Apply to resume your citizenship urgently

We can only process requests to resume Canadian citizenship urgently in special cases. Every urgent request will be checked to see if it meets the conditions for urgent processing. If an application does not meet the conditions, it will be processed normally.

To apply for urgent processing, you must meet all the conditions to resume your Canadian citizenship.

Examples of when we may process an application for resumption of citizenship urgently:

• You can't apply for a job or could lose your job because you are not a Canadian citizen.
• You cannot go to a Canadian school, college or university because you are not a Canadian citizen.
• You need to travel because of death or serious illness in the family and cannot get a passport in your current nationality.
• You received a decision on a previous application for citizenship that you successfully appealed to the Federal Court.

See the Application Processing Times to find out how long it takes to process an application to resume citizenship. If you think you have an emergency and will not be able to resume your citizenship in time, you may apply for urgent processing.

Even if these conditions apply to you, we may not be able to process your request urgently. If we do process your request urgently, we may not be able to do it in time to help your situation.

If you have not sent your application:

1. Download and print the Application to Resume Canadian Citizenship.
2. Complete the application. Answer all the questions.
3. Put all the required documents, photographs, and fees in the same envelope as the application.
4. Include an explanation of why you need urgent processing. You should include any documents that will support your explanation.
5. Write “Request Urgent Processing – Resumption of Citizenship” in large, dark letters on the envelope.
6. Mail your application to the address listed in the instruction guide. 

If you have already sent your application and now require urgent processing:

Fill out the Web form explaining why you need urgent processing and include:

• your full name, date of birth, email address and telephone numbers
• your unique client identifier (UCI) or application number
• any documents that will support your explanation
  • files must in PDF, JPEG, TIFF, DOC, or DOCX format
  • files must be 2 MB or smaller
  • if you include multiple files, the total size must be 3.5 MB or smaller
  • help for how to reduce file size