Canada visa 2025: Work permits, study visas unchanged for most countries in March 2025 IRCC update

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released its latest processing times as of March 18, 2025, offering updated insights into how long applicants can expect to wait for visas, permanent residency, and citizenship. These aren’t fixed timelines — they reflect how long it took IRCC to process 80% of applications, factoring in current workloads and staffing. The goal: more transparency, better planning for those navigating Canada’s immigration system.

What changed in March 2025

Those aiming for Canadian citizenship will need to be patient. The latest update shows:  

• Citizenship grant: 9 months (up by 1 month)  
• Citizenship certificate: 4 months (up by 1 month)  
• Renunciation of citizenship: 10 months (down by 2 months)  
• Search of citizenship records: 16 months (unchanged)  

Applicants who filed around February 24, 2025, are now starting to receive Acknowledgment of Receipt (AOR) letters or emails.

Permanent residency (PR) cards  

Timelines are improving:  

• New PR card: 16 days (down by 8 days)  
• PR card renewal: 14 days (down by 1 day)  

Visitor visas and extensions  

Timelines vary sharply by country:   

• India: 83 days (down by 13 days)   
• United States: 20 days (no change)   
• Nigeria: 132 days (down by 9 days)   
• Philippines: 14 days (no change)   
• Visitor extension: 119 days (up by 3 days) 

Super visa (for parents/grandparents)   

• India: 133 days (up by 6 days)   
• United States: 241 days (down by 21 days)   
• Nigeria: 40 days (up by 4 days)   
• Philippines: 119 days (down by 1 day) 

Study permits   

• India: 15 weeks (no change)   
• United States: 5 weeks (no change)   
• Nigeria: 7 weeks (no change)   
• Philippines: 5 weeks (no change)   
• Study permit extension: 114 days (up by 2 days)

Work permits   

• India: 20 weeks (no change)   
• United States: 81 weeks (no change)   
• Nigeria: 15 weeks (down by 1 week)   
• Philippines: 5 weeks (no change)   

While processing times are adjusting, Canada’s overall immigration pace is slowing. The population grew by 1.8% in 2024 — the slowest rate in three years — reaching 41.5 million. Policy changes have curbed the number of new and temporary residents, cooling down the post-pandemic surge.