Montreal man struggles with bureaucracy as he aims to become Canadian citizen

In the summer of 2019, James Farley submitted his papers to become a Canadian citizen. Initially, everything appeared to be going smoothly. He passed his citizenship test in 2021.

"The only thing outstanding was the oath ceremony," Farley said. "So I'm telling friends and family, 'This is it.'"

Even though it's been more than a year, Farley still has not received his invitation to a citizenship ceremony. Instead, he's been asked to submit fingerprints three times.

"The last note I see from them is, 'We have contacted you because we require more information to move your application forward,' which is the fingerprints that have already been submitted," Farley said.

Farley says he's never been in trouble in Canada and back home in the U.K.

"I have no criminal background, my whole life," Farley said. "Never had any trouble with the law at all."

Farley chalks it up to bureaucracy and a serious breakdown within Canada's immigration system.

"It just kind of feels like there's a black hole somewhere in the pipeline," Farley said. "They're communicating with me, I'm communicating back, and they're telling me they haven't heard from me, and it's extremely frustrating." 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in an email to CTV News Wednesday evening that it could not comment on Farley's specific case due to privacy reasons.

Sofica Lukianenko, a government spokesperson, said in the email that cases take longer to process than others, but citizenship ceremonies usually take place between four to six months after passing the test.

Lukianenko added that some cases can take longer if applications are "non-routine."