The short answer
Who needs a TB test for a UK visa from Pakistan?
You need a TB test for a UK visa from Pakistan if you are coming to the UK for six months or more and you have lived in Pakistan for at least six months. That covers almost every student on a degree course, and any family member coming with a PhD student. A short course of under six months, taken as a visitor, does not need one.
The test is not a verdict on your general health. It looks for active lung TB, which is common enough in Pakistan that the UK screens everyone staying long-term before they travel. A clear result gets you a certificate, and the certificate goes in with your visa application.
It is also a document the caseworker checks. A missing certificate, an expired one, or one from a clinic that is not on the approved list are ordinary reasons for a refusal, and all three are avoidable. Our UK student visa from Pakistan guide shows where the test sits in the wider timeline.
The approved TB test clinics in Pakistan
Only a clinic on the Home Office’s list can issue a certificate UKVI will accept. A test from any other hospital or laboratory, however good, does not count. GOV.UK’s list of TB test clinics in Pakistan, last updated in February 2026, names two operators in four cities.
Each clinic sets its own fee, which GOV.UK publishes by age band. The list does change — three clinics were removed in April 2025 — so check it the week you book rather than trusting an old checklist.
- IOM (International Organization for Migration): two clinics in Islamabad, at F-10 and G-8
- IOM: one clinic each in Lahore (Gulberg III), Karachi (PECHS, Shahrah-e-Faisal) and Mirpur, AJK
- AMC: one clinic in Islamabad (G-6) and one in Lahore
- Karachi and Mirpur have IOM only; there is no approved clinic in Peshawar, Quetta, Multan or Faisalabad, so plan the journey
How to book an IOM TB test or an AMC appointment
IOM takes UK TB bookings through its Pakistan call centre and a dedicated appointments email; AMC takes them by phone and email, and its Lahore clinic by WhatsApp as well. The contact details are on the GOV.UK list. IOM says it charges nothing to make an appointment, so do not pay anyone who offers to sell you a slot.
Book in the name on the passport you will apply with, and take that same passport to the clinic. What to bring varies slightly by clinic, but between them they ask for:
- Your original passport and CNIC, with a photocopy of each
- Recent passport-size photographs on a white background — two or three, depending on the clinic
- AMC’s applicant history questionnaire, completed online or printed from its website
- The appointment confirmation and the test fee
- Any records of past TB and its treatment
- Each child who is applying — every applicant needs their own check
What happens at the TB test appointment
You sign a consent form, and a doctor asks about current symptoms, past illnesses and whether anyone close to you has had TB. Then comes a chest x-ray, for which you change into a gown. The UK Health Security Agency’s screening leaflet says results are usually ready within 24 hours, and if the doctor does not suspect TB you are issued the certificate.
Children under 11 do not normally have an x-ray. They see a clinician who decides whether one is needed, and you complete a health questionnaire for them. Pregnant women can choose an x-ray with extra shielding in the second or third trimester, a sputum test instead, or waiting until after the birth.
A family travelling together can usually be screened on the same day, so ask for that when you book.
How long is the UK TB certificate valid?
Six months from the date of the x-ray. It has to be valid on the day you submit your visa application, which makes the timing matter more than people expect.
Test too early and the certificate can expire while you wait for a CAS or for the 28-day funds period to run. Test too late and an unclear x-ray can push your application past the intake. For most students the sensible moment is once the CAS is in sight and the money is in place, a few weeks before you plan to apply — earlier if anything in your medical history might need follow-up.
If you are refused and apply again, check the date once more. A certificate from your first application may have run out by the second.
What if the x-ray needs follow-up?
If the x-ray is not completely normal, the clinic asks for three sputum samples — phlegm coughed up from the lungs — given at the clinic on three mornings. The samples are examined and also cultured, because TB bacteria often show up only once grown in a lab, and the leaflet warns that the final answer can take up to two months. Further tests can mean an extra fee.
Old scarring from a past infection can trigger this without any active disease, and if the cultures are clear you get your certificate. If TB is found, the doctor refers you for treatment, which usually lasts at least six months. You cannot be given a certificate until you have finished it and been screened again, but a past diagnosis has no effect on the visa once you are certified free of TB.
This is the main reason not to leave the test to the last fortnight. Two months of sputum culture can cost you an intake, and a university can usually defer you more easily if you tell it early.
Canada and Australia: a full visa medical instead
Canada and Australia do not use the UK clinics or the UK certificate. Each runs its own immigration medical through its own approved doctors, and the results go electronically to the immigration department rather than to you. In Pakistan, IOM does both kinds of work, but they are separate examinations with separate results.
Canada: Pakistan is on IRCC’s list of countries whose residents need an immigration medical exam for stays of more than six months, which covers any study permit for a degree or diploma. Only an IRCC panel physician can do it; IRCC’s Find a Panel Physician tool lists them, and IOM’s centres are among them. The exam covers your medical history and a physical examination, with a chest x-ray and blood and urine tests depending on your age. IRCC advises having the exam before you apply and including the panel physician’s confirmation; results are valid for 12 months, and you must arrive before they expire. See our Canada student visa guide.
Australia: Pakistan is not on the Department of Home Affairs’ list of low TB-risk countries, so a Student visa applicant staying six months or more needs a medical examination, a chest x-ray from age 11, and a kidney-function blood test from age 15. You book with a HAP ID, either obtained up front through My Health Declarations in ImmiAccount or issued when the Department asks after you apply. Home Affairs says examinations outside Australia must be done by its panel physicians, and results are usually valid for 12 months. A polio vaccination certificate is also expected. More in our Australia student visa guide.
UK TB test, Canadian and Australian medicals compared
The three systems side by side, for a student applying from Pakistan in 2026–27.
| UK | Canada | Australia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who needs it | Anyone coming for six months or more who has lived in Pakistan for six months | Pakistan residents coming for more than six months | Pakistan residents staying six months or more |
| What it is | TB screening: a doctor’s questions and a chest x-ray | A full immigration medical, with tests depending on age | Medical examination, chest x-ray from 11, kidney blood test from 15 |
| Who does it | A Home Office-approved clinic: IOM or AMC | An IRCC panel physician | A Home Affairs panel physician |
| Before or after applying | Before — the certificate goes with the application | Before, as IRCC advises, or when IRCC asks | Before, through My Health Declarations, or when the Department asks |
| How long it lasts | Six months from the x-ray | 12 months; arrive before it expires | Usually 12 months |
| If something shows up | Sputum tests, up to two months; treatment first if TB is found | Further tests or a referral; old, inactive TB can mean a public health check-up after arrival | Referral to a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, more tests, or a health undertaking |
When to book your TB test or medical, by intake
Work back from the day you will submit the visa application, not from the course start date. Our 2027 intake deadline calendar and UK student visa guide show where that day falls.
- UK, September intake: test once your CAS is close and the funds are in place, usually June or July
- UK, January intake: book as soon as the CAS is promised — there is little slack if the x-ray needs follow-up
- Canada: have the upfront exam once you hold the letter of acceptance and, if you need one, the PAL
- Australia: use My Health Declarations once you have your CoE, so the results are on file when you apply
- Any country: allow an extra two months if you have had TB before or an old x-ray showed scarring
- Families: book everyone together, and check every child’s certificate or exam is in the file
Frequently asked questions
This is general guidance
