A recent announcement by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says that the department will now publish anticipated processing times online using forward-looking processing times.
This is to help applicants predict the length of time it will take to process their applications.
The updated processing times will be available for several high-volume immigration programs including:
The Office of the Auditor General recommended in a report from last October that the way processing times are determined needs to be changed. Regarding the IRCC’s calculation of application processing time and client communication, the report issued a number of recommendations.
The study recommended that “online information on processing times, taking into consideration the volume, and age, of applications already in inventory, be provided for all PR applications.”
One of the first actions taken by the IRCC to address several of the suggestions made in the report is this modification to the calculation of processing timeframes. By year’s end, updated service requirements should be anticipated.
The time frame that the IRCC considers appropriate for making a final decision about an application is known as the service standard. The level of service differs based on
How do forward-looking processing times work?
According to the IRCC, this technique for estimating how long it will take to make a final decision on an application is predicated on how many applications are in the queue overall and how many applications the department anticipates processing.
It states that the amount can change based on a number of factors, such as processing capacity, seasonal variations in the kinds of applications submitted, and admission spaces within the annual Immigration Levels Plan.
In the past, the IRCC has calculated processing times by using the length of time it took to finish applications or render a decision. According to the agency, it bases its backward processing times on the amount of time it took to process 80% of applications for permanent residency programs over the previous six months, and for temporary resident programs, the previous eight or sixteen weeks.
Applications for temporary residency, such as work permits, study permits, and guest visas, may still be submitted using this procedure.
Should you reapply?
Clients who have already applied using the revised processing time technique for one of the programs are advised by the IRCC not to resubmit. “If you have applied previously, you are nearer the front of the queue,” it states. Applications will continue to be reviewed in the order that they are received, and you will typically get a decision no later than the new, forward-looking processing time.
IRCC’s Current backlog
The amount of applications in inventory is updated by IRCC on a regular basis, and it makes a distinction between those that are processed in accordance with service standards and those that are not. There is a backlog of these applications.
80% of applications from all business lines should be processed by IRCC within service standards.
As of March 31, the latest available data indicates that 2,121,200 applications are presently in the inventory. Out of these, 892,000 are backlog items and 1,320, 000 are within service criteria.
It is further broken down by application type by the department. For instance, the total number of applications for permanent residency that are in the system is 746,000. 306,000 of these are backlog items, while 440,000 fall within service criteria.
