Transit Visa Processing taking a lot of time

[shreya22]

Hi,

I am an Indian Citizen and currently living in the United States. I have Student Visa for the United States. I am travelling to India from United States and have a 2 hours layover in canada.

I applied for the transit visa (online application) on 18th of October. It's been more than 20 days and my application status is still in the processing. I checked in the CIC website and the official processing time for a transit visa is 8 days.

I have to travel in the next 20 days and I am super worried about the delay. Whom and how shall I contact to anyone who can help me on understanding why is there a delay or to get the application reviewed faster?

 

[Bryanna]

Hi,

I am an Indian Citizen and currently living in the United States. I have Student Visa for the United States. I am travelling to India from United States and have a 2 hours layover in canada.

I applied for the transit visa (online application) on 18th of October. It's been more than 20 days and my application status is still in the processing. I checked in the CIC website and the official processing time for a transit visa is 8 days.

I have to travel in the next 20 days and I am super worried about the delay. Whom and how shall I contact to anyone who can help me on understanding why is there a delay or to get the application reviewed faster?

You can send an IRCC web form to request for an expedited decision:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/web-form.asp

You can also email your local US visa office. If you don't get a decision in a week's time then you may want to re-book flights that do not transit through Canada

 

[shreya22]

I have already submitted the web form. How long does it take for them to reply.

 

[Bryanna]

I have already submitted the web form. How long does it take for them to reply.

It could take up to a month to get a response to the web form. That's why you could email the visa office too

 

[shreya22]

Okay. Thank you. I have emailed the office as well. Let's see if I get a response in time.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[shreya22]

Hi, I tried calling, emailing the local US-LA and NY (Canada visa office). However, I didn't get any response. I am really frustrated. It's been 30 days now. Is there no other efficient way to contact the Canadian embassy to speed up my application, as my travel dates are coming soon and I am not getting any other flights for the suitable date.

This is my first experience with the Canadian embassy and I really hope that others are not facing such a cumbersome process that I am going through.

 

[gprx100]

Hi Shreya, I applied on 10/30/18 and still waiting for a response. When is your flight? What status does the online application show?

 

[shreya22]

Hi Shreya, I applied on 10/30/18 and still waiting for a response. When is your flight? What status does the online application show?

My flight is on 6th December. What about you? The status shows reviewing your appllication.

 

[gprx100]

My flight is on 6th December. What about you? The status shows reviewing your appllication.

Thats a good sign, mine says "Submitted", how long has it been in that status?

 

[monkeys89]

Re-book your flights if you're concerned. You shouldn't book flights through a visa-required country without the visa. I hope you get the visa in time, but be ready to re-book.

 

[shreya22]

Thats a good sign, mine says "Submitted", how long has it been in that status?

My status is also submitted since a month now. When you select the application for more details then you can see that staus as review

 

[gprx100]

Re-book your flights if you're concerned. You shouldn't book flights through a visa-required country without the visa. I hope you get the visa in time, but be ready to re-book.

Unfortunately I was not aware of a transit visa requirement before booking, I feel Air Canada can be more proactive for their customers, its still ridiculous that a transit visa takes so many freaking days.

 

[gprx100]

My status is also submitted since a month now. When you select the application for more details then you can see that staus as review

Ok, then you and I are in the same boat. Is the 8 days processing time for online applications or if we apply by paper applications to a local VAC?

 

[monkeys89]

Unfortunately I was not aware of a transit visa requirement before booking, I feel Air Canada can be more proactive for their customers, its still ridiculous that a transit visa takes so many freaking days.

There's a big notice about travel documents right above the "purchase" button when you book a flight on aircanada.ca.

 

[monkeys89]

Ok, then you and I are in the same boat. Is the 8 days processing time for online applications or if we apply by paper applications to a local VAC?

It's an estimate. Don't consider that to be a timeline.