IRCC’s Updated Processing Times (October 2025)
Canada’s immigration department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), has released its most recent updates on processing times for permanent residence, temporary residence, and citizenship applications.
This report highlights notable changes in processing times since September 10, 2025, with the most significant shifts seen in spousal sponsorship applications for those living in Canada and settling in Quebec, as well as in-Canada dependent child sponsorships.
Permanent Residence Applications
Express Entry
| Application Type | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class | 6 months | 5 months |
| Federal Skilled Worker Program | 5 months | 6 months |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program | N/A | N/A |
Service standard: 6 months for all Express Entry streams.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
| Application Type | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Express Entry (Enhanced) | 7 months | 8 months |
| Non-Express Entry (Base) | 19 months | 19 months |
Note: Processing time for base streams can vary depending on submission timing.
Service standard: 6 months (enhanced) and 11 months (base).
Quebec Immigration
| Stream | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) | 11 months | 11 months |
Service standard: 6 months.
Currently, nearly 24,000 Quebec applications are awaiting processing.
Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
| Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|
| 13 months | 13 months |
Service standard: 11 months.
Family Sponsorship
| Application Type | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse/common-law (inside Canada, outside Quebec) | 24 months | 23 months |
| Spouse/common-law (inside Canada, in Quebec) | 37 months | 53 months |
| Spouse/common-law (outside Canada, outside Quebec) | 15 months | 15 months |
| Spouse/common-law (outside Canada, in Quebec) | 41 months | 41 months |
| Parents and Grandparents (outside Quebec) | 26 months | 26 months |
| Parents and Grandparents (in Quebec) | 44 months | 41 months |
Biggest change: Spousal sponsorship (inside Canada, in Quebec) increased by 16 months.
Service standard: 12 months for sponsorships outside Canada.
Dependent Child Sponsorship
Within Canada
| Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|
| 12 months | 29 months |
Change: Decrease of 17 months.
Outside Canada
| Country | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 6 months | N/A |
| Nigeria | 18 months | N/A |
Service standard: 12 months (outside Canada).
Temporary Residence Applications
Visitor Visas
| Country | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 15 days | 13 days |
| India | 75 days | 63 days |
| Pakistan | 46 days | 48 days |
| Nigeria | 28 days | 31 days |
| United States | 23 days | 24 days |
Service standard: 14 days (outside Canada).
Work Permits
Nigeria saw the largest improvement, with processing time cut in half.
| Country | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 196 days | 190 days |
| India | 8 weeks | 8 weeks |
| Pakistan | 12 weeks | 12 weeks |
| Nigeria | 11 weeks | 22 weeks |
| United States | 3 weeks | 3 weeks |
Service standard:
120 days (inside Canada, including extensions)
60 days (outside Canada)
56 days (International Experience Canada)
Study Permits
| Country | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 7 weeks | 6 weeks |
| India | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Pakistan | 9 weeks | 9 weeks |
| Nigeria | 8 weeks | 8 weeks |
| United States | 10 weeks | 10 weeks |
Note: Study permit extensions (as of Oct 1) take 171 days.
Service standard: 120 days (inside Canada) / 60 days (outside Canada).
Super Visas
| Country | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 153 days | 139 days |
| Pakistan | 151 days | 112 days |
| Nigeria | 52 days | 55 days |
| United States | 78 days | 89 days |
Key change: Pakistan’s super visa processing increased by ~6 weeks.
Service standard: 112 days.
Citizenship
| Application Type | Current Processing Time | As of Sept 10, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Citizenship Grant | 13 months | 11 months |
| Citizenship Certificate (Proof) | 7 months | 5 months |
Service standard: 12 months for citizenship grants.
Understanding Processing Times and Service Standards
Processing times reflect the estimated time to finalize a new application received today.
They are based on historical data and the number of pending applications.
Processing starts when IRCC receives your application and ends when a decision is made.
Factors affecting processing time include information verification, response delays, and application complexity.
IRCC provides two main categories:
Historical processing times: Based on how long 80% of applications took to process, updated weekly.
Service standards: Internal benchmarks — IRCC’s goal is to process 80% of applications within this timeframe.
Not all immigration programs have publicly listed service standards.