Between the Instruction Guide and IRCC Program Delivery Instructions (see link to citizenship PDIs at
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...ns-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals.html ), IRCC provides the ROUTINELY processed citizenship applicant with all the information the applicant needs to know.
For the ROUTINELY processed application, the steps are simple:
-- application received and checked by CPC-Sydney; we do not know all the checks done at this stage, but for sure the application is screened for completeness, file opened in GCMS, referrals to RCMP and CSIS for clearances are made, and it appears there is still some further screening done at CPC-Sydney between AOR and In Process
-- In Process means that CPC-Sydney has referred the application to a local office; however, this does NOT necessarily mean the local office has taken any action on the file and indeed it is not likely there is action taken UNTIL a processing agent takes action to prepare for administration of test (if applicable) and interview, which leads to . . .
-- Processing agent prepares file for test/interview (we do not know all the details about this action, but probably takes less than an hour for the vast majority of applicants), including scheduling
-- Test/Interview done in local office
-- If the application is still in the Routine Processing stream, the processing agent submits application to Citizenship Officer for decision-making
-- Citizenship Officer decides to grant citizenship, which is the Decision Made, and initiates steps to schedule oath
-- Oath ceremony
Obviously, if there is any non-routine action taken, that involves a tangent/procedure outside the above processing stream. A very common and not usually a problem non-routine action is a Finger Print request, which can be initiated by CPC-Sydney or the local office, but of course this takes the application out of the routine processing stream at least temporarily.
REMINDERS:
-- The vast, vast majority of time between AOR and Decision Made the application is sitting in a queue waiting on an appropriate processing agent or officer to take the next step.
-- GCMS tends to be out-of-date for some steps and some actions; for example
-- -- AOR is an acknowledgement of receiving the application and typically does NOT get entered into GCMS until MONTHS later than when IRCC actually receives the application, and similarly
-- -- "In Process" means the application has passed the checks done in the CPC-Sydney and the file/application has been referred to a local office for "processing," BUT GCMS may fail to show the file/application is in a local office UNTIL much later when a processing agent in the local office actually takes some action on the file/application
-- -- Formal background clearances (RCMP-criminal check; CSIS-security check) may be complete but GCMS will often show these as outstanding, perhaps for a long time after the respective agency has completed and submitted its clearance, typically until a processing agent or officer has taken some action on the file/application which includes logging clearance results (this is very similar to the application being at IRCC for a long while before AOR, before GCMS will show the file is at IRCC)
For ROUTINELY processed citizenship applications there is a "clear map" for how the application is handled, but the precise details are not entirely public information. Once the file passes the completeness check in Sydney, the file includes a File Requirements Checklist (FRC) which outlines the entire process. However, the FRC is confidential, as in NOT publicly available information. Indeed, it appears that even if the application ends up in litigation before the Federal Court, the FRC is NOT included in the certified record, so that neither applicants nor their lawyers get access to it. (Similarly, the File Preparation Template, which is also used for contested-presence-cases and which details IRCC's investigation regarding presence-questions, is not part of the certified record, apparently for the same reason.)
There is a leaked copy of a very early version of the FRC floating around the internet, from 2012 (when major changes to the process were implemented by Minister Kenney under PM Harper); the current FRC (or its equivalent if the label has changed) is for sure different than the 2012 version (some of us obtained later internal memos, through the ATI process, documenting some changes which, however, also included a significant amount of redacted material), but most information tends to confirm that the general outline (or "map" if one prefers) is at least very similar.
In any event, as for . . .
"Does [In Process] mean the application has reached the local processing office? Or does it mean the local processing office has started processing it?"
Neither. But it has been "referred" to the local office. Timeline between referral to the local office (between the "In Process" date) and when someone in the local office actually takes action on the file, varies considerably.
CPC-Sydney.
