As per IRCC's annual 2019 annual report it takes 8-9 months for an application to process. This was pre-COVID
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/annual-report-parliament-immigration-2019.html
How long did it take to process an Express Entry application?
Table 35 displays the time, in months, that IRCC took to process 80% of applications under each program. In 2019, IRCC did not meet the processing standard of finalizing 80% of all applications sourced via Express Entry within six months. The processing time for Express Entry, overall, was eight months. As an alternative measure of processing times, 60% of applications finalized in the 12-month period ending on December 31, 2019, were completed within the six-month service standard.
Table 35: Processing Times for Express Entry applications finalized by year and immigration category, in months
Program | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|
Canadian Experience Class | 4 | 5 | 7 |
Federal Skilled Worker | 4 | 6 | 9 |
Provincial/Territorial Nominee | 6 | 6 | 9 |
Federal Skilled Trades | 6 | 7 | 12 |
All Programs | 5 | 5 | 8 |
Source: CIC_EDW (MBR) as of January 3, 2020
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
- Processing times refer to the time in which 80% of applications were finalized by IRCC. The processing time is measured from the day a complete application is received until the time a final decision is made by an immigration officer.
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Post COVID, the tidiness are all over the place.
During the processing of your application, your application can be transferred to any office for processing. The Local Visa Office is usually for outland applicants based on their country of residence.
To read on transfers, see
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/service-delivery/file-transfer.html
If you are in Canada, your application can be transferred to any office within Canada.