How Long Does It Take For Canada Visa To Be Approved?
It is necessary to understand how long it takes for a Canada visa to be approved.
The immigration processes to Canada are not fast even though the Canada immigration official website states the average processing times for each visa type.
It is common for people to feel frustrated by the length of the process. The frustration is understandable if we believe that the approval process depends on several factors.
However, it is necessary to understand how the Ministry of Immigration works and what to expect.
How Does the Ministry of Immigration Work?
First of all, you have to understand that Immigration Canada is a decentralized organization. Each type of visa is handled by a different division, with officials trained and specialized only in that type of visa process.
The processing offices are located in different cities and are managed as independent entities.
For example, the processing centre in Vegreville, Alberta, handles work and study permit applications for individuals within Canada, permanent residency applications for nannies, those who sought refuge while within Canada, and those who are visa holders.
The Mississauga, Ontario processing centre handles permanent residences for people being sponsored (spouses or partners, parents, grandparents, and children).
The Processing Centers in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Ottawa also have their assigned programs.
Therefore, applications are not reviewed and decided by a single officer and in many cases not even by a single office.
Even permanent residences that are processed within Canada do go from the processing centre to local offices where they are finalized.
Some of these processes are done electronically and other times the physical file must be transferred to the new office, which leads to additional travel, adjudication, and policy reviews.
Many applicants think that contacting immigration frequently is a way to speed up the process. However, it will only generate more work and delay the process longer than normal due to the multiple verifications of information.
How Long It Takes For Canada Visa to Be Approved
The period of approval and delivery of a visa depends on the visa category and the particular profile of the applicant.
Permanent residence visas require significant time to process. It is not a quick process. It is estimated that obtaining a permanent residence visa can take between 1 and 3 years.
For the temporary and study visa categories, the process is usually shorter. However, a minimum of 1 year must be calculated for the processing and obtaining of a Canadian visa (except for the visitor visa, which may take 2 or 3 months to process).
Canada receives a very high number of immigration applications and the authorities are making great efforts to improve the response time.
One of the fundamental objectives of the immigration restructuring process that the Canadian government has is to shorten the delivery times of immigration documents in the economic and humanitarian categories.
Demonstration of Language Proficiency
Also, it must be considered that certain phases of the process depend specifically on the applicant.
For example, the demonstration of language proficiency requires previous months of study and preparation to be able to obtain the required score in exams such as the IELTS or the DELF, DALF or TEFQ.
The time invested in this stage will depend exclusively on the candidate.
It should be remembered that Canada requires the presentation of the results of the examinations at the time of initiating the application process, otherwise, the file is rejected.
Another part that requires time for its preparation is the professional validation of the candidate before the Canadian national authorities.
Also, additional delays may arise if the international criminal record has to be reviewed if the candidate has lived abroad.
Academic and Personal Documents
Gathering all academic and personal documents as well as legalizing and translating them into official languages takes time and planning.
These procedures can take weeks and even months, depending on the state of the documentation and the time required by the respective authorities in the country of origin of the applicant.
It is convenient to start some basic procedures as soon as possible like the updating of expired documents, requesting the necessary educational certificates and other certificates.
The medical examination required by the Canadian authorities before the granting of the visa is another stage whose completion time is difficult to estimate.
Online Verification of Applications
The Government of Canada offers an online service for Canadian visa applicants to securely check the status of their application, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anytime, anywhere.
Conclusion
if you paid attention to what you have been reading so far, you will realize that the approval process for a Canada visa is long and slow.
Therefore, it is advisable to be well prepared before thinking of applying for any Canadian visa.
Ensure that you share this article with your colleagues who might be asking how it takes for a Canada visa to be approved.
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