Complete your application — Citizenship
Before you apply for citizenship, you should make sure you are eligible.
Follow these steps to become a Canadian citizen.
1. Get an application package
Note: If your application is incomplete or missing information, we will return it to you. Please make sure you include postal codes for all Canadian and overseas addresses.
If you are an adult (age 18 or older), use:
If you are applying for your children (under age 18), use:
You can apply for your children:
- at the same time you apply for yourself or
- after you have become a citizen.
To apply using the fast-track process for members of the Canadian Armed Forces, use:
The application package includes the instruction guide and all the forms you need to fill out. Use the guide to help you fill out the forms correctly.
When you are done, attach photocopies of all the documents, unless the document checklist specifies that you must provide originals. If photocopies are requested, do not send the originals. You will have to show the originals when you come for your test or interview, so make sure you bring them with you.
You must include all the forms, information, documents and fees we ask for, including postal codes for all Canadian and overseas addresses. If any are missing, your application is not complete and we will send it back to you. You will have to send it again with the missing information included.
If you are sending more than one application (for example, applications for several family members) and one of them is not complete, we will send all of them back to you.
Use the instruction guide and the document checklist to make sure you do not miss anything.
2. Pay the application fees
You must pay the application fees in Canadian funds. We will not refund the fees to process your form (or your children’s, if you are applying for them). Make sure you are eligible and ready to become a citizen before you apply.
Note: You can use one receipt for your whole family, as long as you send all the application forms in the same envelope.
You must pay the application fees online. There is no other way to pay.
The instruction guide has more detailed information on fees.
3. Submit your application
If you apply for more than one person and want your applications processed at the same time, put all the forms and documents in the same envelope. If there are issues with one of the applications, the rest may continue to be processed.
If you send the applications in different envelopes, we will process them one at a time.
Note: If you sign your application more than three months before we get it or if you date it into the future, we will send it back to you. You must be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship the day before you sign the application form or earlier.
Send your completed application form, along with all the documents on the checklist, to one of these addresses:
By regular mail
Case Processing Centre—Sydney
Grant Adults
P.O. Box 7000
Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P 6V6
Canada
By courier
Case Processing Centre—Sydney
Grant Adults
47–49 Dorchester Street
Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P 5Z2
Processing times
Find out how long it will take us to process your application.
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How-to video
Save Time: Send a Complete Application