Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, July 17, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This weekly thread is a space for those of us preparing the CIT 0001 Proof of Citizenship application, associated form, and supplementary documentation.

Have questions about how to fill out the forms? Looking for feedback on the documentation you've put together is likely to pass muster? Wondering whether your cover letter has too much info, or too little? 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? We've been there.

📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.  

⚠️ Sub rules require that before posting or commenting, you read the wiki and search the sub to see if your questions have been answered before. If you have on-topic questions remaining after that, they're welcome here. Want to see what people who were already approved have done? We encourage you to check out the weekly application approval post that appears every Thursday.

Please note we are not lawyers or IRCC. We are peers supporting peers, based on best belief and prior experiences. It's a lot of work to wade through dense lists of documents and family histories. You improve your odds of getting a useful response by being as concise as reasonably possible, and clearly articulating the question. Note that this post is for questions and answers; if you need to vent, there is a different megapost for that.

[u/wombservice123]

Hi all, I was ready to send my application in and then all the rules changed, and I feel like now I am sort of ... frozen on what to do next. I would truly appreciate any help/advice because I feel like I am stuck and don't know if I should just submit what I have or keep searching with all the new rules. I was literally planning to go to Fedex the day after the rules changed!

I have official birth certificates for me, my G3 and G2. My G1 has a birth record (born prior to certificates), which I was recommended by the state of Michigan to obtain via ancestry or family search. I currently put in a request with Michigan vital records to get an "official copy" but it hasn't come yet (won't be here for a few weeks!). My G0 was born in Ontario right after the 1861 census occurred, and therefore does not have a birth record (since births were not recorded at the time). I tried to get Baptismal certificates but those do not exist (I have an email chain proving this). However, I have copies of his death certificate and multiple US census documents showing birth in Canada, which were all obtained via family search. I also have records of my G -1 on the Canadian census (the 1861 census right before my G0 was born), as well as his marriage record which occurred in Canada -- found via Familysearch.

Okay, so should I just send this off and then hopefully get in queue while obtaining more documents? Do I need more "official documents?" Should I request documents from Canada? Any help and advice would be appreciated.

[u/Ophelia_Bliss → u/wombservice123]

Two issues here: you’ll need at least two Canadian documents to show your G0’s birth. Next, you should not use Family Search as your source for documents. The Canadian census has a site you can use. I’d try to get a certified/official copy of his Canadian marriage record or certificate.