I think its just taking a longer time in general.
Longer than what? When?
Yes, the current processing time for IRCC to finalize somewhat more than half the PR card applications has recently increased by more than a week (yeah, wow, a whole damn week, plus a couple days) longer than it has been for three to six months. Currently around three weeks, a bit longer than the around two weeks it was for a few months this year.
But generally, usually, the processing time has been at least
three times as long as now, three times the three weeks, approximately, it is currently. And historically it has often been around
ten times that long. Yeah, not too long ago the
fastest processing times were brief periods, very brief periods, during which IRCC was processing something more than half in around six weeks or seven weeks. But that was unusual. Nowhere near the norm. The norm has long been well north of nine to eleven weeks, and for some rather lengthy periods it has been north of four to six months. There was a reason why IRCC changed the policy to extend how long before a PR card expires they would accept applications, increasing it from six months (which had been the policy for a long time) to nine months: to accommodate the reality that at times it was taking six or more months to process most applications, and much longer if the application was complex.
Then IRCC implemented automated processing incorporating AI components, getting some traction in the 21st century. So what was taking nine to eleven weeks most of last year (and, again, significantly longer rather often) is now taking two to three weeks this year. Characterizing this as it generally taking longer now than previously is, well, not the most accurate arithmetic.
I got stressed because in this way even u can't know if u are missing a paper or if the photo not matching the criteria
For most PRs well settled and living permanently in Canada, who can submit their PR card application up to nine months before their current card expires, there is no cause for anxiety about how it will go when they apply for a new PR card.
Photo problems are generally an easy fix, the PR gets notice and resubmits. But that does take time.
Failure to include a required "
paper," however, is on the PR; what is required is not onerous and it is up to the PR to submit a complete application. Those who carefully and thoroughly read and follow the instructions should have no reason to be concerned, no cause to be anxious.
Most PRs who are well settled and living permanently in Canada, and who make the effort to do a good job preparing and submitting their application, will benefit from automated processing and possibly an automated decision. No agent or officer handles the application until the application is, in effect, approved. In effect this means the application is in process and approved the same day; any AoR would be the same day the application is approved. No way for these PRs to get notice the application is complete any sooner than the application is actually approved and the decision to issue a new PR card is made.
For those PRs whose application does not pass the criteria for automated processing, odds are the application goes into a queue where it will wait for an IRCC agent or officer to open the file, review the application, and either approve it or put it into a complex processing stream, or for some PRs into a highly complex, non-routine processing stream. No action, including no AoR, no processing file opened, until this eyes-on, manual processing starts.
We do not have a pulse on how long these are currently taking (this dichotomy, separating applications that get automated processing from complex and highly complex applications, has happened too recently to see trends or patterns yet), but my sense is the timeline is probably comparable to last year's processing times, no processing agent or officer opening the application for around eight to ten weeks. That means no AoR, no record of the application in process, for at least two months.
That means for those PRs who are not currently well settled and living permanently in Canada, or those who, in regards to the Residency Obligation, are
cutting-it-close, or there is some other circumstance or situation which could make processing their application complex, there is a significantly higher risk of longer and potentially much longer processing times.
It is not for sure, but my sense is that if the PR card does not arrive in the mail within six or seven weeks, or IRCC is still not showing the application is in process within five or six weeks, odds are the application did not qualify for automated processing and it is in queue, not yet examined by a live person, and there will not even be an open application on file for . . . again we don't know much about this timeline now, but my guess is that last year's eight to ten weeks is a good guess.
REMINDER: IRCC's published processing time for PR card applications is for how long it has taken to process just something over half the applications made. "
Most" is the term IRCC employs. It is very likely that a rather high percentage of PRs, maybe almost half of those applying, will not be among those benefitting from this processing time. There is bound to be a significant gap between those benefitting from automated processing and those who will wait for a live bureaucrat to process the application.
