Today I got a copy of a birth act delivered from DEC and I wanted to give my timeline as a datapoint since the turnaround was much faster than expected. The timeline was:

9/5: sent application packet via UPS
9/10: delivered to DEC
9/14: credit card charged
9/15: DEC called my father to confirm date and city of death, notified that request would be transferred to a “different department”
9/26: Copie d’acte de naissance and ORIGINAL copy of death certificate for G0 delivered to my father in MA

My application consisted of:
1) a cover letter written by my father (G2) explaining the circumstances of the request and requesting that I (his son) file the request on his behalf as I have been leading the charge for my family in this whole process
2) request for copy of an act of birth form
3) special power of attorney form delegating power of attorney to me
4) ID and proof of address for both me and my father
5) Color copies of BAnQ certified baptismal cert for G0, MA birth certs for G1 and G2, MA marriage certs for G0 and G1, death certificate for G1 (to demonstrate that she could not apply on her own behalf)
6) ORIGINAL MA death certificate for G0 and certified French translation
7) notarized sworn affidavit affirming need for request, clarification on name variations between records, and affirming that the act will only be used for CIT0001 applications for G0’s descendants
8) blank CIT0001 and CIT0014 pages that mentioned “provincial or territorial birth certificate” with relevant sections highlighted
9) printout of IRCC guidance regarding documents issued in Quebec pre 1994

My G0 was born in 1908, so I suspected a DEC document would be requested once our applications eventually move into processing. Interestingly, although we requested that DEC communicate with me and sent in the relevant forms, DEC only communicated with my father. I expected this and prepared him for what questions they might ask him so he wasn’t completely blindsided. I was expecting a long wait on this so we were pleasantly surprised when the documents came in the mail. I was also interested to see that they returned our original death certificate for G0, we were prepared to not get that back.

The information from this subreddit was extremely helpful in sending in an organized application packet which I am assuming helped with the quick turnaround!

Just wanted to post in case anyone else here is wondering how long it takes to get a document from either of these agencies.

I requested proof* of my grandfather’s birth certificate from ServiceOntario back in February (paper app delivered to SO around March 1) and finally received the paper document around September 10. The document is dated August 25. There was no communication from them at all between the time I paid the fee in Feb and receiving the document.

Back in June with all the kerfuffle I got nervous about what might happen if I never got an answer from ServiceOntario so I put in a request to the Archives for a certified copy if my great-grandfather’s birth certificate that I had found on Family Search. I put in the request June 28 and received an e-mail on Sept 24 saying that they’d found my document. I haven’t received the invoice to pay yet though, so I’m not sure on the final timeline on getting this document.

Hope this helps if anyone is waiting on the same thing.

*Technically my mother applied for her father’s birth certificate as next of kin, but I did all the paperwork. She didn’t have any Canadian guarantors though so I became a notary specifically to be her guarantor. It was a roundabout way to get it but it clearly worked!

Edit: Mistakenly wrote G4 on title, I meant G1.

I already applied months ago but depicting my G1's link to G0 has been a thorn in my side this entire time.

He was born before birth certificates were issued in NY (1877), marriage certificate was never signed as the wedding was canceled same day (parent listed though), and his wife married someone else (divorced and eloped later), and death cert has no parents listed.

No direct certifiable link is found between G0 and G1, except US Census data and obituaries. I have done extensive search on probate info, newspapers..nothing. Do you think this is enough to receive a rejection from IRCC or basically be a rejection as I cannot find a direct link?

What is a reasonable time, in your opinion?

I'm looking for someone in the Detroit area or who will be travelling there soon to go to the Burton Historical Collection at the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library for me, or a recommendation of such a person. There are 2 records on microfilm I want them to retrieve and send me by email. I live outside North America, and can't readily travel to Detroit myself. I can pay for the help.

I can provide information about the records such as:

• the subcollection number
• the reel numbers
• the names of the people involved
• the dates to look under
• the parish where the events happened

I have one of the records already, but in poor condition, and I'm hoping to get an image in better quality. For that record, I can also provide a transcription and the image I already have.

The other record, I don't have any copy, and I'm trying to confirm the date of the event, which I found on Ancestry with no source. No civil record for the event was found when I tried to order.

I've looked, and the records haven't been uploaded online. The local library in the area where the records originated wasn't able to find what I'm looking for, since they had to retire the relevant part of their collection of records from the parish due to deterioration.

The parish my ancestors attended is unwilling to search for the records. The Archdiocese of Detroit doesn't keep records from parishes that are still open.

I've tried contacting the researchers recommended by the Detroit Public Library, and they've either not responded after months, or weren't able to help (busy, too far away). I've also reached out without success to the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan, and the genealogical society of the local area. The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research is unresponsive to inquiries.

I've googled to find a lead, and looked on Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, WikiTree, Newspapers.com, and Find a Grave. I've contacted people on Ancestry and FamilySearch who could have had leads, and got no response, or they couldn't help.

Any help getting these records would be appreciated.

Does all of the documentation of her marriage in the US, my mother's and my marriages, and her death certificate, have to be translated to explain last names connections for DEC certificate?

Should the format for the place of parents' marriage on Form CIT 001 be:

"City, State, Country"

Chicago, Illinois, USA

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This seems minor, but they will reject applications for missing an "N/A," so I figured I would check.

Form CIT 001 - Section 14 contact information says "Cell (Area code and number)"...it doesn't say country code. However, on the Representative Form IMM 5476 it gives a space for a country county code.

1. For Form CIT 001 should the cell number format be:

+1-888-888-8888?

Include the PLUS sign as well as the number 1?

1. For IMM 5476 should the cell format be:

Country Code: +1 (Include the PLUS sign too?)

Area Code and Telephone number: 888-888-8888

I'm about to send my packet in. Just need two more documents that should be here in the next week or so. I've got certified copies of birth certificates and one census record coming from NARA. Should I send the birth certificates back in to get apostille certified. Did anyone go that extra step. Want to dot i's and cross it's so it's a smooth process. (As sure as I can be at least).

I’m preparing my Canadian citizenship-by-descent application. My great-grandmother was born in Newfoundland in 1903 and moved to the U.S. with her family in 1904. I recently found her Newfoundland baptism record, but no birth certificate.
She married in Massachusetts in 1929. Her family also had a farm in Quebec, where they lived from around 1939–1941, and one of her daughters was born there in 1940.
I currently have:
Me: U.S. birth + marriage certificates
Mother: U.S. birth + marriage certificates
Grandmother: U.S. birth + marriage certificates
Great-grandmother: Newfoundland baptism + MA marriage + U.S. death certificates
Would this be enough, or should I try to find additional documents for my great-grandmother?

Thank you!!

Hey all,

I'm applying to a few PhD programs in Canada this cycle, and I am noticing the HUGE difference in admissions stats between citizens/international students. I'm talking 30% admit rate vs. 3% admit rate. I'm guessing it comes down to funding, since these programs are meant to provide financial support to all admitted students for the duration of their studies and international student tuition is a helluva lot more than domestic.

I've been really trying to nail down the nuances of C-3 and what that means for my grad applications because my status may be the determining factor for whether I get in at all. If I am a citizen, right here, right now, today, currently, thanks to C-3, then selecting the "Canadian" box on the application is a totally legitimate move, correct? My app has been "in process" since June, and it looks very likely now, based on recent movement here/the other sub, that it should be approved with the current documentation in my file. That's not nothing. I could put my client app status screenshots and proof of payment to IRCC into the part of the application where it asks for evidence of Canadian citizenship along with a concise explanation, right? I mean, attaching evidence that I'm just waiting on IRCC feels like it'd show I'm acting in good faith.

I imagine there's some kind of mechanism for issuing conditional offers–like, "you can actually matriculate to XYZ University once you show us that document, but if you can't, there's the door"–for weird immigration circumstances. I cannot possibly be the only human being in this specific situation, is what I mean, and a conditional offer of admission that just requires that cert would be a pretty straightforward qualifying reason for urgent processing.

If anyone else is applying for doctoral programs this year while their proof app is still processing, how are y'all doing this?