IRCC updates application processing times

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has published the latest processing times for permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship applications.

In this article, we look at how processing times for the various immigration application types have changed since 10 September 2025.

The most significant changes in processing times are seen in spousal sponsorship applications for those living in Canada who intend to settle in Quebec, as well as in dependent child sponsorship applications in Canada.

Permanent residence applications

Express Entry

Application type	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Canadian Experience Class	6 months	5 months
Federal Skilled Worker Program	5 months	6 months
Federal Skilled Trades Program	N/A	N/A

The service standard for all programmes Express Entry is 6 months.

Provincial Nominee Program

Application type	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Through Express Entry (enhanced)	7 months	8 months
Not through Express Entry (base)	19 months	19 months

Processing times for base streams can vary depending on when the candidate submitted their immigration application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

The service standard for enhanced PNP applications is 6 months, while base PNP applications have a service standard of 11 months.

Quebec immigration

Stream	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ)	11 months	11 months

The service standard for applications submitted under Quebec’s PSTQ stream is 6 months. IRCC currently notes that almost 24,000 applications are pending.

Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)

Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
13 months	13 months

Applications AIP have a service standard of 11 months.

Family sponsorship

Application type	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Spouse or common-law partner living in Canada	24 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 37 months (intending to reside in Quebec)	23 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 53 months (intending to reside in Quebec)
Spouse or common-law partner living outside Canada	15 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 41 months (intending to reside in Quebec)	15 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 41 months (intending to reside in Quebec)
Parents and Grandparents Program	26 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 44 months (intending to reside in Quebec)	26 months (intending to reside outside Quebec) 41 months (intending to reside in Quebec)

The most significant change in processing times – an increase of 16 months – is seen in spousal sponsorship applications submitted under the spouse or common-law partner living in Canada category (settling in Quebec).

The service standard for sponsorship applications for a spouse or common-law partner living outside Canada is 12 months. IRCC does not currently publish service standards for the other application types included in the table above.

Dependent child sponsorship

Trong Canada

Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
12 months	29 months

Processing times for dependent child sponsorship applications from within Canada have fallen considerably, by a total of 17 months.

Outside Canada

Applying from:	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
India	6 months	N/A
Nigeria	18 months	N/A

Previous processing times for India and Nigeria were not available for dependent child sponsorship.

IRCC’s service standard for dependent child sponsorship applications submitted from outside the country is 12 months; the service standard for in-Canada applications is not currently published by the immigration department.

Temporary residence applications

Visitor visa

Applying from:	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Canada	15 days	13 days
India	75 days	63 days
Pakistan	46 days	48 days
Nigeria	28 days	31 days
United States	23 days	24 days

The service standard for visitor visas submitted from outside Canada is 14 days. IRCC does not publish a service standard for in-Canada visitor visa applications.

work permit

Nigeria is the only country to see a significant fall in work permit processing times as at 1 October, with the time to obtain a work permit cut by half.

Applying from:	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Canada	196 days	190 days
India	8 weeks	8 weeks
Pakistan	12 weeks	12 weeks
Nigeria	11 weeks	22 weeks
United States	3 weeks	3 weeks

IRCC’s service standard for work permit applications submitted from within Canada is 120 days (covering both initial work permit applications and extensions).

Work permit applications from outside Canada have a service standard of 60 days – with the exception of International Experience Canada (IEC)permits, which have a service standard of 56 days.

Study Permit

Applying from:	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
*Canada	7 weeks	6 weeks
India	4 weeks	4 weeks
Pakistan	9 weeks	9 weeks
Nigeria	8 weeks	8 weeks
United States	10 weeks	10 weeks

*Processing times for in-Canada study permit applications are for initial study permits. As at 1 October, study permit extensions had a processing time of 171 days.

The service standard for study permit applications (initial and extension) submitted from within Canada is 120 days. Applications submitted from abroad have a service standard of 60 days.

Super visa

Applying from:	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
India	153 days	139 days
Pakistan	151 days	112 days
Nigeria	52 days	55 days
United States	78 days	89 days

Between 10 September and 1 October, processing times for super visa applications submitted from Pakistan rose by almost six weeks.

For super visas, the immigration department has a service standard of 112 days.

Nationality

Application type	Current processing time	Processing time as at 10 September 2025
Citizenship grant	13 months	11 months
Citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship)	7 months	5 months

The service standard for citizenship grant applications is 12 months. IRCC does not publish a service standard for citizenship certificates.

Processing times and service standards

Processing time

The processing times published by IRCC represent the time expected to complete a new application if it were “received today”.

These times are determined using both historical data and the number of applications currently in inventory.

Processing time begins on the date IRCC receives your application and ends when a decision is made. For applications sent by post, this begins when the package is delivered to the mailroom, while for online or in-person applications it begins from the moment of submission.

Various factors can affect application processing times, such as how easily IRCC can verify a candidate’s information and whether the candidate responds promptly to requests for additional information.

IRCC provides two types of processing time:

• Historical processing times: This type of processing time is based on the time IRCC took to process 80% of its immigration applications in the past, and they are updated weekly.
• Forward-looking processing times: Forward-looking processing times are calculated using IRCC’s current inventory, including the total volume of each application type still pending and the number expected to be completed each month.

The table below shows which application types use forward-looking processing times:

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) (Express Entry and non-Express Entry)
• Quebec Skilled Worker Program (SWSP)
• Spousal sponsorship for immigration to Canada
• Sponsoring parents and grandparents (PGP) to Canada
• Canadian citizenship

Service standards

By contrast, service standards represent the immigration department’s internal benchmarks.

IRCC’s published service standards refer to the time within which the department aims to process 80% of applications of a given type.

The department’s service standards allow for 20% of applications to take longer to process, owing to factors such as added complexity.

Not all immigration programmes have a published service standard.