Average time for India visa office Outland application after medical test
- Thread starter jn1234
- Start date
Processing time is all over the place due to covid. There is a huge backlog in New Delhi VO and files are transferred to other VO to manage that. VFS just opened their office (end of June) for Biometric appointments and Passport submissions. So if you submitted the application in 2021, it's going to be 6-12 months at 80% of the files is processed within this time frame. After 12 months, the file is considered complex.
Thanks @canuck90 ! We had applied in August 2020, but just got the AOR few weeks ago after almost 10 months 
I think the file was stuck some where.
Few days ago, they informed us about sponsor approval and that file has been moved to VO, New Delhi. Now we got medical request. Would you happen to have any insights on the expected timeline based on this information? Thanks, really appreciate your help!
I think the file was stuck some where. Few days ago, they informed us about sponsor approval and that file has been moved to VO, New Delhi. Now we got medical request. Would you happen to have any insights on the expected timeline based on this information? Thanks, really appreciate your help!
This tweet is quite insightful. I'm not quite sure I fully agree with your assessment of a file taking greater than 12 months being deemed as "complex" though. I think outside of Covid this would be correct, but given the massive backlog and delays, if a file takes longer than 12 months, I don't think it's necessarily because of it being "complex".
Usually Sponsor approval, biometric and medical requests come very early on in the process.
I should have clarified and yes due to COVID applications are taking longer than expected.Pre-covid if it’s more than 12 months then it’s considered complex.
Thanks @canuck90 ! We had applied in August 2020, but just got the AOR few weeks ago after almost 10 months
Few days ago, they informed us about sponsor approval and that file has been moved to VO, New Delhi. Now we got medical request. Would you happen to have any insights on the expected timeline based on this information? Thanks, really appreciate your help!
Your file might be transferred to other VO to offset the load at NDVO. My SA says New Delhi but it was transferred to Ottawa for processing.
For some countries 12 months is pretty standard and if you need an interview it usually pushes your application over 12 months. If you have only just had the medical then you have quite a while ago unfortunately.
This report is very disheartening though. It says dated for June 15th, which is when India was back in super lockdown mode with Canadian VACs all closed, etc. Do you think the situation is better now?
Yes l better now but doubt 100% many staff likely left India when cases exploded and medical care became difficult. New staff may have not returned yet.
That's a good point. It makes me wonder how much staff NDVO even had left, assuming that a large number likely left during the crisis in April. They likely have not returned as direct flights between the countries are barred. I'm wondering if those abroad are also working remotely for NDVO. This is gonna cause an insane backlog (even worse than the one that already exists).
Fairly typical for families to return to Canada first if there is any instability in a country and then all but bare bones Canadian staff is left to deal with emergencies. If the situation gets even more dire, like Afghanistan, the whole embassy shuts down. The summer is also the time when postings end and new workers come from Canada to start their postings. I’m not sure if all the embassy/consulate staff has returned. I would assume that those who may have preexisting conditions or are older would be deemed too high risk and are likely Still in Canada. It sounds like Canadian staff is able to access some of the applications remotely. They are processing applications and courier system is working again for passport submission so there has been a huge difference since July. A lot of the effort will be going to process as many students as possible before the semester starts.