How long does a Canadian work permit take from South Africa?

IRCC currently publishes 14 weeks for a Work Permit from South Africa. This is IRCC's own published estimate and reflects applications recently processed, not a guarantee for a new application.

How often do these South Africa processing times change?

IRCC republishes processing times regularly. This page re-reads IRCC's published figures every six hours and shows when it last changed.

Canada visa processing times from South Africa

4 application types tracked, read directly from IRCC. These are IRCC’s own published estimates — not our predictions.

Fastest right now

14 weeks

Work Permit

Longest right now

34 months

Privately Sponsored Refugee

Every application type

Processing times from South Africa

Compared against the global median across all 8 tracked application types, so you can see whether South Africa is faster or slower than average.

IRCC processing times for applicants from South Africa
Application type	IRCC estimate	vs. global median
Work Permit	14 weeksabout 3.2 months	▲ 49 days slower
Study Permit	16 weeksabout 3.7 months	▲ about 2.5 months slower
Visitor Visa	117 daysabout 3.8 months	▲ about 2.6 months slower
Privately Sponsored Refugee	34 monthsabout 2.8 years	▲ about 6 months slower

Source: IRCC published processing times · last change detected October 2, 2026

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