Nigeria Sees Five-Week Drop in Work Permit Wait Times as IRCC Updates July Processing Data
IRCC's latest weekly update shows Nigerian work permit wait times falling by five weeks, even as visitor and super visa processing times moved in mixed directions elsewhere.
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Key Takeaways
- IRCC's July 15 processing-time update shows Nigerian work permit applicants gaining the most ground, with wait times falling from 11 weeks to 6 weeks in a single week.
- Study permit processing times held completely steady across all six countries tracked, unchanged for a third straight week.
- Visitor and super visa applicants saw a mixed picture, with Pakistan and the Philippines facing longer waits while other countries saw modest improvements.
Work Permits: Nigeria's Wait Time Falls Sharply
Canada's immigration department released updated temporary residence processing-time estimates on July 15, 2026, comparing current figures against those published a week earlier, on July 7. Work permit applicants from nearly every tracked country saw shorter waits, with Nigeria posting by far the largest improvement — a drop of more than a month. Pakistan was the lone exception, where wait times lengthened.
| Applying from | Current (July 15) | Previous (July 7) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 124 days | 127 days |
| India | 9 weeks | 9 weeks |
| Pakistan | 7 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Nigeria | 6 weeks | 11 weeks |
| United States | 3 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Philippines | 6 weeks | 7 weeks |
Service standards: in-Canada submissions (initial and extensions), 120 days; outside-Canada submissions, 60 days.
Beyond the headline numbers, super visa submissions from the Philippines rose by 16 days and from Nigeria by eight days, while visitor visa submissions from Pakistan increased by five days.
Study Permits: No Movement for a Third Straight Week
The federal government reported no week-over-week changes for study permit processing times, marking the third consecutive week of stability across all six featured countries.
| Applying from | Current (July 15) | Previous (July 7) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 7 weeks | 7 weeks |
| India | 5 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Pakistan | 6 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Nigeria | 5 weeks | 5 weeks |
| United States | 5 weeks | 5 weeks |
| Philippines | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
Service standards: in-Canada submissions (initial and extensions), 120 days; outside-Canada submissions, 60 days.
Visitor Visas: Small Moves in Both Directions
Visitor visa processing times edged down for submissions from Canada and the United States, while Nigerian and Pakistani applicants saw increases of two and five days, respectively.
| Applying from | Current (July 15) | Previous (July 7) |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 34 days | 36 days |
| India | 20 days | 20 days |
| Pakistan | 39 days | 34 days |
| Nigeria | 61 days | 59 days |
| United States | 28 days | 29 days |
| Philippines | 17 days | 17 days |
Service standards: in-Canada submissions, not applicable; outside-Canada submissions, 14 days.
Super Visas: Philippines Sees the Steepest Climb
Of the featured countries, only India saw its super visa processing time decline this week. The Philippines experienced the most pronounced increase, adding just over two weeks to its wait.
| Applying from | Current (July 15) | Previous (July 7) |
|---|---|---|
| India | 50 days | 52 days |
| Pakistan | 187 days | 179 days |
| Nigeria | 36 days | 33 days |
| United States | 126 days | 123 days |
| Philippines | 73 days | 57 days |
Service standard: 112 days. Super visa applications cannot be submitted from within Canada.
Reading the Numbers: Estimates vs. Service Standards
Canada's immigration department publishes processing times to give applicants a general indication of how long it may take for a permanent residence, temporary residence, or citizenship application to be finalized. These figures are estimates only and do not guarantee that any application will be processed within the published time frame.
Two types of estimates are used: historical estimates, which reflect how long the department has taken to finalize 80% of applications in the past, and forward-looking estimates, which are calculated from the department's current inventory and processing capacity.
Service standards are a separate measure — the internal benchmark the department sets for finalizing a particular application type under normal circumstances, generally targeting 80% of applications within that window.
Actual timelines can run above or below the published estimate or service standard, depending on application complexity, backlogs, operational pressures, and whether additional documents or checks are required. Temporary residence estimates are updated weekly, while permanent residence and citizenship estimates are generally refreshed once a month. Service standards change far less frequently — for temporary residence categories, they were last revised in 2018–2019.
What This Means for Applicants
For most work permit applicants, this week's update is encouraging, particularly for those applying from Nigeria, where a month-long improvement could meaningfully change travel and employment plans. Pakistani applicants, by contrast, face a modestly longer wait across nearly every category tracked this week. Study permit applicants can take some comfort in three straight weeks of stability, which makes near-term planning more predictable. As always, published estimates are a guide rather than a guarantee, and individual processing times can still vary based on the specifics of each application.
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