- By Surarika Das
- Sat, 28 Feb 2026 05:22 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Canadian immigration authorities have implemented significant changes to visa processing times for several temporary resident categories. These changes in the visa rules came as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is currently on a visit to India. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced these adjustments in February, noting several reductions alongside some increased wait times.
Temporary Resident Visas and Study Permits
For Indian nationals, the processing time for visitor visas has been reduced from 78 to 71 days. However, student visa processing for Pakistan-based submissions has surged to eight weeks. In contrast, the same category saw a one-week reduction for American applicants. Beyond visitor visas, other processing rules for Indians remain unchanged. Work permits currently take eight weeks to process, while study permits require a four-week window.
Super Visas and Citizenship
The Super Visa, which allows multiple entries for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents for a period of up to 10 years, saw its processing time reduced from 213 to 210 days.
Meanwhile, citizenship applications now take approximately 14 months to process, up from the previous 13-month estimate. The IRCC noted that roughly 313,000 people are currently waiting for their citizenship grants.
Permanent Residency and Family Sponsorship
Permanent Residency (PR) applications currently represent one of the IRCC's most efficient operations, taking approximately 61 days. Renewing an existing PR card takes about 29 days.
The family sponsorship category presents a mixed picture. Spousal or common-law partner sponsorship from outside Canada (excluding Quebec) now takes 15 months, one month longer than the January estimate. Nearly 47,300 people are awaiting approval in this category. The wait time for the province of Quebec remains significantly longer at 35 months.
Economic Class and Skill-Based Programs
The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) processing time has jumped to seven months, an increase from the six-month estimate in January. Currently, about 34,200 people are awaiting a decision, compared to 25,400 applicants last month. Conversely, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) saw no change, maintaining a seven-month processing window.
Canada is home to at least 2.88 million overseas Indians, including Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). This places Canada among the top four nations with the highest concentration of Indians abroad, alongside the US, UAE, and Malaysia.
Prime Minister Mark Carney recently began his India tour, starting with meetings in Mumbai with CEOs, innovators, and pension fund leaders. He is scheduled to travel to New Delhi for high-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the week.