Indian applicants seeking visitor visas to Canada now have to wait an average of 99 days for approvals, an increase of 13 days compared to the previous measurement period, according to the data from Immigration,
Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This is the longest among major source countries, including Pakistani applications whose average processing time is 59 days
Besides the increase in time for approval for visitor visas, applications for super visas, primarily intended for parents and grandparents of Canadian permanent residents, from India are taking 169 days to process.
A visitor visa allows citizens from other countries visit Canada for tourism, visiting family or friends, or other short-term stays.
According to the IRCC, the numbers show that 80% of applications are processed in real-time, replacing fixed targets that frequently fell short of reality.
This surge in delays points out to the growing bottleneck in Canada’s temporary resident visa system amid record application volumes.
Meanwhile, applicants from the US average 36 days, Nigeria 27 days, Pakistan 59 days, and the Philippines 21 days.
According to observers, there are several factors that are contributing to the increase in processing time: high volumes of applications, country-specific screening and background checks, resource constraints within processing centres, and added complexity when applications originate from high-demand countries such as India.
This report comes days after a government data stated that about 74% of Indian applications for Canadian study permits were rejected in August 2025, more than double the 32% rejection rate a year earlier.
On the other hand, roughly 40% of all international student applications and 24% of those from China were turned down in the same period, the report added.
Earlier, CBC News reported that the Canadian government was planning to grant its immigration department new powers to cancel temporary visas on a large scale, which would target applicants from India and Bangladesh.
While the draft law does not explicitly single out any country, India and Bangladesh are identified in the internal presentation as “country-specific challenges”, according to the CBS News report.
