Processing times for Australians

[simonvee]

1. Does anyone know how long it typically takes for a them a process a skilled working visa for an Australian? 24 months?

2. What about simply a working holiday visa?

[Leon]

Just getting the LMO for a skilled job usually take 6 weeks.  Sometimes longer.  Sometimes it's refused.  In any case, you have to have an employer lined up to apply for the LMO for you and he has to advertise the job for a couple of weeks before applying to prove that he couldn't get any Canadians.  Once you have the LMO, you can apply for a work permit as you enter Canada.

I don't know how long it takes to process a working holiday visa.  You'd have to look at the program website, maybe contact them but I know of an employer hiring foreign workers for his business preferred to have them come in on a WHV if possible because it was easier than getting an LMO.

[simonvee]

Sorry, my mistake, I wasn't referring to the processing time for an LMO. I was referring to a Federal Skilled Worker Visa. I heard that it could take up to 6 years. That sounds nasty.

[Leon]

The skilled worker program underwent some changes in 2008 and is supposed to be getting faster.  Immigration does not have any official timelines on the new program yet but you can look at trackitt.com to see some actual applicants timelines.

If you had applied as a skilled worker from Australia under the old rules, the waiting time would have been about 3 years.  With the changes, they did not just make it faster, they also made it harder to qualify.  Before, you just had to have at least one year of skilled work experience and 67 points on the self assessment.  Under the new system, you also need to qualify under one of 3 categories, that is an occupation in the list of the 38 most wanted, to have a job offer or to have been in Canada for 12 months.