Years, and the length depends on source-of-funds preparation, adjudication times and visa availability for the country of chargeability. No adviser can honestly quote a fixed period.
Ask which clock is likely to be slowest
Three separate timelines run at once and only one is within the family's control. The first is preparation: assembling source-of-funds evidence, diligencing the project and committing capital. The second is adjudication, which varies and cannot be predicted from another applicant's experience.
The third is visa availability by country of chargeability, published monthly, which can add years independently of anything the household does. Because conditional residence lasts two years and is followed by a further petition, the full arc extends well past the first approval. Ask any adviser who offers a confident total how they arrived at it, and treat plans that depend on a specific arrival date as fragile.
Schooling decisions, property sales and resignation dates should all be made with a wide range in mind rather than a single expected month. Hypothetical example: a specialty bicycle-component plant project forecasts construction, hiring, and production over several years. The first review should produce parallel timelines for source-of-funds assembly, project milestones, adjudication, visa availability, and the later condition-removal stage.
Bank and tax records settle the preparation timetable; the business plan and project updates settle whether jobs remain on track. Start the personal document trail before selecting a filing date. A common error is basing relocation, school, or asset-sale decisions on a promoter’s single estimated month.
The family needs ranges and contingency dates because one timeline is controlled by the investor while the others depend on government processing, visa supply, and commercial execution.