I don't think any of Dec 2023 applicants who are in security screening pool has made it through. We have seen some August applicants made it recently. I am October applicant, AOR November 1, 2023 and still stuck in background and prohibition.
Not necessarily. Citizenship applications can generally be grouped into two categories: routine and non-routine. If you are lucky enough to fall under the routine category, your application will be finalized within a few months. However, if you are among the less fortunate applicants, like most of us in this thread, processing times vary, but they typically take at least 24-30 months.
Think of it this way: among all non-routine applicants, the majority will be finalized within 24–36 months. There is a smaller subset of non-routine cases that are considered “more complicated,” and those can take much longer than the average. I’ve seen cases still waiting since 2017, but those are rare (likely only a few hundred applicants).
I hope this helps, and good luck with your application. My AOR is November 2023, and I expect my application to be concluded around Spring 2026, but that’s just my own expectation and hope.