Check your Canada visitor visa application before you apply
IRCC refuses temporary resident visas from a fixed list of reasons, printed as ticked lines in the refusal letter and expanded in the officer's notes. This page shows you the list and where your application currently sits against it.
Answer five questions and see which grounds look weak. Free, no email.
The grounds, in the authority’s words
- Purpose of visit
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: purpose of visit
The officer weighs the purpose against everything else: a three-month visit by someone with a job that gives two weeks of leave, or a tourist trip costing more than a year of stated income, reads as something other than what it says.
- Family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: family ties in Canada and in country of residence
This reason is ticked more often when the applicant has close relatives in Canada and few evidenced ties at home. The answer is not to hide the relatives, it is to evidence the ties at home so the balance is visible.
- Personal assets and financial status
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: personal assets and financial status
The officer compares the cost of the trip with the income and assets you evidenced. An account funded by a transfer shortly before the application, with no salary credits behind it, does not read as personal financial capacity.
- Travel history
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: travel history
Travel to any country counts, not only to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or the Schengen area. No travel history is not fatal, but it means every other reason has to carry more weight.
- Length of the proposed stay
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: length of proposed stay
A six-month stay needs to be explained by something: a grandchild being born, a course, a family event. Asking for six months for a holiday when you hold a job with three weeks of leave is a reason on its own.
- Current employment situation
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: current employment situation
Employment is the strongest ordinary tie, and the one most often left unevidenced. Self-employment needs the same treatment as employment: registration, filings, business accounts and clients.
- Immigration status in your country of residence
IRPR 179(b), refusal reason: immigration status in the country of residence
This is ticked for applicants who apply from a country they are not a national of. The officer wants to see a residence permit that is valid well beyond the return date, and a reason to return to that country rather than to anywhere else.
One rule, seven reasons
Every reason IRCC ticks is an answer to paragraph 179(b) of the Regulations: the officer is not satisfied you will leave at the end of your stay. Purpose of visit, family ties, personal assets and financial status, travel history, length of stay, employment, and status in your country of residence are the seven ways they say it.
The officer's notes
The letter is short and the reasoning is in the Global Case Management System notes, which you can request. Reapplying without reading them means guessing at which of the ticked reasons actually decided the case. If you have the notes, paste them with the letter.
What we check
Four to six months of statements, the salary arriving in them, the trip costed against what you have, the stay measured against your approved leave, and your status in the country you are applying from measured against your return date.
What to have ready
- A letter of explanation setting out the purpose, the dates and who is paying
- A dated itinerary
- The invitation letter where family or friends are hosting, with their status in Canada
- Event evidence: conference registration, a wedding invitation, a school letter
- Marriage certificate and children's birth certificates
- Evidence of dependants who remain at home during the visit
- Property deeds or a tenancy agreement in the applicant's name
- Employment letter with approved leave dates
- Evidence of care responsibilities: medical letters, school letters
- Four to six months of bank statements from the account that will pay for the trip
- Payslips and a letter of employment stating salary
- Notice of assessment or tax filings
- Evidence of assets: property, investments, business ownership
- Where a host in Canada is paying: their letter, their statements and their status
- All passports including expired ones, showing visas and stamps
- Boarding passes or travel records where stamps are unclear
- A short explanation where there is no travel history, with the ties that answer it instead
- Any previous refusal notice, with what has changed since
- Approved leave dates from the employer
- An itinerary covering the whole requested period
- A stated return date and a return flight reservation
- An explanation where a long stay is genuinely needed
- Employment letter on headed paper: role, start date, salary, approved leave, a named signatory and contact details
- Payslips for the same months as the statements
- Business registration, tax filings and business bank statements where self-employed
- Evidence of continuing obligations: contracts, client letters
- Residence permit or visa for the country of residence, valid beyond the return date
- Employment contract or work permit in that country
- Proof of address: tenancy agreement, utility bills
- Where status is short, evidence of the renewal in progress
Review, £29
We read your documents, check every ground, tell you exactly what is thin and what would fix it, and write the cover letter, the sponsor letter and the employer letter from the facts you gave. One re-run included within 30 days.