A non-SDS applicant (applied from China, June 2023) saw no movement ~6 weeks after biometrics — eligibility not started, medical not reviewed — and asked whether to raise a webform. Members' guidance:
- First verify the medical actually reached IRCC. The most actionable advice: if the upfront medical hasn't shown as updated after ~40 days, contact the panel clinic where you did the exam and confirm they forwarded the results. In this case the clinic confirmed IRCC had received them — ruling out the one failure point the applicant could control.
- Calibrate expectations: non-SDS averages 2–3 months. Members noted regular-stream study permits were taking two to three months on average at the time (historical figure — check current IRCC processing times). Fast two-week approvals happen but are the exception, not the benchmark.
- 'No update' six weeks in is normal for non-SDS. Statuses like 'eligibility not started' weeks after biometrics don't indicate a problem; the consensus was to wait rather than escalate at that stage.