COVID-19: How it is affecting immigration, refugees, citizenship and passport services– citizenship

By Crease Harman

From Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Last updated: April 8, 2020

On this page:

All citizenship events are cancelled

We’ve cancelled all citizenship events until further notice to keep everyone safe. This includes

Check the information letter or email we sent you about the events being cancelled.

  • We’ll send you a new date and time in the coming weeks.
  • If you gave us your email address in your application, we’ll contact you by email.
    • To avoid missing our emails, check your junk or spam folder.
    • Look for messages from email addresses ending in “@cic.gc.ca.”
  • If you didn’t provide an email address
    • we’ll send the cancellation letter by mail or we’ll call you
    • check your mailbox or voicemail messages often to see if you got it

Processing your citizenship application

There may be delays to the processing time.

To find out where we’re at with your application

Submitting your application documents

If we request documents for your application (including medical opinion forms), you have an extra 90 days from the deadline in our request letter to submit them.

This extension applies to all citizenship applications, including

New citizenship applications

We’re still accepting new citizenship applications.

Time you’ve lived in Canada (physical presence)

Extra days spent abroad due to COVID-19 will not count as days in Canada. You must still meet the physical presence requirement for your citizenship application.

Permanent resident (PR) card

If you’re travelling, find out what to do if your card is expired or will expire soon.

You can use an expired PR card to

  • apply for Canadian citizenship
  • bring to your citizenship test and ceremony (once they resume)

Updates and related links

Need An Immigration Lawyer?

Contact Crease Harman to have a consultation with an immigration lawyer today.

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