The most common queries immigrants and applicants have are how long it will take for the process to complete and how long will the processing of the application take. The processing type will differ based on what type of visa you have applied for and also on the program through which you have applied.
The processing time according to the Canadian immigration authorities is equal to the time it takes for the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada to complete processing your application, that is from the day they receive the application to the day they make the final decision on it. The time it takes for you to submit the expression of interest, receive an invitation to apply, the preparation of documents, submission of the application, and send the final visa permit or status card via mail is not counted in the processing time.
What Affects The Processing Time Of Any Application?
Here are a few factors that have an impact on the duration of the processing time of your visa application.
1. Country Of Residence
The processing times of certain applications depend on the home country of the person who has applied. Before, the processing time would also vary depending on which visa office your application reached. This was mainly due to the reason that the applications for permanent residency, temporary residency well as visa and permit applications were sent for processing to the nearest visa office.
Nowadays, an application is moved through a global network of visa processing offices to make the processing of applications as efficient as possible. This means your application doesn’t need to be processed by the nearest visa processing office. It will be sent to the office that can most efficiently process your application.
2. Type Of Application
On the basis of the type of visa or permit for which you have applied, the processing time differs big time. It also depends on how many applications of the same category are being processed at that time by the immigration offices. If a certain program has more applicants submitting their applications, then their processing will take longer.
3. Completeness
If your application is not complete in every sense, the IRCC can either reject your application or send it back for you to fix the mistakes and reapply. Either way, it leads to delays. In the worst case, the offices may think that you are trying to mislead them or manipulate the immigration process in some way and ban you from reapplying.
Average Processing Times Of Various Immigration Programs
We have discussed some most commonly used streams to apply for Canadian immigration and permanent residency and their approximate processing time. It is extremely important to note here that these are not hard time limits but rather the best estimates. The processing time also varies depending on whether you submitted your application electronically through an online portal or the paper-based procedure of sending a hard copy.
Express Entry Program
Approximately all of the applications that are submitted to the Express Entry Program have completed processing in six months from when they are received by the visa office. Keep in mind that the processing time mentioned here does not include the time it takes you to make a submission of the Express Entry profile, the time it takes to receive an Invitation To Apply and the time it takes you to submit the final and complete application. This processing time applies to all the streams under the Express Entry program (FST, FSW, CEC) and also is true for the Express Entry stream under various Provincial Nominee Programs.
Study Permit
The processing time of a study permit varies a lot. This is mainly for the reason that it also depends on the home country of the person who is applying. At the least, it has been being around 1 to 2 weeks, but for some countries, the applicants have experienced a processing time of up to 16 weeks as well. The processing time of the study permit also depends on the workload i.e. the number of applications being processed at that time. If you send your application at a time that is closer to the beginning of the academic year in Canada, you may have some delays in the processing of your application.
Post-Graduation Work Permits
This visa can be thought of as an extension of a work visa. The processing time for a post-graduate work permit will differ depending on the method you have used to apply. If you send your application through an online portal, it will take around 99 days to process. If you have submitted a hard copy through a paper-based system, the processing of the application will take around 117 days.
Permanent Resident Card
The application for gaining a new permanent resident card takes around 13 days to complete processing. But if you have applied for renewal or replacement of your permanent resident card, it can take up to 24 days for the processing to complete.
Sponsoring A Spouse For Permanent Residency
If you have submitted an application to become a sponsor for your spine and help them gain Canada PR, your application can take around 12 months to complete processing. The processing time of such an application varies depending on if the spouse to be sponsored is already living in Canada or will be entering Canada from outside. But mostly, for the benefit of the applicants, the processing time has been made a standard of 12 months regardless of the type of application.
Visitor Visa
A visitor visa processing time will differ depending on where the applicant is residing and how the submission is made. If you apply while you are living in Canada, and through an online portal, it will be processed in 12 days. If you send a hard copy paper-based application from within Canada, it will take 27 days to complete processing. If you are sending the application form outside Canada, the processing time will differ depending on your home country.
