Refused a Canadian visa in Pakistan? See what the officer wrote.

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, Pakistani citizens need a visitor visa (also called a temporary resident visa, or TRV) and a valid passport to visit Canada. You need the visa even to change planes in Canada (transit). Pakistani citizens cannot use an eTA, the online travel permit that citizens of some other countries use instead of a visa. One exception: if you are a permanent resident of the United States (you have a green card), IRCC says you need neither a visa nor an eTA. When you fly, you bring your passport and your green card.

IRCC lists three visa application centres (VACs) in Pakistan. You go to one to give your fingerprints and photo (biometrics), by appointment. On 24 September 2026, IRCC's list showed no warning for any of the three, such as limited services. Check the VAC's own website for the address and hours before you go.

How many applications from Pakistan IRCC did not approve (refused or withdrawn), worked out from IRCC open data. Visitor visas, study permits, work permits and extensions are counted together.

• 2023: IRCC processed 205,105 applications and approved 64,090. Not approved: 141,015 (68.8%), about 7 in 10.
• 2024: IRCC processed 212,620 applications and approved 50,805. Not approved: 161,815 (76.1%), about 3 in 4.
• 2025: IRCC processed 130,580 applications and approved 42,835. Not approved: 87,745 (67.2%), about 2 in 3. For all countries together it was 40.4%.
• January to July 2026: IRCC processed 80,195 applications and approved 30,490. Not approved: 49,705 (62.0%), about 6 in 10. For all countries together it was 32.9%.
• Of the countries with at least 20,000 applications processed in 2025, only DR Congo and Guinea had a higher share not approved.
• Visitor visas approved for people from Pakistan coming as tourists or to see family or friends: 43,480 in 2023 and 22,890 in 2025, about half as many. For all countries together they fell by about 4 in 10.

IRCC's processing times for applications from Pakistan, updated 22 September 2026: visitor visa (applying from outside Canada) 78 days, super visa (a long-stay visa for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents) 92 days, study permit 7 weeks, work permit 8 weeks. These are IRCC's estimates, not promises, and they change often. Check IRCC's tool on the day you apply.

As of 24 September 2026, IRCC's country list marks Pakistan "yes" for an immigration medical exam. So you need the exam if you want to come to Canada for more than 6 months, for example to study or work, and you lived in or travelled to Pakistan for 6 months or more in a row in the year before you come. Some jobs need the exam even for a shorter stay: for example work in health care, schools, child care or home care, and farm work if you lived in Pakistan for 6 months or more in a row in the year before. IRCC's page lists them.

If IRCC asks you for a police certificate from Pakistan, the document is the "Police Character Certificate or Police Clearance Certificate". IRCC gives separate steps for Islamabad, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan; in Punjab it points to Police Khidmat Markaz offices. If you live outside Pakistan, IRCC says to contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate of Pakistan. IRCC also says that in some cases a relative who lives in Pakistan can apply for you.

IRCC's list of visa offices outside Canada shows Islamabad as the office that serves people who apply from Pakistan. IRCC also says: "Don't contact the visa office unless they reach out to you first." To see what an officer wrote about your refused file, request your GCMS notes.

Everything happens on WhatsApp: you never visit an office or send an original. Send photos or PDFs in the WhatsApp chat after you order. No originals, no courier, no office visit.

Our office hours are Mon–Sat, 10am–7pm IST. In Pakistan that is 9:30am–6:30pm. 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.