Indian applicants seeking Canadian visas are now facing the longest wait times among major source countries, with visitor visa approvals taking an average of 99 days, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).Â
Super visa applications from India, meant for parents and grandparents of Canadian residents, currently take about 169 days to process.
The IRCC recently introduced real-time processing updates, replacing fixed timelines that often failed to reflect actual wait periods.
The new system updates data weekly for temporary visas and permits, and monthly for citizenship and permanent residency.
However, the backlog remains substantial, with around 290,700 applicants awaiting citizenship decisions, a process that now takes about 13 months on average.
Delays are attributed to factors such as background verification, workload, and the location of application submission.
Citizenship certificate requests can take up to nine months, while renunciation cases may stretch to 22 months.
Meanwhile, renewals for permanent resident cards are being processed in approximately 29 days, and new PR cards in about two months, according to Immigration News Canada.
