I needed to give biometrics but my application is still exceeded 6 months and many people from my county is in that situation so biometrics doesn’t speed up the process dramatically.@SithLord
The processing of applicants starting January 2019 will be faster due to the new biometrics, which speeds up the security.
Also the delays are at the LVO, were the applications keep sitting after the eligibility by an analyst is passed.
The new norm seems to be 7-8 months.
The main issue nowadays is the number applications and that IRCC can’t assess them in time.