Canada pauses some permanent-residence applications while checking citizenship claims

Canada's immigration department has put permanent-residence applications on hold for some people who may qualify for citizenship by descent under Bill C-3, CBC News reported November 5. The department said it could not say how many applications were affected because of systems limitations.

IRCC spokesperson Briannah Dale told CBC that a permanent-residence application is paused while a concurrent application for proof of citizenship is assessed. If citizenship is confirmed, the permanent-residence application is treated as withdrawn; otherwise, it returns to its original place in the processing queue.

An officer can also pause a permanent-residence application without a citizenship-certificate application if there are compelling reasons to believe the applicant may already be Canadian, Dale said. People who already hold permanent-resident status do not lose it while waiting for a citizenship certificate.

CBC reported that the wait for citizenship-certificate applications was 34 months, compared with 18 months for overseas spousal sponsorship outside Quebec. Halifax resident Michel Pottier told the broadcaster that his wife's applications had left them living on opposite sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

Source: Elizabeth Thompson, CBC News, November 5, 2026. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/immigration-permanent-resident-billc3-9.7409321