As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney started his India visit in a bid to reset ties, the country's immigration authority has updated visa processing times for different types of temporary resident applications.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in its February update that small reductions in visa processing times were generally seen across several countries. For Indian travellers, the processing time for visitor visas was reduced from 78 to 71 days.
In terms of student visas, study permit processing times jumped for Pakistan-based submissions only, going up by eight weeks. For US applicants, decision times have been reduced by a week, according to reports.
Updated Canadian Visa Processing Times For Indians
With the exception of visitor visas, most processing times remained unchanged for Indian applicants. Work permits will take eight weeks, while study permits will require four weeks for processing.
For super visas, which give multiple entries to parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents for up to 10 years, processing times underwent a minor change from 213 days to 210 days.
Immigration Processing Times In Canada
For citizenship applications, processing now takes 14 months, an increase of one month compared to the January 2026 estimate. Roughly 313,000 people are now waiting for their citizenship grant, the IRCC said.
Permanent residency (PR) applications now take approximately 61 days, representing a more efficient area of the IRCC's operations. Renewing a PR card takes 29 days.
The family sponsorship category presents a mixed picture, with processing time for spousal or common-law partner sponsorship from outside Canada in non-Quebec provinces taking 15 months for a decision, one month longer than the January estimate. Almost 47,300 people await approval in this stream, as per the latest figures.
For the Quebec province, the wait time is significantly longer at 35 months.
The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) processing time went up to seven months, a month longer than the January estimates. About 34,200 people are now waiting for a decision compared to 25,400 applicants last month.
The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) saw no change in processing time, with seven months for a decision.
Canada hosts almost 28.8 lakh Overseas Indians, including Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). This makes the country one of the top four nations globally with the highest concentration of Indians abroad, alongside the US, the UAE, and Malaysia.
Mark Carney's India Visit
The Canadian Prime Minister began his visit in Mumbai. He will meet with CEOs, innovators, and major pension fund leaders in the city before travelling to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two countries are set to discuss several issues, including energy, education, mineral security and commercial cooperation, as they seek to reset ties after years of diplomatic strain.
