Hi everyone.
My name is Jade Calver.
Today, I’m going to discuss processing times for applications.
So, the processing times for an application will depend on a few factors.
The most important factor is what kind of application you submitted.
So, different types of applications have different processing times.
Furthermore, different types of applications are processed at different offices.
Some applications are processed within Canada and other applications are processed at visa
offices abroad.
And so, different visa offices have different processing times.
For example, if you submit a visitor visa to a visa to a visa office in the Philippines
versus Brazil, your application will be processed at a different time because they have different
levels of business.
So, they have heavier workloads say, at the Manilla visa office.
So, it will take longer to process at that office.
A lot of times, I get the question: What is involved in the processing – in the actual
processing of my file?
What happens when I send my file in either as a paper file or as an online application?
So, again, it differs with different types of applications but generally, the process
goes like this: when an officer first receives an application.
So, there will be an intake officer, and they’ll go through your file and make sure that you’ve
included all of the mandatory documents.
So, if it’s an express entry application, for example, they’ll go through the application
and just make sure the mandatory documents are there.
They won’t actually look at the documents.
Same thing for sponsorship application, a temporary work visa, or student visa.
They just do an intake check to ensure that you’ve included everything that needs to
be there.
If it’s complete, it will go in a queue for processing.
If it’s incomplete, they will refuse your application, or just send it back to you if
it’s a paper application.
After that, it goes to – as I said, it goes to the reviewing officer, so the officer who’s
in charge of your case.
And that’s when it goes, usually into a pile, into their workload and that’s when
the wait time happens.
Usually, again, it can go anywhere from a few months for a work permit or a study permit
to a few years for different types of permanent residency applications.
During the time the officer will review your application and this is what can delay an
application.
So, if an officer has to request updated police clearances for you, updated medicals, new
documents and proof of relationship if it’s a sponsorship application.
This is what will delay an application.
So, that’s really where the delay will come.
Or, if you have a more complicated case, so say you have an express entry application
in and you have lots of work history in the last 10 years, the fact of the matter is that
you would have a lot more documentation for the officer to review.
So, that 6 months that they promised might turn into 8 or 9 and it’s really nothing
to be worried about.
Another question that I get is: How do I check the status of my application?
And, again, my answer is always it depends what kind of application you submitted.
So, if you submitted a visitor visa, study permit, or work permit online through your
GC account, then you can just log into your account and it actually now shows a processing
bar that will show you how far along your application is and when they think it’s
going to be processed by.
So, if you have a paper based application that you’ve submitted, there’s also an
online tool on the Immigration Canada website and you can log in and you need to have some
information from your application.
So, you should always keep a copy of your application.
And so, you can provide some information about you, so name, your UCI number, where you were
born, and then it will show you basic information about the processing of your file.
It’s the same tool that we use to update your address.
And then, once you go into your processing account, you can see if they have received
your application, when they received your application, and if they’ve requested – it
doesn’t actually show you if they’ve requested documents.
It will just say “we sent you correspondence” so it’s a good way, if you think that you’ve
missed something from Immigration Canada, you can log in and see if they’ve sent you
any correspondence.
Lastly, so if it’s been some time since you submitted your application and you’ve
been waiting for months and you haven’t heard anything and you’re wondering what’s
happening with your file, there are a few things that you can do depending on how long
it’s been.
So, if you log into the immigration Canada website and you go to the processing times
for your type of file, they’ll have posted how long it takes to process your file.
So if you log in and say you submitted a work permit and it says it takes two months and
you have been waiting for three months, then there’s something you can do about it.
You can email the visa office and ask and say it’s gone over the posted processing
times and ask for a status update.
Lots of people, obviously, they’re wanting their applications to be processed quickly,
and they’ll want to know, say, within a month when the posted time is three months.
If you ask for a status update before the posted processing time, chances are that Immigration
Canada just isn’t going to respond to you.
Or, you may get a message back saying “it’s within processing times”, we’ll get back
to you kind of thing.
And these days, with few applications, again, I wouldn’t worry.
A lot of the times, it’s fairly common for immigration applications to go over processing
times by a month, a month and a half.
If it’s just been that, again, I wouldn’t fret if that happens.
So, don’t worry about that too much.
Again, a matter of a few weeks isn’t cause for concern.
I also want to touch base on a few things that a lot of people don’t think about when
they think about processing times.
So, again, with the introduction of the biometrics, which is the fingerprinting requirement, lots
of people don’t take that into consideration in that that will delay posted processing
times these days.
Because they’ll request your biometrics during processing.
So sometimes it’s a good idea to provide those up front.
Also, another thing that people don’t think about is the fact that they need to actually,
when they get to the approval, it’s still usually actually another month until they
get their visa and until they can go to Canada.
So, for temporary visas, you have to send your passport into the visa office.
And for Permanent Resident visas, you need to get your confirmation of Permanent Residency
document back before you can fly to Canada and become a Permanent Resident.
So, even if an application says it takes two or three months to process, I would actually
add another month onto that because by the time you submit the passport and get it back,
it’s usually an extra month.
So, that’s everything today when it comes to processing times with immigration Canada
applications.
If you have any other questions, you can contact our firm at Calver and Associates or visit
our website at calverimmigrationservices.com.