Canada Updates Processing Times for Citizenship, PR, and Visas

Travel

Canada updates processing timelines for citizenship, PR, and visa applications starting March 18, 2025.

Canada has officially revamped its processing timelines for citizenship, permanent residency (PR), and visa applications from March 18, 2025. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is now publishing updated processing timelines once a month compared to its monthly updates in the past. It is making a change towards projecting more realistic expectations for applicants that are going through Canada's immigration process.

The new timeframes are indicative of the length of time for the IRCC to process 80% of completed applications. These projections offer applicants a greater insight into the amount of time they will wait for a response. Processing times can be vary based on circumstances such as numbers of outstanding applications and the degree of complexity involved in individual applications. Incomplete applications or applications that need information can be held up.

Updated key processing times are citizenship grants within 9 months, 4 months processing of citizenship certificates, issuance of new PR cards within 16 days, and PR card renewal within 14 days. Out-of-Canada visitor visa applications are processed in 83 days, while inside Canada it's 15 days. Study visas outside Canada now require approximately 15 weeks, while work visas outside Canada presently require approximately 20 weeks.

The IRCC further indicated that certain types of visas, such as the parents and grandparents' Super Visa, should take up to 133 days, with seasonal agricultural farm worker permits having a processing period of only 12 days. Further, Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) applications usually take minutes, even though some would take longer. The new timelines will assist visitors, students, and workers with planning their immigration process better so that they can get ready for the required wait times. It should be noted, however, that any delays or issues in applications might lead to long processing times.