Canadian skilled visa processing times slashed, new report shows

A new analysis has shown the federal government’s move to fast-track immigrants with needed skills has the critical factor in cutting the overall processing time in half.

Canada Immigration

Canadian Visa processing times have been reduced.

The Canadian Visa processing time for applications overall dropped to 26 months in 2009 from 50 months in 2005, analysis by immigration consultant Richard Kurland found.

Federal legislation in 2008 committed the government to a timelier processing of applications from various occupations considered in demand.

Skilled worker applications now are being approved in about seven months, a dramatic decline from the five or more years it used to take for them to get through the system, Kurland said.

However, progress on the speedy approvals of foreign worker visas has not been matched by progress on Canadian family visas to reunite family members.

A spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the findings show the government is on the right path to make Canada more attractive to the world's "best and brightest" people.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people emigrate to Canada by applying for a Canadian Visa with the Canadian Embassy.