Spousal Sponsorship Processing Times and Draw Trends: January - June 2025

The next in line for our in-depth analysis series of Canadian immigration programs is Spousal Sponsorship. In this post, we examine and compare the average processing times of outland and inland spousal sponsorship applications. The timeline being reviewed is from January through June 2025 (Q1 & Q2).

In 2025, we noticed that Outland applications are generally processed faster than Inland ones with some cases finalized in under 60 days. Outland has a wider range of processing times from as little as 50 days to as long as 580 days especially depending on nationality.

February was the most delayed and inconsistent month for Outland applicants.

Inland applications show a steady upward trend in processing times with June being the slowest so far at 391 days. Inland wait times are more stable but they lack the possibility of quick decisions seen in the Outland stream.

When choosing between Inland and Outland, these are the considerations that can be taken into account.

In 2025, Outland Spousal Sponsorship processing times have varied month by month. The monthly average time to Passport Request (PPR) was 96 days in January, increased significantly to 185 days in February then dropped to 145 days in March, 116 in April, rose again to 147 days in May and settled at 126 days in June.

The longest wait times based on nationality were for applicants from Jordan (580 days), India (489 days), Nigeria (290 days), Bangladesh (271 days) and the United Kingdom (257 days). 

On the other hand, the shortest processing times were also seen among Indian applicants with cases completed in 50 and 55 days, followed by Sri Lanka (62 days), Algeria (67 days) and Indonesia (68 days). 

A breakdown of minimum and maximum processing times across the months reveals that in January, cases ranged from 83 to 113 days (8 cases); in February, from 79 to 580 days (11 cases); in March, from 68 to 168 days (9 cases); in April, from 55 to 257 days (16 cases); and in May, from 93 to 290 days (14 cases). These figures highlight the considerable variation in timelines, with February being the most extreme in terms of range.

In contrast, Inland Spousal Sponsorship applications have shown consistently longer processing times. The average time to PPR was 251 days in January, rose to 276 days in February and then further increased to 315 in April, 339 in May and 391 in June. 

*March data wasn’t included due to unavailable cases

For Inland Spousal Sponsorship cases in 2025, we do not have sufficient data to provide a meaningful month-to-month breakdown. Instead, looking at the available data from January to June, the average time to Passport Request (PPR) across these five months is approximately 314 days/10months.

The longest reported wait time in our tracker was 391 days for an applicant from India, followed by 340 days for Korea and 339 days for Taiwan. The shortest recorded waits include 251 days (India), 267 days (China), and 274 days (Philippines). Due to the limited monthly data, further breakdown or analysis isn't feasible at this time.

In conclusion, based on Immitracker data we can see Outland applications tend to be processed more quickly with average turnaround times ranging from 96 to 185 days and some individual cases finalized in as little as 50 days. However, this stream also shows considerable variability with some applicants waiting as long as 580 days.

Inland applications processing times are significantly slower overall averaging approximately 314 days / 10.5 months (Jan-Jun) based on the available data. 

Ultimately, the data suggests that Outland applications offers the potential for faster outcomes but come with greater unpredictability whereas Inland applications move at a steadier but slower pace. These are some important considerations that applicants should have when considering which sponsorship stream aligns best with their circumstances and expectations.