Visa Processing Times for Canadian Work Permit
For many people, Canada has become a favorable destination choice for immigration, especially for those seeking new frontiers where they can lead better lives, advance in their careers, and experience the benefits of a functional liberal democracy. Canada ranks high on the most favorable indices such as the Human Develop Index, the standard of living, security, and pollution. It is significant because of these reasons that most will consider Canada as their choice of destination.
As the population of Canada continues to grow, there is every likelihood that some professions would naturally come to have a higher demand. Healthcare, for one, is an area that is beginning to budge under the weight of the growing population and as a result, Canada is now in need of more health professionals, in particular, nurses, than perhaps any other time in her history. The Canadian Nursing Association has expressed these concerns, calling the situation an extreme shortage. The association predicts that by 2022, there will be a nursing shortage of 60,000 workers.
The government of Canada is therefore taking measures to prevent this mass shortage and has made open different routes through which nursing professionals can be admitted into the country. These routes include:
- Express Entry
- Quebec Skilled Workers Program
- Nova Scotia Nominee program
Why Canada?
People migrate for different reasons but those seeking a work permit to enable them to advance in their chosen professions and career paths tend to look out for a couple of favorable indicators. Canada, arguably, matches these parameters with some of the other advanced countries in the world. These advantages include:
- Functional health care system
- Job opportunities
- Security of life and property
- Social benefits
- High pay
- Standard of living
Nurses required in Canada
Dependent on the nominee program applied for, different categories of professional nurses are required in Canada.
They include :
- Intensive care nursing
- Nursing consultants
- Mental Health Nurse
- Occupational Health Nurse
VISA PROCESSING TIME
Each visa type has its peculiarities, hence their processing time would differ. Even when it’s the same visa type, in this case, a work permit, there is still a myriad of factors that can influence the processing time. Coupled with the new restrictions brought about by the covid 19 pandemic, visa processing time can further vary.
Factors that affect processing time
- Type of visa application
Different visa types require different processing times to complete. If you are applying for a work permit from inside Canada, it takes an average of 59 days to complete the process.
- Country of residence of the applicant
Some countries require stricter measures than others for many reasons. Other countries have more persons submitting applications than others. These factors play a key role in determining the time of processing.
- Completion and accuracy of information provided
If errors are made or false information is provided in the course of your application, this can cause a delay in the processing time. The reviewing officer will have to open a correspondence with you to sort these out and the longer this takes, the longer the processing time.
- Confirmation of information provided
Information provided during the application will have to be double-checked by the agency. The faster they are verified, the shorter the processing time.
- Number of applicants at any given time
Some countries have comparatively greater volumes of applications, primarily because of population differences. When there are more applications to be processed, it would automatically affect the average time given to each application.
- Applicant’s response time
In the course of the correspondence between the officers processing the application and the applicant, a swift reply from the applicant to questions, queries, and clarifications help in shortening the processing time.
PROCESSING TIME IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
Generally, the Canadian immigration official website has stated that due to the impacts of COVID 19, applications will no longer be processed normally as they used to. Also, the agency has stated that it will not be able to give processing times as well because of the same reason. As a result of this, is it quite hard to state with accuracy, the processing times of different countries.
However, judging from history before covid 19 and other successful applications within the pandemic, processing time can take from 1 – 27 weeks. Here are some of the estimated visa processing times per country:
- Ghana: 25 – 27 weeks
- Nigeria: 25 – 27 weeks
- Philippines: 16 – 19 weeks
- Cameroon: 25 – 28 weeks
- Uganda: 17 – 19 weeks
- Ethiopia: 16 – 18 weeks
- Taiwan: 11 – 13 weeks
