Canada Visa Backlog Hits Crisis: 2.9 Lakh Indians Wait 99 Days for Visitor Approvals

The visa backlog in Canada has already caused some heartburn among the millions, with the Indians standing at the staggering 99-day wait in obtaining visitor visas (the highest among all other source nations). By November 2025, the Indian applicants will have reached the stage of crisis as the citizenship approval queue has almost 2.9 lakh (290,000) applicants in it, and thousands suffer long waits in the queue to receive super visas, work permits, and study permits.

How Did We Get Here? A Growing Immigration Jam

The backlog currently experienced is due to an influx of interest after the pandemic, complicated security inspections, and a serious staffing shortage, more so in the major offices of IRCC in New Delhi and Chandigarh. Indian and Canadian applications, the largest source country, have swelled in all categories, straining resources and making approvals lag far behind those timelines published by IRCC.

Also Read: Canada Visitor Visa To Work Permit: Convert Your Visa

Why Is the Backlog So Severe for Indians?

These problems are not restricted to tourist and visitor visas. Family sponsorships, humanitarian cases, and PR applications are lagging, even years behind.

• Applicant Volume Records: Indians now place the greatest number of applications for Canadian visas.

• Difficult Security Checks: All applications are also vetted heavily, particularly after 2022, which makes the process lengthy.

• Staffing Problems: The IRCC has experienced constant staff shortages and job losses, which exacerbate the situation.

• Regional Processing Limit: Chandigarh and New Delhi centres are overburdened, whereas other countries experience quicker processing.

The Real-World Impact: Plans on Hold, Businesses Stressed

The time lag is felt by all people: family members who want to meet again, students who are looking forward to starting their programs, and companies who are afraid to plan such cross-border assignments. The reliability of the visa systems has led some Indian companies to seek other destinations like the UAE and Singapore to conduct a meeting. Immigration consultants recommend that even minor mistakes made in documentation should be avoided, as they move files towards the end of an already long queue.

Are Any Programs Improving?

Yes, study permits of Indian applicants are averaging four weeks, about a week earlier than in the year before. Conversely, the wait times for super visas and work permits are still very high, with the majority of them taking over 169 days or above.

Read More: Top 10 Benefits of Canadian Permanent Residency

Is Relief Coming? What’s Next for Indian Applicants

IRCC has deployed new digital resources, redistributed employees, and experimented with analytics-driven triaging to advance the files that are at risk of being processed more quickly. However, according to observers, the backlog will persist until at least the beginning of 2026. The second recommendation of the experts is that Indian applicants should verify documents twice and follow the category-related updates using official IRCC tools. Businesses can use alternative mobility corridors and the Digital Nomad and Francophone Mobility streams of Canada as a possible, quicker means of access for some profiles.

Conclusion

The news that the Canada visa backlog is topping in November 2025 sees Indian applicants wait up to 99 days to secure visitor visas, and over 2.9 lakh applicants are languishing in the citizenship queue. The government is trying to find solutions, and in the meantime, patience, attention to documentation, and the selection of the visa stream are the clues to going through the jammed Canadian immigration system. For the latest official updates on Canada’s visa processing times and backlog status, visit the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website. To know more about Canada Immigration, visit TerraTern now!