April 25, 2018

Canadian Citizenship

Regularly permanent residents in the Toronto-area wait up to 3 years to receive Canadian citizenship. As applicants get closer to the 36-month projected deadline, some worry that – as they have not heard from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in the last year or so – their application has not been processed. When facing delays in excess of projected processing times, an application to the Federal Court for mandamus may be appropriate.

Recently two clients in this position attended citizenship oaths and became Citizens of Canada. One man and his son had applied for citizenship in September 2011, and our office made submissions to the Federal Court in November 2014. The other man had applied for citizenship in July 2011, and our office made submissions to the Federal Court in early January 2015. We reviewed the processing histories of both applications, incorporating this information into our legal arguments. Both applications were resolved within the first stage of Federal Court processing (before a decision on leave). CIC concluded their processing and invited both to attend citizenship ceremonies in February 2015.