How long Express Entry takes after you apply.
The six-month service standard is a target, not a measurement. This page shows IRCC’s current estimate next to what applicants reported at each stage after submitting.
What IRCC says today
What applicants reported, stage by stage
Measured from the day the application was submitted, so the figures accumulate rather than describing gaps between stages. Fewer stages appear here than on the spousal page: Express Entry cases move faster and get reported less completely, and only the stages with at least 25 weighted cases behind them are published at all.
All Express Entry applications
Every stream together — the broadest sample, and the most reliable rows on this page.
Median days from submission, with the 10th–90th percentile range beside it: eight in ten reported cases landed inside that span. n is the weighted number of cases behind the row — nothing is published below 25.
Canadian Experience Class
Applicants already working in Canada, invited through a general or category-based draw.
Median days from submission, with the 10th–90th percentile range beside it: eight in ten reported cases landed inside that span. n is the weighted number of cases behind the row — nothing is published below 25.
Provincial nominee, applying from inside Canada
Nominated by a province, with the applicant in Canada when the application went in.
Median days from submission, with the 10th–90th percentile range beside it: eight in ten reported cases landed inside that span. n is the weighted number of cases behind the row — nothing is published below 25.
Provincial nominee, applying from outside Canada
Nominated by a province, with the applicant abroad at submission.
Median days from submission, with the 10th–90th percentile range beside it: eight in ten reported cases landed inside that span. n is the weighted number of cases behind the row — nothing is published below 25.
Why the queue feels like it is moving away from you
IRCC’s published estimate is forward-looking: it describes an application submitted today. Read across successive updates, the implied progress is roughly 38 days of submission-date per calendar month. The timelines applicants actually reported move closer to 13.6 days per month.
That gap is why an official figure can stay at “six months” while your own wait passes it. The official number is not counting down toward your case; it is being re-estimated for a case that has not been submitted yet.
What is missing here
Biometrics is not a stage in the Express Entry model — most applicants gave theirs during a previous permit, so there is nothing consistent to measure. If you are waiting after biometrics, the after-biometrics page is the more useful one.
Estimates only — not immigration advice. These dates are modelled from timelines that other applicants reported, and describe a range of likely outcomes, not a commitment. Your case can differ substantially. Not affiliated with or endorsed by IRCC. Please do not make irreversible plans — flights, resignations, leases — on a predicted date.
Method, sample sizes and measured error: how these numbers are made · IRCC figures as of 2026-07-07.
Track your own application