, NS
B1P 7C1
Canada

In addition, just to let you know, the current processing time for Canadian citizenship certificates is 12 to 18 months from the time they acknowledge receipt. If you have however provided documentary proof of there being a compellingly urgent requirement, they may indeed consider expediting the processing.

Sincerely,
Consular Section | Section consulaire
cngny.consul@international.gc.ca
Consulate General of Canada | Consulat général du Canada
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020-1175
www.newyork.gc.ca
Telephone | Téléphone: (212) 596-1759
Facsimile | Télécopieur: (212) 596-1666
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada"

 

[mahmow]

I called CIC and they told me the processing time is 6 months and I should call them back affter 6 months.

 

[saria1]

I called CIC and they told me the processing time is 6 months and I should call them back affter 6 months.

Thanks! Last week I finally received my AOR and was able to check my status. My application has been in process since July 9th. ;D

I don't know why the US Consulate in NYC gave such a long timeline. Something tells me your conversation and their website is a better indicator of their true timeline.

 

[screech339]

The 12-18 month timeline is probably for those who are established Canadians and applying for Canadian citizenship certificate anyway. I applied for it even though I was born in Canada. It took me the full 12 months to get it. At the time I had to apply at the Canadian consulate in US.

When I applied for my 2 kids, I was able to apply directly to Sydney office. Took them 4 months to complete. Both applied two years apart.

So the timeline listed on the website is a bit extreme which led me to believe that those who are Canadian, have to wait longer due to being given less priority over those who are not proven Canadian, thus get the long end of the stick.

Screech339