Citizenship Application Delayed Over 2 Years

[yusufali85]

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice or shared experiences regarding a long-delayed Canadian citizenship application.

Timeline / background

• Applied for citizenship: January 2024
• Application status: Stuck at Background Verification / Prohibitions
• First fingerprint request: 2024 (completed)
• Second fingerprint request: January 2026
• I frequently get referred to secondary inspection at airports
• CBSA officers have told me my name matches someone they are looking for
• I have no criminal record, stable job, and full tax compliance

My questions:

1. Second fingerprint request
   What does it usually mean when IRCC asks for fingerprints again after almost 2 years?
   Does this suggest expired checks, name similarity, or something more serious?
2. CBSA name match issue
   If CBSA says my name matches someone of interest, does that mean my citizenship application will remain on hold until that person is found or cleared?
   Has anyone experienced this and eventually received citizenship?
3. Options to resolve delays
   Given the length of the delay:
   • Would contacting a citizenship/immigration lawyer help?
   • Are mandamus applications or legal notices effective in cases like this?
   • Realistically, do lawyers help speed things up, or do they mostly just get status updates?
     
   Any insights, similar experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[forw.jane]

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice or shared experiences regarding a long-delayed Canadian citizenship application.

Timeline / background

• Applied for citizenship: January 2024
• Application status: Stuck at Background Verification / Prohibitions
• First fingerprint request: 2024 (completed)
• Second fingerprint request: January 2026
• I frequently get referred to secondary inspection at airports
• CBSA officers have told me my name matches someone they are looking for
• I have no criminal record, stable job, and full tax compliance

My questions:

1. Second fingerprint request
   What does it usually mean when IRCC asks for fingerprints again after almost 2 years?
   Does this suggest expired checks, name similarity, or something more serious?
2. CBSA name match issue
   If CBSA says my name matches someone of interest, does that mean my citizenship application will remain on hold until that person is found or cleared?
   Has anyone experienced this and eventually received citizenship?
3. Options to resolve delays
   Given the length of the delay:
   • Would contacting a citizenship/immigration lawyer help?
   • Are mandamus applications or legal notices effective in cases like this?
   • Realistically, do lawyers help speed things up, or do they mostly just get status updates?
   Any insights, similar experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Fingerprints are valid for only a year. So repeat request do come if your application is still in progress.

 

[Seym]

You got your answer for 1.

2) No, until your background is cleared, which includes establishing you're not that person, regardless of how it's going for them.

3) We can't really answer this. There seems to be an uptick in demand letters and ALJRs (first steps of mandamus) and I've seen in this forum that some lawyers are saying that IRCC is less responsive to the "threat" mandamus is and is more susceptible to let it play out in the courts. Your call, really. The only real way a mandamus is absolutely affecting a citizenship application is if a judge sides on your side, but a potential hearing, assuming you start the process today, may happen a year or so from now. And to say it quite bluntly, 2 years "only" is a bit short if you're serious about getting a positive court decision.

You can go to a paid consultation with a lawyer if you want and see what your options are, but my 2 cents : there's a high chance tou get your citizenship in 2026 without doing anything. IRCC seems to be taking 2 to 3 years to resolve complex cases, and I've seen 2023 applicants reach the finish line in 2.5 years or so. It's not necessarily a trend and I don't have numbers to back it up, and there are applications older than 3 years, but I've seen enough cases to make it a reasonable expectation in your case. That includes a family member of mine, a July 2023 applicant who got their citizenship a month ago. If there's nothing wrong in your background (and no, having the same name as someone else is not wrong per se, just something to investigate , I'm talking more about suspicion of crime, refugee reavailment or other actual problems), you can absolutely just wait it out. It's gonna come at some point. If still not a citizen a year from now, yeah, maybe it's absolutely mandamus material, but for now, your best bet is still to use your money elsewhere than a lawyer. Contact IRCC or your MP and ask for your GCMS notes via ATIP if you want, it won't speed up your processing, but at the very least, it would be necessary as part of a mandamus application at some point to prove that you did everything in your power to get IRCC to give you your citizenship before heading to the courts...

 

[armoured]

• Second fingerprint request: January 2026

1. Options to resolve delays
   Given the length of the delay:
   • Would contacting a citizenship/immigration lawyer help?
   • Are mandamus applications or legal notices effective in cases like this?
   • Realistically, do lawyers help speed things up, or do they mostly just get status updates?

I largely agree with the comments by @Seym but emphasizing it's your choice - if you want to hire a lawyer earlier, fine, but it may be expensive with little to show for it.

BUT: since you got a second fingerprint request VERY recently, that is an indication that there is some movement and they are handling your file. While far from a guarantee, and I really don't want to set unrealistic expectations - there is at least some likelihood that they're working on it now (or more accurately will from the time they receive and register then fingerprints as received), and that the file may move forward normally in the next months (2-6 months? a guess). So personally I'd wait until ballpark mid-year before taking on any expensive steps.

One small comment on something I haven't followed much - there are occasional threads here about fingerprints taking a while to get from eg rcmp to IRCC. It may be in your interests to follow up on that and eg send copies to IRCC (or whatever is done to let IRCC know they've been done and make sure they get them). A month in the fingerprints 'getting there' may be normal, you don't want it to be longer.

 

[yusufali85]

3) We can't really answer this. There seems to be an uptick in demand letters and ALJRs (first steps of mandamus) and I've seen in this forum that some lawyers are saying that IRCC is less responsive to the "threat" mandamus is and is more susceptible to let it play out in the courts. Your call, really. The only real way a mandamus is absolutely affecting a citizenship application is if a judge sides on your side, but a potential hearing, assuming you start the process today, may happen a year or so from now. And to say it quite bluntly, 2 years "only" is a bit short if you're serious about getting a positive court decision.

You can go to a paid consultation with a lawyer if you want and see what your options are, but my 2 cents : there's a high chance tou get your citizenship in 2026 without doing anything. IRCC seems to be taking 2 to 3 years to resolve complex cases, and I've seen 2023 applicants reach the finish line in 2.5 years or so. It's not necessarily a trend and I don't have numbers to back it up, and there are applications older than 3 years, but I've seen enough cases to make it a reasonable expectation in your case. That includes a family member of mine, a July 2023 applicant who got their citizenship a month ago. If there's nothing wrong in your background (and no, having the same name as someone else is not wrong per se, just something to investigate , I'm talking more about suspicion of crime, refugee reavailment or other actual problems), you can absolutely just wait it out. It's gonna come at some point. If still not a citizen a year from now, yeah, maybe it's absolutely mandamus material, but for now, your best bet is still to use your money elsewhere than a lawyer. Contact IRCC or your MP and ask for your GCMS notes via ATIP if you want, it won't speed up your processing, but at the very least, it would be necessary as part of a mandamus application at some point to prove that you did everything in your power to get IRCC to give you your citizenship before heading to the courts...

Fingerprints are valid for only a year. So repeat request do come if your application is still in progress.

I understand now that this is more of a routine step and also gives me some hope that things are moving.

 

[yusufali85]

) We can't really answer this. There seems to be an uptick in demand letters and ALJRs (first steps of mandamus) and I've seen in this forum that some lawyers are saying that IRCC is less responsive to the "threat" mandamus is and is more susceptible to let it play out in the courts. Your call, really. The only real way a mandamus is absolutely affecting a citizenship application is if a judge sides on your side, but a potential hearing, assuming you start the process today, may happen a year or so from now. And to say it quite bluntly, 2 years "only" is a bit short if you're serious about getting a positive court decision.

You can go to a paid consultation with a lawyer if you want and see what your options are, but my 2 cents : there's a high chance tou get your citizenship in 2026 without doing anything. IRCC seems to be taking 2 to 3 years to resolve complex cases, and I've seen 2023 applicants reach the finish line in 2.5 years or so. It's not necessarily a trend and I don't have numbers to back it up, and there are applications older than 3 years, but I've seen enough cases to make it a reasonable expectation in your case. That includes a family member of mine, a July 2023 applicant who got their citizenship a month ago. If there's nothing wrong in your background (and no, having the same name as someone else is not wrong per se, just something to investigate , I'm talking more about suspicion of crime, refugee reavailment or other actual problems), you can absolutely just wait it out. It's gonna come at some point. If still not a citizen a year from now, yeah, maybe it's absolutely mandamus material, but for now, your best bet is still to use your money elsewhere than a lawyer. Contact IRCC or your MP and ask for your GCMS notes via ATIP if you want, it won't speed up your processing, but at the very least, it would be necessary as part of a mandamus application at some point to prove that you did everything in your power to get IRCC to give you your citizenship before heading to the courts...

One detail I didn’t mention earlier: my wife and I applied together. She has completed all steps a year ago and is only waiting for the citizenship ceremony. Her GCMS notes say “Grant Awaiting Group Members,” which suggests her application is being held because of mine.
We contacted IRCC and our local MP to request separation of our application, but IRCC declined. This feels unfair since her process is complete, and the delay is solely due to my background check.

 

[yusufali85]

One small comment on something I haven't followed much - there are occasional threads here about fingerprints taking a while to get from eg rcmp to IRCC. It may be in your interests to follow up on that and eg send copies to IRCC (or whatever is done to let IRCC know they've been done and make sure they get them). A month in the fingerprints 'getting there' may be normal, you don't want it to be longer.

That is good advice. I did not think of the delay from RCMP to IRCC for my fingerprints. Will wait a couple of weeks and follow up.

 

[yusufali85]

BUT: since you got a second fingerprint request VERY recently, that is an indication that there is some movement and they are handling your file. While far from a guarantee, and I really don't want to set unrealistic expectations - there is at least some likelihood that they're working on it now (or more accurately will from the time they receive and register then fingerprints as received), and that the file may move forward normally in the next months (2-6 months? a guess). So personally I'd wait until ballpark mid-year before taking on any expensive steps.

I think this makes sense. We would want to save our hard-earned money. It is not easy to shell out thousands of dollars in lawyer fees honestly. So waiting is our best bet. But if it does get delayed beyond the mid of this year. I am considering that we do mandamus application at least for my wife since she is all clear and only delayed because of my clearance.

 

[m34]

One detail I didn’t mention earlier: my wife and I applied together. She has completed all steps a year ago and is only waiting for the citizenship ceremony. Her GCMS notes say “Grant Awaiting Group Members,” which suggests her application is being held because of mine.
We contacted IRCC and our local MP to request separation of our application, but IRCC declined. This feels unfair since her process is complete, and the delay is solely due to my background check.

I spoke with IRCC a couple of months back regarding the possibility of separating files, but it appears they require a strong justification—such as a job-related obligation, academic requirement, or another convincing reason, otherwise the request is likely to be declined. I ended up not going for that although I do have good reasons to ask for seperation. Btw, I am in very similar situation with my group applicaiton.

In any case, best of luck. After two years, you’re almost at the finish line.

 

[saeed289]

The name similarity situation why it cannot be cleared with finger prints? I am in same boat too as i have most common first & last name and it is stuck for over 2 years now.

 

[Fias34]

The name similarity situation why it cannot be cleared with finger prints? I am in same boat too as i have most common first & last name and it is stuck for over 2 years now.

Finger print clearance? Here in Canada?
Bro! Here still they are asking for two physical ID cards for simple verification and local access offices still asks for your mother name to confirm / verify the identity...
Finger prints, Online background records, verifications, I think it will take a little bit more time, maybe after 2050s...