Canadians can soon get their passport in 30 business days — or it’s free

2025/03/10 Leave a comment

Good to have this kind of service guarantee although more of a reflection of current service levels than a stretch commitment:

The federal government announced on Friday that it’s going to be speeding up the processing for passports so Canadians can get their documents within 30 business days — or they’ll be free.

Under the change, any complete passport application will be processed within 30 business days or it will be free, with the passport fees to be refunded. The 30-day period does not include the mailing time of the application or the passport itself.

The 30-day limit applies whether Canadians submit their application online, in person or by mail.

Citizens’ Services Minister Terry Beech did not say when the process would begin, however, only noting it would happen later this year.

The shift by the government comes just three months after thousands of Canadians saw passport delays amid the Canada Post strike, which followed months of issues due to post-COVID-19 delays.

Beech also noted in a press release that the federal government continues to roll out its online passport renewal program, which began in December 2024, with eligible Canadians able to complete their application, pay fees and upload a professional digital photo from their computer or mobile device.

The government says the phased roll-out is being used to monitor, adapt and refine the process to ensure it is working before it’s rolled out to more Canadians in the coming months.

Source: Canadians can soon get their passport in 30 business days — or it’s free

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Immigrants Are Becoming U.S. Citizens at Fastest Clips in Years

2024/08/14 Leave a comment

Not surprising, post Trump administration and prior to the 2024 elections. 5 month average processing time is impressive. While I don’t have the average number of months for Canadian citizenship, 71 percent of all applications in 2023 were processed in one year (below the target of 80 percent):

The federal government is processing citizenship requests at the fastest clip in a decade, moving rapidly through a backlog that built up during the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic.

At ceremonies in courthouses, convention centers and sports arenas across the country, thousands of immigrants are becoming new Americans every week — and becoming eligible to vote in time for the presidential election this fall.

It’s unclear how many of the new voters live in battleground states, but a number of the states where Kamala Harris or Donald Trump must win have large and growing numbers of voting-age naturalized citizens, including Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

In Savannah, Ga., people from 19 countries streamed into a federal courthouse recently to take the oath of allegiance.

“My case was done in less than six months,” said Gladis Brown, who is married to an American and emigrated from Honduras in 2018.

Generally, lawful permanent residents, known as green-card holders, are eligible to become naturalized citizens if they have had that status for at least five years, or have been married to a U.S. citizen for at least three years.

Green-card holders have many of the same rights as citizens. But voting in federal elections is a right accorded only to citizens. And that can be a powerful motivation to pursue citizenship, especially when big national elections are on the horizon.

“I’m so glad that the process moved quickly,” said Ms. Brown, who was one of the 31 immigrants being sworn in. “People like me want to vote in the election.”

After the ceremony, Ms. Brown celebrated with cake and punch from a local women’s volunteer group — and by completing a voter-registration form provided by a representative of the League of Women Voters.

Naturalization applications typically spike upward in the approach to an election.

“The surge in naturalization efficiency isn’t just about clearing backlogs; it’s potentially reshaping the electorate, merely months before a pivotal election,” said Xiao Wang, chief executive of Boundless, a company that uses government data to analyze immigration trends and that offers services to immigrants who seek professional help in navigating the application process.

“Every citizenship application could be a vote that decides Senate seats or even the presidency,” Mr. Wang said.

At under five months, application processing speed is now on a par with 2013 and 2014. About 3.3 million immigrants have become citizens during President Biden’s time in office, with less than two months to go before the close of the 2024 fiscal year.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services took 4.9 months, on average, to process naturalization applications in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, compared with 11.5 months in fiscal 2021.

After taking office in 2021, Mr. Biden issued an executive order that sought to dial back his predecessor’s hard-line immigration agenda and “restore faith” in the legal immigration system. Among other steps, the order called for action to “substantially reduce current naturalization processing times” with the goal of strengthening integration of new Americans.

Unlike many federal agencies, the citizenship agency is funded mainly by fees paid by applicants, rather than by congressional appropriations, giving the administration latitude to define its priorities and the allocation of resources.

The Biden administration began deploying new technology and additional staff in 2022 to reduce the pending caseload of citizenship applications, which had ballooned because of heightened scrutiny by the Trump administration and protracted pandemic-related delays in conducting the swearing-in ceremonies.

The Biden administration also shortened the naturalization application to 14 pages from 20. It raised the application fee in April to $710 from $640, but made it easier for low-income people to qualify for a discount.

While there has long been partisan disagreement over how to tackle illegal immigration and overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, naturalizing lawful residents had broad bipartisan support. As president, George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2002 expediting naturalization for noncitizens serving in the military. Since he left office, he has hosted oath ceremonies at his institute in Dallas.

But citizenship has become more politicized in recent years.

Intent on curbing legal immigration, the Trump administration conducted lengthier reviews of naturalization applications. The processing time roughly doubled to about 10 months during Mr. Trump’s tenure.

The bottleneck prevented some 300,000 prospective citizens from naturalizing in time to vote in the 2020 election, according to estimates by Boundless.

It is a crime for noncitizens, including legal permanent residents, to attempt to vote in federal elections. Some Republicans, including former President Trump and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have spread unfounded narratives about undocumented immigrants being encouraged to vote by Democrats….

Source: Immigrants Are Becoming U.S. Citizens at Fastest Clips in Years

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