IRCC announces current applications waiting times

by Michael Scott

We often take for granted the rights and privileges offered us by government authorities. As Canadians we receive government information that many other countries do not provide. In September 2025 IRCC announced current waiting times for applications submitted under permanent residence, temporary residence, and citizenship. The information provides an accurate picture of how the government is handling the challenges of limited housing, infrastructure needs, and health care in the face of rising immigration arrivals.

We are aware of the intentions of IRCC to cuts staff by 3,300 in the next four years and yet reduce backlogs. The answer may lie in the expanded use of AI to screen applications and other efficiency measures. The purpose of this article is to provide readers with processing times so that potential users can determine for themselves if the processing times are acceptable and understand what challenges they face now and into the near future. We may not all like the decisions made but we’ll have a better understanding of some of the challenges we face.

Significant improvements are evident in spousal sponsorship and dependent child sponsorship for those living in Canada as well as those planning to settle in Quebec, but the improvements are not consistent across applications.

Permanent Residence Application

Express Entry continues to be a popular application option for many at the federal level. The Canadian Experience Class has processing times of five months as of September 10, 2025. The time is less than the six months experienced by those applying to the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The average service standard for applications submitted to Express Entry remains at six months.

The provincial nominee programs provide an alternative for many applicants. If the provincial nominee submissions are through the enhanced Express Entry, the processing times are eight months, which compares favourably to the 19 months for submissions made through the non-Express Entry route. It is frustrating for many applicants, but the provincial nominee programs provide opportunities not available to Express Entry applicants such as submissions for low skill applicants in TEER 4 or 5 occupations. The option of choosing the provincial nominee programs is not eligible for family class submissions.

The family class stream is another way to achieve permanent residency in Canada. The family sponsorship has a processing time of 23 months for spouse or common law partners living with their Canadian sponsor inside the country and intending to reside outside Quebec. The difference in processing times is also found in the Parent and Grandparent sponsorship where applicant residence is also an important factor, with those living in Canada achieving their permanent residence is a shorter time. The sponsorship of a dependent child who resides with their sponsors inside Canada is also different for a dependent child sponsored from inside Canada as opposed to those sponsored from outside the country. It now takes roughly 29 months to sponsor a child from inside Canada, which is roughly 17 months longer than sponsorship from outside the country.

Temporary Residence Applications

The processing of the three most common types of temporary residence applications also varies by type: visitor visas, work permits, and study permits. If the applicant is a resident of Canada, the processing can take roughly 15 days for processing. IRCC does not regularly post the processing times from inside the country but offer a processing time of 14 days from outside the country, although the actual times from India is 75 days, 46 days from Pakistan and 24 days from the United States.

There is a difference in applications for work permits. It takes roughly 196 days for residents of Canada to have their submissions adjudicated. This compares with eight weeks from India, 12 weeks from Pakistan, 11 weeks from Nigeria and three weeks from the United States. IRCC have a published service standard of 120 days including initial work permit applications and extension requests. Outside Canada work permit applications have a service standard of 60 days except the International Experience Canada (IEC) permits, which have a 56-day service standard.

Applicants who apply for study permits from inside Canada have a current processing time of seven weeks. Permit extensions take much longer with 171-days for applicants inside the country. Applicants from outside the country face 60 days of processing time.

For visitor visas the times differ from work permit and study permit applications. IRCC has a standard of 112 days for super visas. Currently, the time for a super visa from India is roughly 153 days, 151 days for Pakistan, 51 days from Nigeria, and 78 days from the United States.

Canadian Citizenship Applications

IRCC does not publish service standards for citizenship certificates. The standard processing time for grant applications is 12 months. You can use the online portal to check the processing times of your in-process applications if you have a tracking number.

The above information is not complete in terms of all IRCC application submissions but only intended to give users a rough idea of the processing times they face. If you have a file number following receipt of an Acknowledge of Receipt (AOR) letter, you may have other options to retrieve an up-to-date report on the status of the submission. But you can be assured that the immigration department values your submission and is working on completing the assessment.

Michael Scott is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC, R525678) who has 30 years of experience with Immigration Canada and the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. He currently works as a licensed consultant with Immigration Connexion International Ltd. Contact him at 204-691-1166 or 204-227-0292. E-mail: mscott.ici@gmail.com.