Study permit processing time

For each country outside Canada you apply from, IRCC lists its own processing time. These country-specific times come from IRCC's published processing times for October 21, 2026.

The wait depends on the country. People in Mexico or South Korea can expect 2 weeks. From Brazil or France, it's 4 weeks. Vietnam, the United States and Nepal each sit at 5 weeks. For the Philippines and Bangladesh, plan on 6 weeks, and for Pakistan, 7 weeks. India, China and Ghana all show 8 weeks. Nigeria comes in at 10 weeks, while Iran has the longest posted wait at 21 weeks.

Doctoral students get faster service: their new study permit applications, plus their family members' applications, are processed within 14 days.

If you apply for a new study permit from inside Canada, the posted time is 7 weeks, based on IRCC's feed for October 21, 2026.

Extending a study permit you already have in Canada shows a posted time of 56 days, per IRCC's data for applications not linked to any particular country. You might be switching to a different post-secondary school, known as a DLI, a designated learning institution that is approved to take in international students. If so, that extension can be processed in 60 days.

To sum up the in-Canada waits: a brand-new study permit shows 7 weeks, a regular extension shows 56 days, and an extension where you switch to a different post-secondary DLI shows 60 days.

As IRCC's processing times page explains, your wait begins once IRCC has your complete application and finishes when they make a decision. Applying online means the clock starts the instant you hit submit. If you send it by mail, the clock starts the day it lands in IRCC's mailroom.

The time IRCC posts already covers the biometrics step. Biometrics means your fingerprints plus a photo, which IRCC gathers as part of your application.

What IRCC posts is the length of time it expects an application arriving today to take. To set that number, IRCC looks at the applications on hand, the staff it has and how many fresh applications it anticipates receiving.

A few of the times IRCC displays look backward rather than forward. For temporary residence, a category that covers study permits, the number reflects how long IRCC needed to complete 80% of applications during the past 8 to 16 weeks. In other words, most applicants during that stretch heard back within that window, though a portion waited more.

Per IRCC, any of these can push an application past its posted time:

• something is missing from it
• it is complicated to assess
• it requires security screening
• the program has hit its cap, meaning the maximum number of applications IRCC will take

This is why including everything IRCC requests from the beginning counts: processing doesn't start until IRCC has a full application from you.

According to IRCC, calling won't help make processing any faster. Whether you call or not, your application moves along at the same speed.