How long does a Canadian visitor visa take? 500 days later, these parents are still waiting

Every day, the number on the sign outside Alireza Azizi's London, Ont. home goes up by one digit.

The number represents the number of days he says he's been waiting for his Iranian parents' visitor visa applications to trudge their way through Canada's backlogged immigration system.

On Friday, the number reached 500.

"I graduated from Western University, I bought a house here in London, like a year ago. I want my parents to see my house, my city, my work, my car. I miss all of them," Azizi told CBC News.

Looking for updates, he says he's been routinely checking the status of their application online, which is affecting his work.

"I'm depressed, to be honest. My wife always (tells) me, we can handle it, we can do it. But you can see my face that I'm always upset."

Azizi, a permanent resident, says he applied for a temporary resident visa, or visitor visa, for his parents in January 2024, with the plan they come from Iran and visit for a few weeks.

More than 16 months later, and despite numerous inquiries to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the application remains in limbo with no sign of a final resolution.

Since filing the application, Azizi says he also reached out four times to his then-MP Lindsay Mathyssen for help. Mathyssen, he says, was told by IRCC that his father's application was still undergoing a security check, and that "his military record is outstanding."

Azizi says he submitted the military records in February 2024, and resubmitted the documents again this past March.

"I don't know what I can do, because I have done everything. Web forms, MP, pre-mandamus letter. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars to a lawyer to convince IRCC to do their job."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, IRCC said the temporary resident applications it received for Azizi's parents would be finalized once "security screening" for his father concluded.

"As security screening is conducted by agencies outside IRCC, processing times may be outside IRCC's posted processing times," the spokesperson said. They couldn't say how long the process takes on average.

Azizi speculates his father's stint in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the 1980s may be why the screening has taken so long. Five months after Azizi submitted the applications, the federal government declared the IRGC a terrorist entity under Canada's Criminal Code.

It is Iran's mandatory military service that keeps Azizi from visiting his parents in Iran. Men in the country must complete 18 to 24 months of military service when they turn 18, a rule that even applies to dual Canadian-Iranian citizens born in Canada, the federal government says.

Azizi says he didn't serve because he was studying for a degree in civil engineering, and service could be deferred until after graduation. After graduating, Azizi immigrated to Canada and graduated from Western with a master's in 2023. He says if he returned, he would have to serve.

The last time Azizi says he saw his parents was in October, when they met for a week in Turkey, which borders Iran.

"During the departure, I saw my father was crying. It's hard … Every day, I talk to my parents, and they ask about their application."

CBC News has previously reported on the challenges Iranians seeking visitor visas or permanent residency have faced with security screening delays, in some cases lasting several years.

The processing time for a visitor visa application from outside Canada was 162 days as of Wednesday. The IRCC stresses that it's an estimate, not a guarantee.

"Actual processing times vary according to a number of factors, such as: how well and how quickly applicants respond to any communication from IRCC, how easily IRCC can verify the information provided, as well as security screening requirements," the spokesperson said.

Canada's immigration system has a mounting backlog of cases currently numbering more than 760,000, according to IRCC. Some 54 per cent of temporary resident visa applications were backlogged as of April, down from a peak of 75 per cent in December.

IRCC has said it plans to reduce its workforce by 3,300 over three years to 2021 levels.

Applications like those filed by Azizi are generally given lower priority for processing, but even still, 500 days is unusual, said Elena Ashford, lead immigration lawyer at Siskinds LLP.

"But, again, you never know what's in the person's background, right? Even a non-conviction makes someone inadmissible into Canada," she said. If any issues come up during an IRCC background check, the application may fall outside general processing times.

"An individual may not know, when their application is being processed, whether there are any issues that came up," she said.

Given the low priority given to visitor visa applications, and challenges communicating with embassies outside Canada, Ashford says most of her focus now is on skilled workers, a part of the immigration system also seeing significant delays.