Concerns over the Trump administration’s immigration policies are among the reasons for the increase in applications for Canadian citizenship certificates from the United States. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said that thousands of requests from the US, in particular, had contributed to the rise in applications worldwide.
Processing time rises to 25 months
As of Monday, the backlog had reached approximately 120,000 applications. The surge in demand has pushed processing times for citizenship certificates to 25 months.
People born outside Canada who claim citizenship through a Canadian parent use these certificates as official proof of their status.
C-3 legislation expands eligibility
The C-3 bill, passed last December, expanded eligibility for citizenship. The legislation allowed some applicants to establish their entitlement to citizenship by proving a family connection to a Canadian citizen ancestor.
The change has also contributed to the increase in the number of people seeking to apply by documenting their family histories. Archivists in Canada have faced a surge in requests for genealogical research and official records from people seeking to prove their eligibility for citizenship.
Trump policies among reasons for applications
Immigration lawyers in the United States and Canada have faced heavy demand as applications have increased, while many applicants cite the Trump administration’s immigration practices and other government policies among the reasons for their decisions.
Mab Coates-Davies, president of the Association of Canadian Archivists, said people may have many reasons for considering leaving the United States or moving in the future. Coates-Davies said people seeking to prove their entitlement to citizenship were turning in large numbers to archives to obtain documents from their family histories.
