Apply for citizenship: Urgent processing
The current processing time for citizenship is We couldn’t load the data. Try again. If your situation is urgent and you need your citizenship sooner, you may apply for urgent processing.
We can only process citizenship applications urgently in exceptional cases, for example if you
- need Canadian citizenship to
- apply for a job
- avoid losing your job
- need to travel because of death or serious illness in your family and you can’t get a passport in your current nationality
- receive a successful Federal Court decision on an appeal on a previous application for citizenship
We check every request to make sure we can process it urgently.
- Even if your application qualifies as an exceptional case, we may not be able to process your request urgently.
- If we process your request urgently, we may not be able to do it in time to help your situation.
- If your application doesn’t qualify as an exceptional case, we’ll process it normally.
If you haven’t sent us your application:
- Download and print the application package you need
- Complete the application
- answer all the questions
- Write an explanation of why you need urgent processing
- include any documents that will support your explanation
- In your envelope, include your:
- application
- explanation
- photographs
- fee payment
- required documents
- Write “Request Urgent Processing – Grant of Citizenship” in large, dark letters on the envelope
- Mail your application to the address in the instruction guide
If you’ve already sent your application and now need urgent processing
Fill out the web form explaining why you need urgent processing and include:
- your full name, date of birth, email address and phone number
- your unique client identifier (UCI) or application number
- any documents that support your explanation
- accepted formats: PDF, JPEG, TIFF, DOC, DOCX
- file size
- Each file must be 2 MB or less.
- If you’re sending multiple files, the total size must be 3.5 MB or less.
- Find out how to reduce file size.
Top questions about Canadian citizenship
- What are the requirements for becoming a Canadian citizen?
- I already have a citizenship application in process. How will the 2017 changes to the citizenship legislation affect my application?
- Do I become a Canadian when I marry a Canadian?
- How much does it cost to apply for Canadian citizenship?
- I am a citizen of another country. Will I lose that citizenship if I become a Canadian?
