Biometrics and immigration medicals are both booked with third parties, both have validity periods, and both can stall an application for weeks if left to the wrong moment. Sequencing them is half the work.
When biometrics are required
Most applicants for a visitor visa, study permit, work permit or permanent residence need to provide fingerprints and a photograph. There are exemptions, including certain age groups at both ends, some categories of applicant, and people who have already provided biometrics for a Canadian application within the validity period.
You normally pay the biometrics fee with your application and then receive a biometric instruction letter. Only after receiving that letter can you attend a collection point, and you must bring the letter with you. Turning up without it means being turned away.
Biometrics are valid for a defined number of years, currently ten for temporary residence applications. If you provided them recently, check whether you are exempt before paying again. The official biometrics validity checker will tell you.
Booking the appointment
Collection happens at designated centres, which may be a visa application centre, an application support centre or a service point depending on where you live. Availability varies enormously by location and season, and in some cities the wait runs to weeks.
Check appointment availability in your city before you submit, so you know what you are dealing with. Where the nearest centre is in another country, you will need to factor in travel and any entry requirements for that country, which is a genuine complication for applicants in some regions.
There is a deadline for providing biometrics after the instruction letter is issued. Missing it can result in the application being refused for incompleteness. If you cannot attend in time, contact the department through the official channel before the deadline rather than after.
- Do not attend without your biometric instruction letter
- Check whether existing biometrics are still valid before paying again
- Confirm appointment availability in your city before submitting
- Note the deadline in the instruction letter and work backwards from it
Who needs an immigration medical examination
An immigration medical examination is required for most permanent residence applications, for temporary applicants intending to stay longer than six months who have lived in certain designated countries, and for anyone intending to work in an occupation where public health protection is a factor, such as healthcare, childcare or teaching young children.
Short-term visitors generally do not need one. If your visitor application is for a stay under six months and you are not working in a listed occupation, the question usually does not arise.
The examination must be performed by a panel physician designated by the Canadian authorities. A report from your own doctor, however thorough, is not accepted. The list of panel physicians is published officially and is the only place to book from.
Upfront medicals versus waiting to be asked
In some streams you can complete the examination before submitting, which is generally called an upfront medical. The physician gives you a confirmation to include with the application. In others you submit first and receive a medical request afterwards, with a deadline to comply.
The upfront route can save weeks where it is available and where you are confident the examination is required. The risk is paying for an examination you did not need, or having the results expire before the application is decided.
Medical results have a validity period, commonly twelve months, and where an application takes longer than that you may be asked to repeat the examination. That is an argument for not completing the medical far ahead of a submission you are not ready to make.
Planning the sequence
For a straightforward visitor application the order is: prepare the file, submit online and pay including biometrics, receive the instruction letter, attend biometrics promptly, then wait for the decision. The only thing to plan around is appointment availability.
For longer stays, work permits and study permits, add the medical. Check the requirement first, book the panel physician while you assemble documents, and keep an eye on both the medical validity period and the biometrics deadline.
Keep every receipt, letter and confirmation. If a step is later queried, the paperwork proving you completed it on a given date is what resolves it quickly. Alif Visa manages this scheduling for applicants and tracks the deadlines, though the appointments themselves are held by the designated centres and panel physicians rather than by us.
Alif Visa is a private visa assistance service. We are not a government department, embassy or visa application centre, and decisions are made solely by the issuing authority. Rules and fees change without notice, so confirm the requirements that apply to your circumstances before you travel.