Refused a Canadian visa or study permit in Nigeria?

IRCC now sends the officer's decision note with most refusals: temporary-resident applications refused since 29 July 2025 (visitor visas, super and transit visas, visitor records, study and work permits and their extensions) and permanent-residence applications refused since 26 May 2026. It does not send them for eTAs, temporary resident permits or humanitarian and compassionate applications.

As of 24 September 2026, Nigerian citizens need a visitor visa (a TRV, or temporary resident visa) to come to Canada, even just to change planes here. Nigeria is not on IRCC's list of countries that can use an eTA (an online travel permit) instead. IRCC's page lists a few exceptions, for example people who hold a US green card.

IRCC lists two visa application centres (VACs) in Nigeria, in Abuja and Lagos. You book an appointment at one to give your fingerprints and photo (biometrics). IRCC's list links both to the same VFS Global Nigeria website: check it for the address and opening hours before you go.

IRCC's counts for people listed under Nigeria. They cover visitor visas, visitor records (to stay longer as a visitor), study permits, work permits and their extensions. "Not approved" means refused or withdrawn.

• January to July 2026: IRCC finished the applications of 141,985 people and approved 72,655. Not approved: 69,330, about half. Worldwide it was about 1 in 3.
• 2025: IRCC finished the applications of 296,525 people and approved 120,300. Not approved: 176,225, about 6 in 10. Worldwide: about 4 in 10.
• 2024: IRCC finished the applications of 365,175 people and approved 125,715. Not approved: 239,460, about 2 in 3. Worldwide: about 4 in 10.
• In 2024, in 2025 and in January to July 2026, only India had more people not approved than Nigeria.
• New study-permit applications IRCC finished, whether approved, refused or withdrawn: 28,290 people in 2025 and 14,715 in January to July 2026. Only India had more.

IRCC has an extra document checklist for people in Nigeria applying for a visitor visa (form IMM 5873, April 2026). It says IRCC will judge your application "based solely on the information and documents you provide". If you pay for your own trip, it asks for bank statements for the past six months. If you have a job, it asks for an employment letter dated within 2 months, showing your position, salary, years of employment and approved leave dates. It asks for marriage and birth certificates for each family member, whether or not they are applying for a visa. For flights, it asks only for a provisional booking: you do not need to buy a ticket, and the checklist does not advise it. It also says not to make final travel plans until you have your visa.

For a study permit, IRCC's checklist for applicants in Nigeria (form IMM 5832, February 2026) asks for your WAEC, SSCE or NECO results, and your NYSC certificate if it applies to you. For money, it asks for certified bank statements with six months' history. You may add a MyBankStatement ticket from your bank, with a ticket ID and a passcode. You must also show a reliable source of funds for your whole programme. IRCC may ask you to attend an interview.

IRCC ended the Nigeria Student Express (NSE) on 8 November 2024, at 2 pm Eastern Time. IRCC says study permit applications sent after that go through the regular study permit stream. So if you were refused under NSE and apply again, your new application is a regular one.

On 22 September 2026, IRCC's processing times for people applying from Nigeria were: visitor visa, 93 days; super visa (for parents and grandparents), 44 days; study permit, 10 weeks; work permit, 10 weeks. IRCC says the time includes giving your biometrics. These are IRCC's estimates and it updates them weekly, so check again before you apply.

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Our office hours are Mon–Sat, 10am–7pm IST. In Nigeria that is 5:30am–2:30pm. Send a WhatsApp message any time and we reply in office hours.

We file within 24 hours of receiving your payment, documents and signed consent form (1 hour on Premium, during office hours). For a file without its application number there is no set hour, because it can need extra steps first. The law gives IRCC 30 days from receiving a request to reply, and lets it extend that by sending a notice.