According to the reports from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada or IRCC, the backlog of citizenship and permanent residence applications has increased while the total inventory of temporary residence applications has decreased.
With the addition of January 2023, this is the second reporting period when IRCC has again claimed that the application backlog for all Canadian visas and immigration programs is 2.1 million.
IRCC’s Current Application Backlog
Let’s look at the latest data as of 31 January to 1 February 2023.
On 3 January, there were 301338 pending citizenship applications, which increased to 302980 by 1 February.
Similarly, IRCC’s backlog of permanent residency applications also increased from 521552 on 2 January to 523557 on 31 January.
However, a drop of over 30000 was reported in IRCC’s temporary residence application backlog, bringing the number down from 1329280 on 2 January to 1294974 by 31 January.
Moreover, the backlog for the Express Entry was also reduced by 600 applications, resulting in a decrease from 48409 on 3 January to 47868 applications by 31 January.
But the inventory for the Provincial Nominee Program or PNP increased from 62270 to 66214 applications in January.
Don’t forget that the backlog of the family class immigration program also decreased from 125631 on 3 January to 124771 applications by the month’s end.
It should be noted that there is a backlog of 61191 applications for the Spouses and Partners sponsorship program, showing a slight decrease of 290 applications compared to the stats of 3 January. Plus, the Parents and Grandparents program or PGP has also reduced its backlog from 52801 applicants to 52960 in January 2023.
Service Standards Followed By IRCC To Process Immigration Applications
IRCC follows service standards to inform applicants applying for Canadian immigration about the processing time the authorities are likely to take to process 80% of applications for all programs.
However, the actual processing time could be different from the service standard, depending on the type of application and the steps involved with processing it. In addition to this, processing times also rely on whether the application is filed from Canada or some other country.
Let’s look at IRCC’s service standards for some of the immigration programs;
The service standard for a temporary residence work permit submitted from another country is 60 days. This doesn’t include International Experience Canada.
Applicants for temporary residence study permit submitted from another country have to wait for 60 days.
Online applications for Canadian Experience Class in Express Entry have a service standard of 180 days.
The service standard for electronic applications for the Federal Skilled Worker Program or FSWP is 180 days.
You can read more about IRCC’s service standards by visiting the official website of the Government of Canada.
