I believe the new security check system (changed as of April 2010 I guess) the security check takes around 5-6 months unless a travel history around the world is involved where they may decide to contact those countries as well ........ but qmailik is right ......... we still may not get that TRV (Temporary Resident Visa) before a year or so .......... Govt does not seem to be willing to make it easy ......... they are planning to get tougher on it .... so lets not be very optimistic about what they are doing ......... can they still take two years to issue a TRV ...... indeed they can .... do they care for countries like Pakistan ....... ofcourse not ........ but the unfortunate part is that they will continue to invade our lives even after our spouses have arrived in Canada and upon completion of two years (during which we will be collecting proof of ongoing relationship again ) they will visit our homes on random basis, ask personal questions (that is what they do in USA and Australia) and question the validity of our relationship ......... its a good news for female sponsors from Canada whom the Govt believes are more vulnerable by marring in a male dominated society opposed to Canadian culture which leans towards females instead of being neutral (dont get offended you know its true here) ....... everything els is unclear as to where would those two years of temporary stay go ..... will those be counted towards citizenship, half credited and citizenship requirement will be four years for a TRV and PR afterwards .... no one knows and it will take a lot of time for CIC to understand and interpret the law ........ lets just hope it is not applied on old cases because the first lot will become a TEST CASE which would be full of mistakes .... training on new rules will take more of immigration officer's and lower staff's time and they will be off work from our files ........ further delaying the already retarded process........ In the nutshell ......... they want marriages within Canada ........ like it or not ....... they will force it one way or other ... and given a choice ....... this Govt will put all of us (who are convicted of the crime of marrying in Pakistan) in a ship and sink it in Atlantic Ocean and probably north of Labrador which is called EDGE OF THE PLANET