Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Citizenship

Most citizenship events are cancelled

To keep everyone safe, the following citizenship events are cancelled until further notice:

• in-person citizenship ceremonies
• citizenship tests
• most retests, interviews and hearings (including videoconference hearings)
  • Wait for us to contact you.
  • If you need to change your appointment, contact the office that sent the invitation.
    • The contact information is in the letter we sent.
• citizenship events in our temporary offices (itinerant service trips)

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

• We’ll send you a new date and time as soon as possible.
• 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

Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we

• are prioritizing Canadians who are trying to return Canada
• can’t provide accurate processing times

You can

• check your application status online, or
• if you can’t check your status online, contact us using our Web form

Submitting your application documents

If your documents are missing due to COVID-19 (for example, police certificates, passports, medical exam results, medical opinion forms):

• we won’t close or refuse any applications in progress
• we’ll automatically give you an extra 90 days to send us the documents from the deadline in the request letter
  • This applies even if the letter says you only have 30 or 90 days.
• we’ll keep extending the deadline by 90 days until you can get the documents
• you don’t have to contact us to get any of these extensions
• once you’re able to, send us the missing documents as soon as possible to avoid further delays

This extension applies to all citizenship applications, including

• Canadian citizenship for
  • adults
  • minors (under 18)
  • Canadian Armed Forces members
  • adopted child from abroad
• resuming Canadian citizenship
• giving up Canadian citizenship (renunciation)
• applying for a Canadian citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship)
• applying for a search of citizenship records

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.

If you’re a permanent resident

If you’re travelling or planning to travel, find out what you need to re-enter Canada.

You can use an expired permanent resident (PR) card to

• apply for Canadian citizenship
• bring to your citizenship test and ceremony

If you’re a dual Canadian citizen

You can only enter Canada with a

• valid Canadian passport or
• special authorization

Find out who can travel to Canada

Updates and related links

• Find more information on COVID-19
• Public Health Agency of Canada: COVID-19 information (available in multiple languages)
• Canada provides update on exemptions to travel restrictions to protect Canadians and support the economy