How long does the DOHA process take?
Nobody publishes official stage-by-stage timelines, so we measured them: the dates below are read directly from the text of 26,712 decided cases in the public record. These are medians of decided history, not a prediction of any pending case.
Hearing vs written record
Cases decided after a live hearing took a median of 208 days from SOR to decision (16,591 cases). Cases decided on the written record took a median of 202 days (8,209 cases). What each path is and how they differ is covered in the letters guide.
By decision year
| Year | Cases | Median SOR to decision |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 403 | 256 days |
| 2025 | 639 | 253 days |
| 2024 | 864 | 255 days |
| 2023 | 982 | 271 days |
| 2022 | 1,034 | 294 days |
| 2021 | 604 | 250 days |
| 2020 | 472 | 220 days |
| 2019 | 1,053 | 216 days |
| 2018 | 1,495 | 297 days |
| 2017 | 2,182 | 352 days |
| 2016 | 1,516 | 259 days |
| 2015 | 1,420 | 192 days |
By guideline
| Guideline | Cases | Median SOR to decision |
|---|---|---|
| F · Financial | 14,824 | 210 days |
| E · Personal Conduct | 8,138 | 211 days |
| B · Foreign Influence | 3,823 | 202 days |
| J · Criminal Conduct | 3,764 | 209 days |
| H · Drugs | 3,485 | 198 days |
| G · Alcohol | 2,029 | 214 days |
| C · Foreign Preference | 1,438 | 185 days |
| D · Sexual Behavior | 595 | 222 days |
| M · IT Systems | 285 | 252 days |
| K · Protected Info | 274 | 273 days |
A case alleging several guidelines counts under each one.
How these numbers are measured
We read the SOR-issued date and hearing date from the text of every decided hearing-level case in the record. The SOR date is stated in 95.5% of decisions; a hearing date appears in about 47% (many cases are decided on the written record, with no hearing). Whether a case went to a live hearing or was decided on the written record is also identified from the decision text itself (transcript citations and testimony versus explicit written-record markers). Dates that fail basic sense checks (out of order or implausibly far apart) are excluded rather than guessed. Medians are shown with their sample sizes; small samples are suppressed. The record here runs through 2026-06-18 and updates as new decisions are ingested. This is measured history, and it is not a prediction of how long any pending case will take. Deadlines that apply to you are covered on the deadline calculator and letters guide.