VFS New Delhi Canada Passport Stamping Time 2026: Half Back in 12 Days
If you handed your passport in at VFS New Delhi for a Canadian visa stamp, recent hand-ins have come back faster than at almost any other centre. For passports handed in between 7 September and 4 October 2026, half were sent back within 12 days and 9 in 10 within 14. In the four weeks before that, half took up to 21 days.
These figures come from Blue Dart's public tracking of 53,809 Canadian visa passports that VFS India has sent back since 6 July 2026. The data was last updated on 24 October 2026. The wait is counted from the day you hand your passport in at VFS (the date at the start of your tracking ID) to the day VFS sends it back by Blue Dart. New Delhi tracking IDs carry the letters IC.
New Delhi: then and now
| New Delhi hand-ins | Passports | 1 in 10 back within | Half back within | 9 in 10 back within |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 August to 6 September | 1,484 | 8 days | 21 days | 24 days |
| 7 September to 4 October | 1,588 | 8 days | 12 days | 14 days |
The quickest passports barely changed. In both periods, 1 in 10 was back within 8 days. What changed is everyone else. In late summer, the typical Delhi passport waited about three weeks. In the recent period, it waited under two, and the slow tail shrank too: 9 in 10 were back within 14 days instead of 24.
This is the same pattern seen across India. All ten centres moved from about 22 days to about 14 at the same time. When every centre changes together, the change is most likely at the Canadian visa office that does the stamping, not at VFS. The data does not show why it sped up. IRCC publishes nothing about this step.
What New Delhi is sending now
The latest numbers are even shorter. Passports New Delhi sent back in the last seven days had typically been away 9 days. That was the lowest figure of any centre that week; every other centre was at 10 or 11.
Across all centres, VFS sent 3,001 passports in those seven days. Half had waited within 10 days and 9 in 10 within 13.
New Delhi is a mid-sized centre. It sent 1,922 passports by Blue Dart in the last 30 days, fourth behind Jalandhar, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.
You can see today's figures, and how many passports from your own hand-in date have already left, on the New Delhi live page.
New Delhi against the Punjab centres
Many applicants from Delhi NCR, Haryana and Punjab can choose between Delhi, Chandigarh and Jalandhar. Here is how they compare on the same hand-in periods.
| Centre | Period | Passports | Half back within | 9 in 10 back within |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Delhi | 7 Sep to 4 Oct | 1,588 | 12 days | 14 days |
| Chandigarh | 7 Sep to 4 Oct | 2,188 | 13 days | 18 days |
| Jalandhar | 7 Sep to 4 Oct | 3,314 | 14 days | 18 days |
| New Delhi | 10 Aug to 6 Sep | 1,484 | 21 days | 24 days |
| Chandigarh | 10 Aug to 6 Sep | 2,581 | 22 days | 25 days |
| Jalandhar | 10 Aug to 6 Sep | 3,698 | 22 days | 26 days |
A few things stand out:
- Delhi has been a little quicker in both periods. The gap is small, a day or two in the middle, but it is there each time.
- Delhi's slow tail is shorter. For recent hand-ins, 9 in 10 Delhi passports were back within 14 days. At both Punjab centres, it was 18.
- Jalandhar is by far the busiest. It sent 3,982 passports in the last 30 days, Chandigarh 2,457 and Delhi 1,922. The data cannot tell you whether volume is the reason for the difference. It only shows when passports left.
- This week the three are close. Passports sent in the last seven days had typically waited 9 days from Delhi and 10 days from both Chandigarh and Jalandhar.
None of this is a reason to travel a long way to a different centre. The differences are a few days at most, and they can change from week to week. Check the centre comparison for this week's figures before you decide.
After dispatch: Blue Dart
Once VFS sends your passport, delivery is quick. Over the last 30 days, Blue Dart delivered half of 12,972 passports within 1 day and 9 in 10 within 3 days. 53% arrived the same or next day.
Dispatch days are uneven. Over the last 60 days, VFS sent the most passports on Mondays and the fewest on Fridays. If nothing has moved for a few days, that is normal. Batches can arrive all at once.
What this data cannot tell you
- It only covers passports VFS sends back by Blue Dart, roughly a third of the total. Passports collected in person are not counted.
- It does not know your visa type. Visitor, study, work and PR passports all share one kind of tracking ID.
- It shows when a passport left, never why one is slow. There are no names and no reasons.
- Blue Dart keeps records for about 90 days, so older history drops out.
What this means if you are handing in at New Delhi now
- Plan on about two weeks, plus a few days for delivery. Recent Delhi hand-ins were half back within 12 days and 9 in 10 within 14. Then Blue Dart delivers most within 3 days.
- Don't treat the current pace as a promise. Through July and August, the wait sat at about three weeks for months. Nothing in the data shows whether the faster pace will last.
- Don't book a flight you cannot change until your passport is dispatched. Once Blue Dart has it, you are usually days away, not weeks.
- Switching to Chandigarh or Jalandhar is unlikely to help. Delhi has been at least as quick as both recently.
- If most passports from your hand-in date are back and yours isn't, you are probably in the slow tenth. The data does not show why. The visa office, not VFS, does the stamping, so IRCC's web form is the place to ask.
Find your hand-in date on the New Delhi tracker to see how many passports from your day are already on their way. You can also check the all-centres view to see if the wait is rising or falling across India.