Canada Visit Visa from Pakistan: Documents, Biometrics and Refusals

At a glance

What you are applying for

You’re in the right place if you are

• Visiting family in Canada

  Parents and relatives visiting family who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or students and workers in Canada.

• A tourist with a travel record

  Tourists, especially those with a record of travel to the UK, the US, Europe or the Gulf.

• A business visitor

  Business visitors coming for meetings, conferences or events, whose business and income stay in Pakistan.

• A spouse being sponsored

  Spouses being sponsored for permanent residence, whose visitor visas IRCC processes faster once the sponsorship is acknowledged.

• Refused before, with something new

  Applicants refused before who have read the officer's notes and have something new to show.

Wrong visa — take this route instead

• Parents and grandparents who want to stay longer than six months at a time — the super visa allows up to five years per visit.
• Working in Canada, even briefly. Visitors can no longer apply for a work permit from inside Canada.Canada work visa guide
• Studying for more than six months.Canada student visa guide
• Settling in Canada.Canada immigration guide

• Passport valid for at least six months from your travel date, plus every cancelled or expired passport
• A copy of your CNIC
• Family Information form (IMM 5645), completed, dated and signed
• Bank statements covering the last 12 months and showing the balance, with any large deposits explained
• Other proof of means where you have it — recent payslips, property documents, pension or investments
• The purpose of the trip: an itinerary, provisional flight or hotel bookings, and any invitation or event registration
• Certified English translations of anything in Urdu

• A letter on company letterhead granting your leave, with your position, start date, salary and a manager's contact details, dated within three months of applying

• Commercial registration, tax certificate and at least six months of company bank statements
• Evidence the business is active — importers and exporters should add their licence, invoices or customs documents

• A letter of invitation from the person you will visit
• Proof of the relationship — for family, a NADRA Family Registration Certificate or birth and marriage certificates
• Proof of their status in Canada and, if they are paying, their employment letter, payslips, notice of assessment and bank statements

• Their bank statements and a short note on how the trip is funded — for example a parent's statements, or an employer's letter covering the costs

• Proof of enrolment, if you are a student
• For children, a NADRA birth certificate (CRC) and consent from any parent not travelling

Step by step · with timings

How to apply, and how long it takes

In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.

Where the current rules and figures are published

Read before you apply

Why Canada visit visa applications are refused

The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.

Start here

Ask us about your case

Two agents cover WhatsApp between them, so this reaches a person rather than an inbox. The first assessment is free and you get a straight answer, including when that answer is no.

Assalam-o-Alaikum! I'd like a free assessment. Service: Tourist & Visit Visa Destination: Canada (ref: form-guide-visit-visa-canada)

Straight answers

Canada visit visa questions

What people ask us before they apply.

Keep reading

More on Canada

The other guides we have written for this country — each covers one visa in full.