The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Department of Canada has published its latest processing times details for the following application types:
- Temporary resident applications
- Permanent resident applications
- Citizenship applications.
The following areas saw a change in the processing time :
- Within-Canada(Quebec) spousal sponsorship processing time was increased to one month
- Parent and Grandparent applications: the waiting time decreased by a month
- India-based dependent child sponsorship: processing time reduced by 8 months
The visitor visa has now been upgraded for both Indian applicants and American applicants.
Nigeria’s work permit-based applications have seen an increase in processing time by 2 weeks. Whereas the US-based applications have their wait time reduced by a week.
In this article, we will learn about the latest updates made to the following processing times:
- Temporary resident applications
- Permanent resident applications
- Citizenship applications.
Temporary resident applications
- The processing times for Temporary Resident applications were recently updated on March 11, 2026, for most types when compared with the February 26 update.
- Only a few application types were updated on March 9th.
Work Authorization
There were no major changes in the processing times. The countries that saw a change were :
- For India, wait times reduced by a week
- For Nigeria, wait times had increased by 2 weeks
- For Canada, wait times had increased by 3 days
- For the US, wait times had decreased by a week
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 26) | Current (Mar. 11) |
| Inside Canada | 256 days | 259 days |
| India | 8 weeks | 7 weeks |
| Pakistan | 30 weeks | 30 weeks |
| Nigeria | 11 weeks | 13 weeks |
| United States | 10 weeks | 9 weeks |
| The Philippines | N/A | 7 weeks |
Service standard:
- Applications submitted within Canada (initial and extensions): 120 days
- Applications submitted outside Canada: 60 days
- International Experience Canada permit applications: 56 days
Study Visas
The processing time for study visa applications didn't change across the countries, ruling out the US. The United States had seen a decrease in waiting time by a week
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 26) | Current (Mar. 11) |
| Canada | 9 weeks | 9 weeks |
| India | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Pakistan | 15 weeks | 15 weeks |
| Nigeria | 8 weeks | 8 weeks |
| United States | 6 weeks | 5 weeks |
| The Philippines | N/A | 5 weeks |
Travel Visas
Visitor visa applications have seen positive changes across different countries, with shorter waiting times.
- For India, wait times decreased by 2 weeks
- For India, wait times decreased by 6 days
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 26) | Current (Mar. 11) |
| Inside Canada | 19 days | 18 days |
| India | 71 days | 57 days |
| Pakistan | 53 days | 49 days |
| Nigeria | 56 days | 53 days |
| United States | 23 days | 17 days |
| The Philippines | N/A | 14 days |
Service standard:
- Applications submitted within Canada: N/A
- Applications submitted outside Canada: 14 days
Super visas
Super visas have seen a moderate change in the processing times.
- For Nigeria, the wait times were reduced by 3 days.
- For India, the wait times were reduced by 2 days
- For Pakistan and India, the wait times were reduced by 4 days.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 26) | Current (Mar. 11) |
| India | 210 days | 208 days |
| Pakistan | 136 days | 132 days |
| Nigeria | 47 days | 44 days |
| United States | 205 days | 207 days |
| The Philippines | N/A | 85 days |
Service standard: 112 days
Note:
Super visa applications are not for Canadian applicants.
Permanent Residence Applications
Processing times for permanent residence applications have remained steady, with only minor changes in the family sponsorship categories.
Express Entry
Processing times for Express Entry applications have not seen any significant update.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Canadian Experience Class (CEC) | 7 months | 7 months |
| Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) | 7 months | 7 months |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)* | N/A | N/A |
The general service standard for Express Entry programs is 6 months.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
The processing times for both regular and priority-based PNP applications have not changed.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Through Express Entry (enhanced) | 7 months | 7 months |
| Non-Express Entry (base) | 13 months | 13 months |
Service standard :
For Base applications: 11 months
For Enhanced applications: 6 months
Quebec Immigration
The Skilled Worker Selection Program for Quebec has not seen any update in processing times.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) | 11 months | 11 months |
Service standard for Skilled Worker Selection Program applicants is: 6 months
Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
The processing time for this program has been steady since the last update.
However, they are still longer than the expected service standard of 11 months, meaning applicants may wait over 11 months on average.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 33 months | 33 months |
Family sponsorship
Two primary changes under this category were:
- Within-Canada(Quebec) spousal sponsorship processing time was increased to one month
- Parent and Grandparent applications: processing was done in a month (inside and outside Quebec)
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Spouse/partner inside Canada (outside Quebec) | 21 months | 21 months |
| Spouse/partner inside Canada (Quebec) | 35 months | 36 months |
| Spouse/partner outside Canada (outside Quebec) | 15 months | 15 months |
| Spouse/partner outside Canada (Quebec) | 35 months | 35 months |
| Parents & Grandparents (outside Quebec) | 35 months | 34 months |
| Parents & Grandparents (Quebec) | 47 months | 46 months |
Service standard :
For spousal or common-law partner sponsorship applications: 12 months
Dependent child sponsorship
For within-Canada dependent child applications, processing times increased by one month.
For India-based dependent child applications, processing times decreased by eight months (i.e., from 16 months to 8 months)
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Within Canada | 19 months | 20 months |
| Outside Canada (India) | 16 months | 8 months |
| Outside Canada (Nigeria) | 19 months | 19 months |
| Outside Canada (Philippines) | Not reported | 12 months |
There are no official service standards for dependent child sponsorship from IRCC.
Citizenship applications
Processing times for both citizenship grants and citizenship certificates has been decreased by a month.
| Application Type | Previous (Feb. 17) | Current (Mar. 9) |
| Citizenship grant | 14 months | 13 months |
| Citizenship certificate (proof of citizenship) | 11 months | 10 months |
The service standards for citizenship grant applications are 12 months.
The Key Differences Between Processing Times and Service Standards
Processing time usually means telling an applicant how long it can take for the application to get processed.
Service standards are pre-targets given by IRCC within which the applications must be processed.
How Croyez Helps You Navigate Processing Times and Service Standards Smoothly
Understanding the difference between processing times and service standards for an applicant can be puzzling. At Croyez Immigration, we help guide the applicants with the following steps :
- Provide support for tracking the applicant’s status
- Help in avoiding the delayed submission of applications
