Indians face longest Canada visa wait: 99 days for visitor, 169 for super visa approvals

Indian travellers are now facing the longest waiting times among major source nations for Canadian visitor visas, with applications taking an average of 99 days for approval, according to the latest update from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). For those applying under the super visa category, typically used by parents and grandparents of permanent residents, the processing time is 169 days.

The IRCC said that 80% of applications are currently being processed in real-time, reflecting a major shift from earlier fixed targets that often proved unrealistic. “Earlier this year, IRCC redesigned its processing interface to show real timetables,” Immigration News Canada reported. Under the new system, data on citizenship and permanent residency are updated monthly, while data on temporary visas and permits are updated weekly.

Officials noted that processing times continue to depend on several variables, including background checks, office workload, and the location of submission, all of which affect the pace at which files are processed.

Longer waits across categories

Canada’s citizenship backlog currently includes about 290,700 applicants, with an average wait of 13 months for decisions. Citizenship certificates can take up to nine months, while renunciation requests stretch to nearly 22 months.

Permanent resident renewals are being processed in roughly 29 days, whereas new PR cards take around two months. However, family sponsorships remain among the slowest categories; inland spousal petitions take around 20 months, while those filed from outside Canada require 14 months. In Quebec, both processes can take close to three years due to additional provincial procedures.

Humanitarian and refugee delays persist

Applications filed on humanitarian and compassionate grounds continue to face some of the longest delays, with average processing times exceeding ten years. Meanwhile, cases involving protected persons, refugees, and asylum seekers take between 100 and 106 months, depending on the province.

Despite IRCC’s recent system overhaul, large segments of applicants continue to experience prolonged uncertainty as the Canadian immigration system works through mounting backlogs across multiple visa categories.