After biometrics: what’s next for your Canada visitor visa application?
If you have done your biometrics for a Canada visitor visa, here is what usually happens next.
Step 1: Biometrics acknowledgement
Once you’ve submitted your biometrics at a Visa Application Centre (VAC), the system updates your profile to reflect that your fingerprints and photo have been received. You may receive an update via your IRCC account confirming this.
Timeline: Usually within a few days.
Step 2: Application review by IRCC
After biometrics, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) begins reviewing your visitor visa application in full. This includes:
- Background checks
- Verification of financial documents
- Travel history and purpose of visit
- Ties to home country
This is the most time-consuming part of the process.
Timeline: It can take a few weeks to a few months, depending on the visa office, season, and completeness of your documents.
Step 3: Additional requests (if any)
In some cases, IRCC may ask for additional documents or clarification. This is not unusual.
Check your IRCC account and email often, and reply quickly to any request.
Step 4: Final decision
Once IRCC completes the review, you’ll receive a decision:
- Approved: IRCC asks you in your account to submit your passport so the visa can be placed in it.
- Refused: You get a letter with the reasons, and in most cases the officer’s decision notes. At IMygrate, we help clients analyze refusals and determine the next step, whether that’s applying again or asking for reconsideration.
Timeline after biometrics to final decision: Times change often. Check IRCC’s processing times page for your country.
Step 5: Visa and passport return
If approved, submit your passport as IRCC instructs in your account. Once the visa is placed in it, your passport will be returned to you by courier or for pick-up.
You can then travel to Canada.
Final thoughts
Knowing the steps after biometrics makes the wait easier to plan around. IMygrate helps with visitor visa applications, from preparing the file to questions after biometrics.