VFS Global has advised that all Canada Visa Application Centres (VACs) in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi were closed on 24 June 2026 for a national public holiday in Pakistan. As a result, biometric appointments booked for that date have been automatically cancelled and must be re-scheduled through the VFS online portal. The one-day shutdown is the third unscheduled closure this year and comes at a peak season for student-permit applicants targeting Canada’s September intake. Pakistani students account for the fifth-largest volume of Canadian study-permit filings; missing a biometrics slot can push an application outside IRCC’s eight-week service standard and jeopardise visa issuance before course start dates. Corporate mobility managers should also take note. Pakistani professionals applying for Canadian work permits under the Global Talent Stream increasingly travel to Islamabad or Lahore for biometrics even when their employer is headquartered elsewhere in South Asia. Companies are advised to monitor VAC alerts and build a buffer of at least two weeks between biometrics and anticipated IRCC decision deadlines. VFS says normal operations will resume on 25 June. Applicants can check real-time appointment availability on the VFS website and are reminded that walk-ins are not accepted for Canada applications. Priority appointments remain limited to medical or humanitarian cases as authorised by IRCC.
Source: VFS Global
