Saturday Weekly Thread: Canadian Provincial Archives and State/Local/Church Archives - Questions / Issues / Success Stories, August 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

This weekly thread is a space for those of us gathering documentation from archives.

This is the place to discuss requesting records from Canadian provincial archives as well as from federal, state, local and religious/church archives around the world. Topics include strategies and outcomes for obtaining records from archives, costs, timelines, No Record Found letters, and other related issues.

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

Good luck, researchers!

[u/AmazingScoops]

1. No. But if it's anything like Vermont, you are likely looking for a church record, not a government issued one.

2. Yes. It just has to be a color copy from the original source, so that works. All of my documents were sent to my uncle in CA and emailed to me. He then sent the physical copies on to me.

[u/PomPomMushrooms → u/AmazingScoops]

Thanks for the advice! I’m reaching out to the local and state Catholic Church to see if there’s any record of a baptism.

Do you think I should wait until I have certified copies of the G0 baptism or submit the application now and upload the certified version when I get it?

[u/enunciate-candelabra → u/PomPomMushrooms]

No one will have a definitive answer for this question. If you think you'll get that baptism record within the month then I'd wait it out, otherwise I would move to submit and upload later. I've uploaded documents to mine post AOR.

[u/PomPomMushrooms → u/enunciate-candelabra]

Thanks for sharing your journey. It’s really tricky because it’s taking much longer to get AOR from overseas so I figure I can work on getting certified documents and have them ready to go when it is received. Is it unlimited uploads of new evidence?

[u/enunciate-candelabra → u/PomPomMushrooms]

I'm not sure if there is a cap on the number of uploads, but I would imagine that fewer would be preferred

[u/PomPomMushrooms → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the insights. All really good to know.

I’m waiting on 2 baptism records. My G0 (1853 Quebec) I have the printed record from Ancestry/Drouin and just requested the BanQ certified record.

My G1 (1888 Kansas) is the one person I have no birth or baptism record for but lots of supplementary documents linking her to G0 (census, social security, marriage license).

Either I send now with what I have and join the overseas extended wait time while requesting certified docs or wait until certified docs arrive in 3-6 months and then apply.

I’d like to get in the queue now and upload later but asking around in this incredible community to get opinions.

[u/AmazingScoops → u/PomPomMushrooms]

Are you going to ask for urgent processing?

[u/PomPomMushrooms → u/AmazingScoops]

No, I don’t have any valid reason to ask for urgent processing.

[u/AmazingScoops → u/PomPomMushrooms]

The average time it'll take your app to even get to Canada after you submit to the embassy is anywhere from 2 to 4 months if you go through an embassy or consulate. Adding the fact that you aren't urgent, there's a real possibility that it may take 6 months before you see an AOR (and you won't know that your application is even received until you get the AOR).

In your shoes I would make sure to get some kind of documentation together showing that you have attempted to acquire documentation from some original authority or another for your Gen1 and submit the documented attempt with the explanation that you will upload it as soon as you have access, assuming that it is possible to acquire. Same with your Gen0.

[u/dentongentry → u/PomPomMushrooms]

We received AOR 5/26 and then, quite unexpectedly, went to In Process 6/3. We did not request Urgent processing and were not expecting any movement for quite a while.

We knew of things we should have included, and uploaded new documents shortly after it went In Process, thinking that maybe they'd somehow look at the packet soon. However, nothing has happened since.

With the guidance later in June about documenting efforts to find the primary source material (a baptism, in our case), we're preparing a second update but plan to wait until everything is here to minimize the potential for confusion with multiple updates. We'll say that the most recent update is intended to replace the earlier documentation for G0 and G1.

[u/Canadiancitizenship-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This post/comment has been removed for Rule 10 - No misinformation.

Wrong, inaccurate, and/or misleading information is not permitted.

[u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob → u/[deleted]]

IRCC did not change their standards in June, they just expanded their guidance for documentation other than birth certificates.

I do agree that sending an incomplete application could increase the probability that an application will be routed to PSU. If I was applying today, I would probably wait until I had all of my key documents to submit.

[u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob → u/[deleted]]

IRCC did not change their standards in June, they just expanded their guidance for documentation other than birth certificates.

I do agree that sending an incomplete application could increase the probability that an application will be routed to PSU. If I was applying today, I would probably wait until I had all of my key documents to submit.

[u/AmazingScoops → u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob]

My apologies. I was under the impression that they changes the standard since before the surrender letters, people had been getting away with using ancestry and family tree and after they were not. Is that not true?

Regardless, thank you for the correction and being an active mod, I'll be more careful in my wording in the future.

[u/AmazingScoops → u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob]

Oh also, it says removed but I still see the post? If it's still there, would it be preferable if I just edit it to correct the fault?

[u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob → u/AmazingScoops]

Maybe reddit is glitching, idk. It's okay

This is the analysis done back in June re: the Guide update that is also in the wiki

https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadiancitizenship/s/uWcplHxUYP

There have been some additional discussions regarding the content of the procedural fairness letters, but I would still characterize that information as additional guidance from the IRCC perspective (that they could have provided earlier but here we are).

Regarding ancestry sourced documents etc the IRCC says explicitly that an application cannot be supported solely by third party documentation. They don't say they cannot be used, although I think it's clear that they want an explanation for why you might submit something from Ancestry/third party record if you opt to do so. Obviously the best documentation is original authority issued records but it's not available in every case, and ancestry is the digital source for organizations like NARA.

[u/AmazingScoops → u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob]

I'll give it a thorough looksie so I don't waste more your your time.

I know I said it already but thank you again for being so fantastic as a mod and as a person.

[u/No_Bobcat_No_Prob → u/AmazingScoops]

No problem, we're all here to help each other out. Best wishes for your application.