Canada processing times · from India
Canada visa processing times from India
IRCC publishes these and changes them about weekly. This page reads their feed instead of quoting a number somebody typed in once, so it is current on the day you are reading it.
Read from IRCC
- Visitor visa, applying from India
- 32 days
- Study permit
- 5 weeks
- Super visa, parents and grandparents
- 61 days
The short answer
A Canada visitor visa from India takes 32 days. A study permit takes 5 weeks and a work permit 9 weeks. These are IRCC's published figures as of 26 August 2026, they describe processing after a complete application is filed, and they do not include the weeks you spend collecting documents.
Applying from India
IRCC reports these per country. Every figure below is India's own, not a global average.
Extending a stay takes 13 times longer than starting again
Fresh visitor visa, from India
32 days
Extending that stay, from inside Canada
416 days
That gap is not a rounding error, and almost nobody publishes it because it needs two separate IRCC feeds read together. It does not automatically mean you should leave and reapply: an extension filed before your current status expires keeps you in implied status while it is pending, and leaving has consequences of its own. It does mean that anyone describing an extension as the fast option has not checked the figure this year.
Applications decided inside Canada
IRCC does not break these down by country, because the applicant is already in Canada. One figure covers everybody.
| Application | IRCC's figure |
|---|---|
| eTA | 5 minutes |
| Visitor record, applying inside Canada | 12 days |
| First permanent resident card | 40 days |
| International Experience Canada | 6 weeks |
| Extending a study permit from inside Canada | 64 days |
| Extending a work permit from inside Canada | 115 days |
| Extending a visitor stay from inside Canada | 416 days |
Is India actually slower? Half the time
IRCC gives 171 countries the same treatment for visitor visas and never compares them. Sorted, India's 32 days comes 77th, against a median of 34 days. India is marginally faster than the typical country, not slower. The range runs from 15 days to 764.
Work permits are the opposite. There India ranks 45th of 65, faster than 31% of countries, and the frustration people feel is entirely justified. The point of publishing both is that a firm willing to tell you when the delay is not real is worth more than one that agrees with whatever you already believe.
How long after biometrics?
32 days, the same figure as above. IRCC publishes one processing time per application type and no separate after-biometrics number, so a site showing you one has not read it off IRCC.
IRCC's figure describes an application that was complete when it arrived, and an application is not complete until biometrics are in. What the number leaves out is everything before that: collecting documents, and the wait for an appointment.
You may not need them again
Temporary residence applicants give biometrics once every 10 years. If you gave them for a study permit last year, a visitor visa application now does not need them again, and a great deal of worry about appointment waits does not apply to you.
Do not reuse an old letter
If you reapply you need a new biometric instruction letter. IRCC's own guidance is that using the old one may delay your application or get it refused, which is an expensive way to save an afternoon.
What this number is not
Not a guarantee
“Your application may take longer than the times shown here. They’re not a maximum or a guarantee.”IRCC, Check current processing times
Not broken down by visa office
IRCC reports 171 countries and no offices. There is no New Delhi figure, no Chandigarh figure and no Mumbai figure in the data, so a site showing you one has produced it from somewhere else. Ask where before you plan around it.
The figure also describes an application that was already complete when it arrived. Everything before that, collecting documents and waiting for a biometrics appointment, sits outside it, and is the half you can actually do something about.
Already past this number?
Passing the published time is normal rather than a fault, and both governments contact you when they need something. What silence means, whether you can check the status, and the point at which contacting them is worth doing are all set out separately.
When a visa is taking longer than expectedThe medical exam sits inside this timeline
Every permanent residence applicant needs one, and so does every family member, including anyone not coming with you. For Express Entry it belongs after your invitation to apply rather than before, because results are valid for only twelve months.
Who needs a Canada medical exam, and whenQuestions about processing times
How long does a Canada visitor visa take from India?
32 days, according to IRCC's own published figure, last updated 26 August 2026. That is the processing time after a complete application is submitted, and it does not include the time you spend gathering documents or the biometrics appointment. IRCC republishes this number about weekly and it moves, so the figure on this page is read from their feed rather than typed in.
Is Canada slower for Indian applicants than for other countries?
For visitor visas, no. India's 32 days is 77th out of the 171 countries IRCC reports a figure for, against a median of 34 days, so India is marginally faster than the typical country rather than slower. For work permits it is a different answer: India ranks 45th of 65, faster than only 31% of countries. The belief that everything is slower from India is half right, and the half that is wrong costs people money in agent fees.
Is it faster to extend my visitor status in Canada or to reapply?
On IRCC's current figures, reapplying is roughly 13 times faster. Extending a visitor stay from inside Canada takes 416 days, while a fresh visitor visa from India takes 32 days. That does not automatically make reapplying the right choice, because leaving Canada has its own consequences and an extension filed before your status expires keeps you in implied status while it is pending. It does mean anybody telling you an extension is the quick option is working from figures they have not checked.
How long does a Canada visitor visa take after biometrics?
32 days, which is the same figure IRCC publishes for the application overall. IRCC reports one processing time per application type and does not publish a separate after-biometrics number, so any site quoting you a different figure for the period after your appointment has produced it from somewhere other than IRCC. The figure describes an application that was complete when it arrived, and an application is not complete until biometrics are in. Worth checking before you book anything: temporary residence applicants give biometrics once every 10 years, so if you gave them for a study permit recently you may not need to give them again at all.
Why do the processing times on this page keep changing?
Because IRCC changes them. These figures are read directly from the two JSON feeds behind IRCC's own processing-times tool and regenerate when they do, rather than being typed in once. IRCC last refreshed them on 26 August 2026. A site showing a processing time that has not moved in a year is showing you a number somebody wrote down and forgot.
Processing times · from India
A timeline for your file, not an average.
These are IRCC's figures for applications that are already complete and correct. What decides your timeline is whether the file goes in right the first time. Send us what you have and we will tell you honestly what it needs.
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