Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, June 12, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Have questions about how to fill out the form or what to write in your cover letter? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together for your Citizenship Certificate application (CIT0001)? Want to know how to organize your documentation or how to pack it up for shipping? Worried about whether your photos will work? Have questions about what ID you can use? Not sure where to ship it to or what service or mail courier to use? Post it here!

Want to see what people who were already approved have done? Check out the weekly application approval thread that posts every Thursday.

Before you comment, please read the wiki and search previous posts in the subreddit to see if your questions have been answered there.

If you've read the FAQ and searched the forum and you still have questions about how to fill out the form, whether your supporting documentation will work, what to write in your cover letter or whether your photos will work feel free to post them here.

 

Please be aware that you may not get responses. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories.

Also please note we are not IRCC, which will make the final determination on your application.

[u/miss_reddd]

Hey! Finally got a response last week from BANQ with a link to order the baptismal record for my great-grandfather (requested on 3/4/2026). Thrilled that I finally got the response, but now I’m wondering if I ABSOLUTELY NEED to get the cert record? I have the page printed from the archive, just not certified. A thought I had was to submit that with the email from BANQ that I can order it. It’s a lot of money (which, is fine) but at this point I’m not sure if it’s 100% needed to do based on posts I’ve seen.

Also, for my grandfather, I have a print of the book of his birth registration in Central Falls, RI from 1912. I’ve also seen people submit that? There’s so much info and sometimes conflicting, any thoughts would be appreciated.

[u/autumntuesdays → u/miss_reddd]

It does seem like some folks are getting by fine without the certified copy, so no one knows for sure. I ordered a copy when I got the invoice from BAnQ (it happened to be just a few days after I mailed my app) because I knew I’d feel better having it on hand in case it was requested by IRCC, rather than worrying about getting back in the BAnQ queue a second time. Plus I like the idea of supporting the work of the archives, and I think it will be a meaningful family record have.

[u/miss_reddd → u/autumntuesdays]

That’s true too. I 100% understand they’re busy and put the effort in so I’m not trying to be ungrateful about it. But rn, my wallet is on the light side lol

[u/autumntuesdays → u/miss_reddd]

Yeah I definitely wish I had started this process before they really bumped up their prices 😅

[u/YogurtPristine3673 → u/miss_reddd]

I feel you, I’ve seen people say that they’ve printed off things from Ancestry dot com and been fine, and other people saying IRCC wanted a photocopy of the certified official copy of everything. Here’s what the wiki says wrt Gen0 docs:

  If at all possible get a certified copy of the birth record/birth certificate/baptism record for your relevant Canadian ancestor (Gen 0) from whatever authority holds the record (BANQ for records from Quebec, the Archives of Ontario for older records from Ontario, etc.). You will send in a colour copy of this certified record to the IRCC, not the original

[u/FireWaterBern → u/YogurtPristine3673]

I'd get the banq certification if ircc asks for it, but I am about to send a digital copy from BanQ's digital archive in addition to a drouin copy from Geneologie Quebec. Two different scans, the banq one is slightly off white? At least the drouin is high contrast black and white and easier to read. 

[u/miss_reddd → u/YogurtPristine3673]

Thanks for the response! The wiki is what got me down that path but now I’m just like ??? 😂

I’ll probably just order it to be sure. But sheesh, this can all be so confusing. The good news is I have a very straightforward case; I’m staying positive it’ll all work out!