This is always a big question. "Once I submit the application, how long until I come to Canada?" The answer varies from country to country, application to application - a range of anywhere from months to years.  (And if you read in Dari:  جدول زمانی برای حمایت خصوصی - though note we need to update this with 2025 timelines). 

Each country has a slightly unique process, and follows its own schedule.  According to RSTP, the wait times listed on the typical wait times website are an indication of what 80% of refugees experienced in the past 6 months. And times change, as Canadian immigration clears the backlog of old cases, or gets a wave of new cases.

The good news is, you'll get an email to indicate each new stage of the process. And both the sponsors and the refugee will get that email. So there's not really much point in obsessively checking the 'Check application status' website (once you have your G number) to see if there's any update. And that website doesn't seem to work at all for applications that were submitted through the 'portal' system introduced in late 2025. 

There's also an immigration website where you can check the status of your application - or add new forms. There's also a phone number where you can make enquiries: 613-321-4243. But try not to abuse it with questions you can find through an online search - or by reading this guide.

Below is a timeline based on recent applications. Remember, it's a very rough schedule and it mostly represents timelines for people in Indonesia. It's an average,  and not true for each person. If your friends are moving faster through the process, remember there are probably just as many friends who are moving slower - they're just not telling you, because they have no news to share. 

These timelines keep changing, usually for the worse, and as of 2026, the total wait time as listed on Immigration's check processing times website is 58 months - 29 months to sponsor approval and 29 months to the end - for privately sponsored refugees in Indonesia. In our own experience, the total wait time is 53 months, but we may have to adjust in the future to match Immigration's 58 months. Watch that page (and this one!) to keep up with the latest information.

With all that said, let's consider a typical timeline.

Month 1: Application submitted

Hurray!!! That was a lot of work and you should feel proud of yourself and your hard-working sponsor team for making it this far.

Month 1-12: The long, boring wait

At this point comes a long wait, where nothing much happens. 

If you're the refugee, you could spend this time worrying or driving your sponsors crazy by asking them when you'll get an update. OR you can spend this time wisely by getting ready to come to Canada. Some good and helpful things you can do while you wait:

• Get to know your sponsor team better - you will be very close to them when you arrive.

• Learn about Canada!

• Brush up on English!

• Pursue online education!

Your sponsors can be a big help during this time, by hosting weekly online chats to practise English and get to know Canada and each other.

So much better than worrying. Remember, if you have a sponsorship to Canada, you are definitely one of the lucky ones. So enjoy the ride!

Month 12-22: G number (sometimes)

If you're applying through a group of five or community sponsorship, the sponsors and refugees will receive an email from immigration that provides you with a G number, a year or so after submitting your application. (Sponsorship agreement holders or SAHs tend to get it much faster, within a month or so after submission, though total processing times from application to flight end up being about the same). Though note that since 2025, Immigration often neglects to send this G number email, and we have to wait for sponsorship approval - the next step in the process - to find out what it is. 

What is the G number? It's a tracking or file number, and receiving it establishes that your file is in the system, and there is not anything glaringly wrong or missing. 

Before you have your G number, you will be assigned an XG number - secretly, since immigration doesn't tell you about that either. The XG number means that an immigration officer is looking at your file but hasn't finished going through it. The change from XG to G number usually takes about a month.The only way to find out what your XG number is, these days, is by having your sponsor talk to their Member of Parliament - or rather the assistant to the MP that handles immigration. 

If there is a problem with your application - such as a missing document or expired ID - you will get an email from immigration that tells you what is missing and needs to be fixed. You usually have 30 days to fix it or supply what's missing. This extra step, called "Pre-Return Information",  sounds disheartening, but it's actually a good thing. Prior to March 2021, Immigration used to just reject the application entirely if they found something in error, and you'd have to redo your documents (with new dates on them) and submit all over again. Thanks to some very helpful lobbying by RSTP, Immigration now gives you a chance to correct the problem.

Month 25-29: 'Sponsorship approval'

The next email that the sponsors and refugees from immigration is to indicate you have earned 'sponsor approval'. This means that immigration has looked closely at your application and found everything to be in good shape - specifically with regard to the sponsor and funding documents.

This milestone is in some ways a bigger deal than getting a G number, since when applications run into trouble, it's usually at this stage - because there was a police check that was expired at the time of submission, or not enough funds in the trust account, or some other problem. (Once again, SAHs tend to get 'sponsor approval much faster, within a few months of submission, but that's because they have done a LOT of paperwork in the past to show they are capable and worthy of carrying the weight of private sponsorship). 

'Sponsor approval' also means your file is now being sent from the immigration office in Ottawa to the overseas embassy.

Month 26-31: Another boring wait

See month 1-14 on more of this and how to spend the time wisely.

Here's a guide for the process by AURA, the SAH. You can also view the chart online.

Month 31: Request to update the application documents and submit a few new ones (for THOSE INTERVIEWED)

If you're required to do an embassy interview, these documents are required to give the interviewer information to quiz you on in the interview. If you're not required to do an interview, these documents largely take the place of it. All the information is the same as on your Schedule A and 2, but updated - and you're now asked for all your social media accounts as well. 

NOTE: These documents are usually emailed only to the refugee, so refugees: check your emails!

• IMM5406 - Additional family information. This is all the same 'additional family information' found on Schedule 2

• Authority to Disclose Personal Information and Solemn Declaration - you need to add your name and sign this electronically

• Schedule A, updated. So a new dates in the signature area and in Question 7 and 12

• Supplementary information form - travel history and active social networks. Travel history repeats what's on Schedule A, Question 11, and 'active social networks' - the only new information on any of these, really, shows your WhatsApp number and social media accounts. 

And in some countries:

• Military experience/history

Note: these documents all have file size limits and need to be sent electronically, so if you don't have a computer, ask help from someone who does. That's probably a sponsor or the same person who wrote your application in the first place.

If you don't need to do the interview, then you won't be asked to submit these documents much later, at month 49.

Month 33: An email to invite you to the embassy interview - and the interview (for THOSE INTERVIEWED)

Most people need to be interviewed before being accepted to come to Canada. This is done at a Canadian embassy in some countries. In others, like Indonesia, it's done at a hotel.

The invitation to do the interview comes in the form of an email with a PDF attachment that explains when and where the interview will take place. This email is sent to the refugee, as well as their 'lead' sponsor and the Use of Representative person, if there is one. The interview is usually booked 2 weeks after the email arrives. In the past, the invitation took the form of a phone call. Keep your phone number active in case they do decide to call.

Since 2021 most Hazaras don't have to do the interview. In 2026, about 20% were asked to do it. Why some and not others? It seems that those who are least likely to be interviewed are those who have the usual story of persecution. Depending on the country, that story is:

• Afghanistan - being abducted on the highway at a Taliban checkpoint and then brough blindfolded to a broken down house, then escaping to Kabul

• Pakistan - surviving one of the epic bombings in Hazara Town, Quetta

These stories are common because it's the most usual way that the Taliban try to destroy Hazaras and take their land. If you were born in another country or have another, less usual story, you are more likely to be interviewed. Here's some tips on how to do a successful interview. 

Month 35: Medical check

Medical used to take place at the same time as biometric. Since 2025, there's often a long gap between them. Since both results have expiration dates, that may mean you need to redo one or both of them.

For biometric, you will receive the following by email:

• IMM1017 - Medical examination instructions. This email comes about 14-16 days after they actually book you for a medical appointment and tell you where and when to go. And the appointment will happen soon after - you get about 2 days' notice.

• IMM5695 - IFHP: This is your interim federal healthcare healthcare paper. You need it to get the medical test for free. It also gives you extra medical coverage in Canada

Remember to bring your IFHP print out, which you will receive at the same time you are invited to do your medical check.

If you're scared of the medical, don't worry. It's very hard to 'fail' it, even with some serious conditions. The only risk is if you have a communicable disease, like tuberculosis. And some people have had their files delayed because they had scars of long-ago cases of tuberculosis on their lungs. It's ok to be HIV positive though.

Month 48: Biometric appointment

Around this time you will get an email from the IOM asking you to go to a local hotel and do your biometrics. The request is often sent straight to the refugee, and not to their sponsors or "use of representative" person. So do check your email. 

What are biometrics? It means Immigration needs to confirm your identity by collecting specific physical identifiers. The process is standardized and the same for most immigration and refugee applicants. Biometrics for Canadian immigration consist of two elements:

• Fingerprints — all ten fingerprints are taken electronically using a digital scanner. 

• A digital photograph — a facial image captured at the appointment. 

These two pieces of information are used to verify identity, check for previous immigration history, and run security and criminality checks.

Before 2026, biometric and medical happened at the same time. Now there tends to be a large gap in time between the two. Also new for refugees in Indonesia, as of February 2026, is that the IOM will tell you when and where to do your biometric. Before, you would get a PDF called "IMM5756" from the Singapore office of Canadian immigration, which had a link of all the places to do your biometric, and you were supposed to book the appointment yourself. This is the link. 

Nowadays, in Indonesia anyway, the IOM books the appointment for you, about a week in advance. And you receive that form - IMM5756 - in person, when you do your biometric enrolment.  

Month 49: Updated documents

Once you pass your medical, you'll receive some documents - the same ones that people being interviewed had to submit at month 31.  They are:

• IMM5406 - Additional family information. This is all the same 'additional family information' found on Schedule 2

• Authority to Disclose Personal Information and Solemn Declaration - you need to add your name and sign this electronically

• Schedule A, updated. So a new dates in the signature area and in Question 7 and 12

• Supplementary information form - travel history and active social networks. Travel history repeats what's on Schedule A, Question 11, and 'active social networks' - the only new information on any of these, really, shows your WhatsApp number and social media accounts. 

And in some countries:

• Military experience/history

Month 50: Pre-arrival services

Once you've submitted your documents, you should receive the following PDF in return:

• IMM5801 - Pre-arrival services. 

This one is kind of useless and nothing is required of you. Here's the link of these services. What's important about this document is that it's unofficial proof that you're coming to Canada. 

Month 50-52: Security check and vaccinations

You're going to need four rounds of vaccinations, so this can take a few months.

This waiting period is also when the security check takes place. It happens behind the scenes, so there's nothing the sponsors or the refugees need to do. In fact, you won't even know it's happening. In the final months of your process, your case is sent to a company to make sure there are no big, bad secrets hiding in your past. Fighting in a war might be a deal breaker, especially if you didn't mention military service on your application. 

The security check phase is something of a mysterious black box, since it's outside the hands of the embassy or immigration - it's handled by private contractors - and can take any amount of time. Three months is normal for those who take the usual people smuggling route to Delhi India, then Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, then by overnight boat to Indonesia. If you took a different route, or lived in a few other countries making your refugee journey, the security check may take longer.

Note that if you had an embassy interview, the security check typically takes place right after it (except in some countries, like Ghana, where it occurs before the interview). If immigration has suspicions about your case, or if you had a bad embassy interview, the security check phase can drag on and on. After two years, it's time to hire a lawyer. 

But you will know if you had a bad embassy interview, since the visa officer will likely be outright hostile, or indicate he or she doesn't really believe your story. So that will give you the head's up that you may be headed toward a loooooong security check phase.

Month 52: Visa approval

This is step really just started happening in 2023. It's an email to basically state that they're preparing your flight for you. It's sent to the 'main sponsor' rather than the rest of the sponsor team, or the use of representative person - or even the person being sponsored, for some reason. This is the key message in the text: 

STATUS UPDATE:  NOTICE OF VISA APPROVAL. 

A permanent resident visa has now been issued for the above mentioned principal applicant and their accompanying family members. A request has been sent to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to proceed with final resettlement arrangements. This includes contacting and enrolling the applicants in the Canadian Orientation Abroad (COA) program as applicable, assisting with any exit permit procedures, and booking travel. It is estimated that these applicants will arrive in Canada within seven to twelve weeks of the date of this notice.

Month 53: Flight booking

About a month after the visa approval email, you'll get another email with your flight details. It's sent to the refugee and the sponsors, and the flight is usually booked about 4-5 weeks after the email arrives

Month 54: Orientation

Soon before you fly to Canada, you'll be invited to a hotel in the capital city of the country where you're living. The IOM also arranges you to bring you to the hotel for this orientation (arranging transportation and even flights, if you're on a different island than the capital city).

During those three days, you'll be taught all about Canada, the history and culture in this country, and get the first of your Canadian paperwork. This Orientation occurs a few weeks before the flight, in places like Indonesia, or immediately before flying in Turkey, for example.

Either way, this is the last stage before you come to Canada. Enjoy it.

Month 54: Fly to Canada

After the hotel stay, the IOM gets you on your flight to Canada. Your flight is financed through a loan from the Canadian government, which you will have to start repaying in instalments after you've been in Canada for one year. And no, it's not a good idea to book your own flight (to save money or time) because that puts you out of the protection of the IOM, which you will definitely need as a semi-stateless person. The risk of going it alone includes being thrown into an airport prison during a connecting stop.

Also, as part of this process, you're given important papers, like the first (paper-based) version of your permanent residence ID for Canada, a temporary heath plan, and so on. The IOM is there to bring you to Canada safely, and they will be with you every step of the way, until your sponsors greet you at the airport and sign another paper to release you into their care. 

Which is good! That's what private sponsorship is all about. Enjoy the process, knowing that you are finally on your way to somewhere safe, where you can build a future, and where you'll have your sponsor team to help you each step of the way - for your first year, and if you get along, maybe longer.

In Conclusion

The wait to Canada can take longer than what's described here, or it may come faster. The key thing is not to stress about it, but spend that time wisely, by preparing for the future ahead.