Canada Study Permit Processing Time Increases For Indian Students; Wait Extends To 5 Weeks
· Free Press Journal
Indian students planning to begin their studies in Canada may need to factor in a slightly longer wait for their study permits. The latest weekly update from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that the estimated processing time for study permit applications submitted from India has increased from four weeks to five weeks.
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The revised timeline, updated on July 2, comes even as Canada has reduced processing times for several other visa categories, particularly the Super Visa. According to a report by CIC News, while families visiting relatives in Canada are seeing faster approvals, students now face a longer wait before receiving a decision on their applications.
Study permit processing slows by one week
According to media reports, the study permit applications from India are now expected to take around five weeks to process. This marks a one-week increase from the previous estimate of four weeks.
The same is also true for applications that have been filed from within Canada, which saw an increase in processing times from six weeks to seven weeks. Applicants who file their applications from within the United States still see an estimated processing period of five weeks, which has remained constant from the last update.
IRCC has explained that these are just estimated processing times and do not guarantee the timeline that will be taken for each individual case.
Super visa applicants receive good news
While study permit applicants are facing longer waits, families applying for Canada's Super Visa have received welcome relief.
The estimated processing time of Super Visa application has reduced from 66 days to 50 days for people applying from India, marking a difference of 16 days according to the most recent figures provided by IRCC.
This improvement means that people applying from India are well within IRCC's 112-day target of processing Super Visa applications. Meanwhile, applicants from the US have noticed an increase in the processing time of three weeks for the same visa application.
Super Visa gives the option of visiting Canada for extended periods to parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Processing times continue to change
IRCC updates temporary residence processing times every week to reflect current application volumes and operational capacity. The department has advised applicants to treat the published timelines as estimates rather than fixed commitments.
It also noted that its service standards are internal benchmarks designed to process approximately 80% of applications within the prescribed timeframe. There can be variations in processing times as per the needs of individual cases and the number of times verification of documents and other procedures may be needed.
For Indian students preparing for the upcoming academic intake, the latest update serves as a reminder to apply well in advance to avoid any last-minute delays. Even if there has been a difference of just one week, applicants need to stay updated about IRCC processing times since these keep changing.