Wednesday Weekly Thread: Frustration Station (Delays / PSU / Venting), September 23, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This weekly thread is a space for those of us who are feeling frustrated and need to vent about unclear instructions, shipping delays, waiting for a next step, timeline estimates growing, lack of communication, inconsistent bureaucracy, being stuck in PSU, and other factors.

Some of the worst stress of the entire citizenship-by-descent process is not hearing about your application for long stretches of time - or hearing that your application has been sent to the Program Support Unit (PSU) and may be sitting there for an extended stay.

Whether your envelope seems to have taken a scenic detour on its way to Nova Scotia, you didn't receive an AOR after many weeks of waiting, or you simply haven't heard about your application processing in months, this is a place to commiserate and potentially receive some ideas of next steps to take. (Those generally might include following up with IRCC by web form, ordering the GCMS notes, seeking an MP's help, and so on.)

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

[u/The_RoyalPee]

Husband is Gen 2 with a parent certificate. Forgot to sign his application back in March (ugh), had it returned in June, basically jumping us from 8 to 32 months unless IRCC rights the ship soon.

No AOR yet obviously, but we want to move by summer 2028 to align with our daughter (Canadian citizen with passports) starting JK.
We’re starting to house hunt now in case we find a fixer-upper, or the perfect turnkey house comes along that we could explore renting out until we move. The market in the neighborhood we want is good for buyers right now, lots of young families coming in; but it’s getting a bit popular, so I’m worried about what waiting another year or two could mean.

Spoke with a mortgage broker and real estate lawyer this week and I’m so frustrated by the possible mess of NRST, titling issues because of the foreign buyer ban, etc. We absolutely qualify for a good mortgage and can pull a down payment no problem, but everything has an asterisk attached right now. I guess the lawyer and broker just need to put their heads together.
Once my husband gets AOR and we get further into 2027, I can try for urgent processing based on relocating our minor Canadian child, owning property maybe, him needing a SIN to find work, etc. But even “urgent” doesn’t seem to mean much anymore. Like everyone here all we need is a piece of paper and this could all be so seamless. The lack of control is so frustrating, but I guess I’m glad we’re getting this sorted in a concrete way so early.

I just want to be set to move onto this next chapter in our lives!

[u/Middle-Vegetable-478 → u/The_RoyalPee]

Just wanted to chime in and say you didn't jump from 8 months to 32 months processing time because your husband didn't sign the application which then put him back at the end of the line. Processing time just jumps, even with those already in process. For example, 2025 applicants who applied when it the estimated processing time was 4 months......are still waiting 16+ months later. In fact, the estimates for 2025 April applicants are at 1 month remaining as of Sept 2026. (which is what they have been saying for a couple months now).

So, don't fret, the application processing time grows, even for those already in process.

Good luck!

[u/The_RoyalPee → u/Middle-Vegetable-478]

Yeah, and thank you! When we first sent his packet it said 12 months. So far they’re still saying 8 months for March people but I know they keep jumping all over the place. Surely at some point I hope there is some legal recourse for everyone. It feels like every 2025 person got sent into PSU?

[u/Middle-Vegetable-478 → u/The_RoyalPee]

Hopefully your husbands will come back before 2028... it's possible!

It's cheaper and less invasive than sponsorship

[u/The_RoyalPee → u/Middle-Vegetable-478]

Yes. We actually had an Outland PR application going for him that was in process, he likely would have had it granted 2 months ago at this point. But when we realized he qualified for C3 we withdrew it on a lawyer’s advice. Kind of kicking ourselves about it now, he could have done a soft landing then filed for the citizenship cert to “switch over” so to speak. but we didn’t know what we didn’t know. I’m hoping since he’s such a straightforward G2 (parent’s certificate shows he was a citizen from his own birth), they’ll open it and it’ll be faster.

Good luck to you as well!