IRCC’s visa processing offices are located all around the world to pace up the visa application processing time. Each office handles the visa applications and processing of a geographical area and assists people of multiple nations. However, there is a difference in visa processing times in Canada that vary from place to place, depending on various factors.
IRCC’s Service Standards & Application Processing Times
A service standard is a target set by IRCC that depicts how long a particular application processing should take. IRCC has various service standards that change according to the type of application.
For instance, the service standard for all the Express entry applications submitted after July 2022 is six months, whereas the service standard for temporary resident visas is between 60-120 days (about 4 months).
It’s noteworthy that the time IRCC takes to process an application differs from the service standard. The applications that could not be processed within the program’s service standard are called a backlog.
IRCC strives to complete 80% of application processing within the standard of the service.
What are the reasons for the difference in visa processing times in Canada?
According to IRCC, the differences in visa processing times in Canada can be seen due to the different operating challenges offices face, depending on their geographical location and circumstances.
As per the IRCC FAQ page, the applications might be shared between the Visa offices to quicken the application processing.
IRCC stated that the application processing might also be delayed in case of an incomplete or unclear application. And the department requires additional details to process the application. In such cases, the application processing might take longer depending on how quickly and carefully the applicant supplies the required details.
In addition, the application processing might take additional time if the department cannot verify the information of the applicants.
Other factors contribute to processing differences regionally.
Processing delays in different locations also depend on various other factors. One such significant factor is resource allocation, which results in regional differences.
According to last year’s IRCC workforce data, only 2% of its workforce is located internationally. And notably more than 55% is in Ottawa, IRCC’s national headquarters.
This suggests that in comparison to Canada, the workforce in international visa processing offices is limited.
This year, IRCC established a new visa processing center in the Philippines, and Minister Fraser declared that the department is also planning to open a visa processing center in Islamabad, Pakistan.
During the opening of the Manilla visa center, IRCC mentioned that the expansion of the workforce helped the department enhance client service and the accommodation of increased visa applications worldwide. IRCC added that this makes it more effortless for more people to immigrate to Canada.
The type of application is another notable factor that can lead to time variations. This is because some applications might take more time to process than others.
For instance, the displayed service standard time for the study permits foreign applicants was seven weeks, and for applicants applying from Canada was three weeks.
However, the service standard time for foreign applicants applying for Express Entry FSWP was 26 months (about 2 years).
The impact of the strike on processing time
Due to the recent strike, the application processing times are significantly affected. IRCC stated that both new and in-process applications might expect delays.
The immigration minister mentioned that around 100,000 applications could not be processed due to the strike. However, he added that within a few months, the department is expecting to get back on track.
The government is expecting this because of the actions already in motion and the quick recovery from the covid 19 backlog.
The covid 19 pandemic caused a massive backlog of around 2.7 million applications, and the government has taken certain steps to expedite the process, which enabled them to lessen the backlogged applications. Such as, IRCC employed more than 1000 additional staff and extended the digitization of applications.
Minister Fraser informed that IRCC had returned to the pre-pandemic service standards for various fields, including PR, family sponsorships, and federal economic streams, via express entry due to the effective measures.
The minister added that temporary resident visas are the only stream that still holds the backlogs. Also, prior to the setback, the department was scheduled to get back to normal 30-day standards this summer.
