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Indian Nationals Now Getting Visitor Visas and Work Permits Faster
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has released its latest update on immigration application processing times, covering temporary residence, permanent residence and citizenship applications.
The new update highlights improvements in several categories, particularly for visitor visa applicants from India. At the same time, some family sponsorship programs have experienced slight increases in processing times.
Below is an overview of the most notable changes.
Visitor Visas Become Faster for Indian Applicants
Processing times for visitor visas have improved across multiple countries. Indian applicants saw the most significant improvement, with wait times dropping by two weeks.
Current visitor visa processing estimates include:
- Inside Canada: 18 days (previously 19 days)
- India: 57 days (previously 71 days)
- Pakistan: 49 days (previously 53 days)
- Nigeria: 53 days (previously 56 days)
- United States: 17 days (previously 23 days)
These reductions indicate that applicants from several countries may experience faster decisions when applying for short-term travel to Canada.
Work Permit Processing Shows Mixed Changes
Work permit processing times have remained mostly stable. However, some regions saw minor changes.
- India: Processing time improved slightly, dropping from 8 weeks to 7 weeks.
- United States: Applications are now processed in about 9 weeks, down from 10 weeks.
- Nigeria: Wait times increased from 11 weeks to 13 weeks.
- Inside Canada: Processing rose slightly to 259 days from 256 days.
Study Permit Processing Largely Unchanged
Most study permit processing times remain the same. The only notable improvement was for applicants from the United States, where processing dropped from 6 weeks to 5 weeks.
For Indian applicants, study permit processing continues to average around 4 weeks.
Super Visa Wait Times Slightly Improve
Super visa processing times have seen modest improvements for several countries.
- India: Reduced from 210 days to 208 days
- Pakistan: Reduced from 136 days to 132 days
- Nigeria: Reduced from 47 days to 44 days
Super visas allow parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to visit Canada for extended periods.
Permanent Residence Processing Mostly Stable
Processing times for economic immigration programs remain largely unchanged.
Under the Express Entry system, the following timelines remain the same:
- Canadian Experience Class: 7 months
- Federal Skilled Worker Program: 7 months
Similarly, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) timelines remain unchanged:
- Express Entry-linked PNP: 7 months
- Base PNP streams: 13 months
Processing for the Atlantic Immigration Program also remains steady at 33 months, which continues to exceed its official service standard.
Family Sponsorship Sees Some Changes
Family sponsorship programs experienced minor adjustments in processing times.
- Spousal sponsorship inside Quebec: increased slightly from 35 months to 36 months.
- Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP): processing times dropped by one month both within and outside Quebec.
A major improvement was seen in dependent child sponsorship applications from India, where processing times dropped significantly from 16 months to 8 months.
Citizenship Processing Times Improve
Citizenship applications have also become slightly faster.
- Citizenship grants: reduced from 14 months to 13 months.
- Citizenship certificates (proof of citizenship): reduced from 11 months to 10 months.
Understanding Processing Times
Processing times published by IRCC reflect the estimated waiting period for applications submitted today. These estimates are based on historical data and current application volumes.
Service standards, on the other hand, are internal targets set by IRCC, indicating how long the department aims to take to process most applications.
Overall, the latest update suggests modest improvements across several immigration streams, particularly for visitor visa applicants from India and dependent child sponsorship cases.