Canada Immigration Processing Times Updated—Find out How Long You'll Wait Now

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released its latest processing times, revealing significant volatility across various permanent residence and temporary residence categories. The data, updated from September 10, 2025, shows a striking divergence in family sponsorship applications, with a massive increase for some Québec-bound spouses and a dramatic decrease for dependent children already in Canada.

Permanent Residence: Express Entry & Family Sponsorship Dynamics

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) saw a slight improvement, dropping by a month to five months, bringing it below the six-month service standard. Conversely, the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) increased to six months—the service standard target. Enhanced Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applications saw a modest decrease to seven months.

The most profound shifts were observed in family sponsorship. Applicants under the Spouse or common-law partner living inside Canada category who intend to reside in Québec face an enormous increase, jumping 16 months from 37 months to 53 months. This highlights persistent complexities in processing for applicants heading to the province.

In sharp contrast, the processing time for Dependent child sponsorship from within Canada plummeted by 17 months, falling from 29 months to a current time of 12 months, signalling a major success in backlog reduction for this stream.

Temporary Residence: Nigeria Work Permit Halved

In temporary visa applications, the most noteworthy change involves Work Permits for applicants from Nigeria, which saw a dramatic decrease from 22 weeks to just 11 weeks—effectively cutting the processing time in half. Other applications, such as in-Canada Visitor Visas saw a minor increase from 13 to 15 days, while overseas applications from countries like India and Pakistan also saw modest fluctuation.

Citizenship: Longer Wait for New Citizens and Proof

The path to Citizenship has become slightly longer for new applications, with the processing time for a Citizenship grant increasing by two months to 13 months, moving it past the 12-month service standard. Likewise, obtaining a Citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) now takes seven months, up from five.

Understanding Processing Times vs. Service Standards

IRCC reminds applicants that processing times are forward-looking estimates—the predicted time for a new application if received today—calculated from inventory levels and historical data. Service standards are internal targets, representing the time within which the department aims to finalize 80% of applications. The volatility in processing times reflects IRCC's challenge in managing high application volumes across different global regions and application types.

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To know more and apply for immigration to Canada in 2025, you may get in touch with Visas Avenue Canada migration expert at Toll-Free No. 78-18-000-777 or you can drop us an e-mail at info@visasavenue.com.

- Rajneesh Kumar