Canada visa processing update: India's visitor visa wait hits 106 days

Canada's latest November 2025 update shows a sharp rise in visitor and super visa waits for Indian applicants

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Wednesday update shows that applicants from India are now waiting 106 days for a standard visitor visa and 171 days for a super visa, making these among the longest processing times released in the November 19, 2025 update. Study permits for Indian applicants currently take four weeks, while work permits from outside Canada remain at 10 weeks.

 

The figures show how long people must wait to rejoin family, start new education plans, move for work or complete their permanent residency and citizenship applications. Permanent residency and citizenship timelines are now refreshed monthly, while temporary visas, PR cards and permit timelines are reviewed every week.

 

Citizenship

 

Citizenship processing remains steady, with IRCC reporting a wait of 13 months for grant applications and around 2,90,700 people currently in the queue. Certificates, which many applicants use to prove Canadian citizenship for passports or official records, now take about 9 months, rising by one month since the previous update. Around 39,000 people are waiting in this category, and delays can stretch further when applications are submitted from outside Canada or the United States. IRCC is now issuing acknowledgement letters for applications filed towards the end of July 2025, which gives applicants a sense of where the current queue stands.

 

Study visas

 

Study permit processing has improved for most major source countries, including India, where the wait has shortened to four weeks. The United States and the Philippines also stand at four weeks, while Nigeria and Pakistan are at seven weeks. These timelines apply to applications lodged from outside Canada, and the pattern suggests faster movement across several regions since October. Inside Canada, however, the wait is longer: new study permits take about 12 weeks, and extensions are currently taking more than five months. The updated figures show that post-pandemic student mobility remains high, and IRCC continues to process large volumes of applications as the new academic cycles progress.

 

Visitor visa processing times

Outside Canada

• India: 106 days (up by 20 days)

• United States: 35 days (down by 3 days)

• Nigeria: 26 days (down by 4 days)

• Pakistan: 85 days (up by 29 days)

• Philippines: 21 days (down by 3 days)

 

Inside Canada

• Visitor visa: 18 days

• Visitor record extension: 200 days

 

Super visa processing times

• India: 171 days

• United States: 58 days

• Nigeria: 49 days

• Pakistan: 202 days

• Philippines: 122 days

 

Work permit processing times

Outside Canada

• India: 10 weeks

• United States: 6 weeks

• Nigeria: 8 weeks

• Pakistan: 8 weeks

• Philippines: 6 weeks

 

Inside Canada

• Initial and extension applications: 229 days

 

Other categories

• Seasonal Agricultural Worker Programme: 10 days

• International Experience Canada: 5 weeks

• Electronic Travel Authorisation: usually 5 minutes; may take up to 72 hours if further checks are required

 

Permanent resident cards

• New PR card: 58 days (five days faster)

• PR card renewal: 30 days (no change)

 

Family sponsorship applications

Spouses and partners outside Canada (non-Quebec)

• Around 45,200 people in the queue

• Processing time is 14 months

• Down by one month

 

Spouses and partners outside Canada (Quebec)

• Around 20,100 people waiting

• Processing time is 37 months

• Down by two months

 

Spouses and partners inside Canada (non-Quebec)

• Around 49,900 people waiting

• Processing time is 20 months

• Down by two months

 

Spouses and partners inside Canada (Quebec)

• Around 12,200 people waiting

• Processing time is 37 months

• Down by two months

 

Parents and grandparents (non-Quebec)

• About 47,100 people waiting

• Processing time is 42 months

• Up by 16 months

 

Parents and grandparents (Quebec)

• About 12,900 people waiting

• Processing time is 50 months

• Up by six months

 

Quebec’s sponsorship pathway continues to move at a slower pace due to the extra provincial authorisation step.

 

Humanitarian and protected persons applications

H&C outside Quebec

• About 49,300 people waiting

• Processing time is more than 10 years

• No change

 

H&C in Quebec

• About 17,000 people waiting

• Processing time is more than 10 years

• No change

 

Protected persons outside Quebec

• About 1,41,300 people waiting

• Processing time is about 100 months

• Up by one month

 

Protected persons in Quebec

• About 54,900 people waiting

• Processing time is about 106 months

• Up by two months

 

Dependants of protected persons

• Processing time: 50 months

• No change

 

Permanent residency – economic class

Canadian Experience Class

• About 19,800 people waiting

• Processing time is 7 months

• Up by one month

 

Federal Skilled Worker Programme

• About 24,500 people waiting

• Processing time is 6 months

• No change

 

PNP (Express Entry)

• About 10,700 people waiting

• Processing time is 6 months

• Down by one month

 

Non-Express Entry PNP

• Around 96,000 people waiting

• Processing time is 16 months

• No change

 

Quebec Skilled Worker

• About 26,400 people waiting

• Processing time is 11 months

• No change

 

Quebec Business Class

• Processing time is 84 months

 

Federal Self-Employed

• Processing time is more than 10 years

 

Atlantic Immigration Programme

• About 13,300 people waiting

• Processing time is 37 months

 

Start-Up Visa

• About 43,800 people waiting

• Processing time is more than 10 years

 

While Express Entry programmes remain steady, business immigration categories continue to move slowly, with extremely long waits in the Start-Up Visa and federal self-employed streams.