Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its global processing-time tracker, showing that visitor visas for Indian applicants are now processed in an average of 83 calendar days, down from 99 days last quarter. The improvement, highlighted by NDTV Travel on 2 February, follows the deployment of 80 additional officers to IRCC’s offices in Bangalore, Chandigarh and New Delhi.
India is Canada’s largest source of temporary residents, accounting for 384,000 visitor visas in 2025. Lengthy waits had threatened to deter conference delegates and families of international students. IRCC attributes the faster turnaround to new AI-assisted triage that routes “low-risk” files to express lanes, combined with weekend overtime shifts.
For applicants who prefer professional guidance, VisaHQ’s India platform (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can handle everything from form filling to booking biometrics appointments, providing real-time tracking and personalised document checks to help travellers submit error-free applications on the first try.
![Canada trims visitor-visa processing for Indians to 83 days amid staffing surge]()
The shorter timeline is a boon for Indian corporates sending staff to client meetings in Toronto or Vancouver on short notice. Travel managers should, however, continue to budget for biometrics appointments, which take about seven days to secure in major metros.
Immigration lawyers caution that complex cases—those involving prior refusals or incomplete travel histories—may still exceed the 83-day average. Applicants can use IRCC’s portal to check real-time estimates after submitting biometrics.
IRCC aims to bring processing down to a 60-day global standard by Q4 2026. It is also piloting a “trusted business traveller” programme with two Indian IT multinationals, offering 30-day issuance in exchange for pre-validation of employee credentials.
India is Canada’s largest source of temporary residents, accounting for 384,000 visitor visas in 2025. Lengthy waits had threatened to deter conference delegates and families of international students. IRCC attributes the faster turnaround to new AI-assisted triage that routes “low-risk” files to express lanes, combined with weekend overtime shifts.
For applicants who prefer professional guidance, VisaHQ’s India platform (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can handle everything from form filling to booking biometrics appointments, providing real-time tracking and personalised document checks to help travellers submit error-free applications on the first try.
The shorter timeline is a boon for Indian corporates sending staff to client meetings in Toronto or Vancouver on short notice. Travel managers should, however, continue to budget for biometrics appointments, which take about seven days to secure in major metros.
Immigration lawyers caution that complex cases—those involving prior refusals or incomplete travel histories—may still exceed the 83-day average. Applicants can use IRCC’s portal to check real-time estimates after submitting biometrics.
IRCC aims to bring processing down to a 60-day global standard by Q4 2026. It is also piloting a “trusted business traveller” programme with two Indian IT multinationals, offering 30-day issuance in exchange for pre-validation of employee credentials.
