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Visitor visa approved days before international travel: getting the passport stamped in time

Canada • Visitor Visa • immigration 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Documents Needed

  • Original Passport Request (OPR) letter

    The letter you receive on approval instructing you to submit passports for stamping.

  • Passport

    Must be physically submitted to the VAC for the counterfoil visa to be affixed.

Step-by-Step

Scenario: parents' Canadian visitor visa approved, but they fly to the US six days later — is 5 days enough for stamping in India, and can stamping be done from the US instead?

What group members shared:
  1. Standard stamping in India was taking ~13 days (example given: Delhi submission for an Amritsar applicant), so a 5-day window is genuinely risky for the normal channel.

  2. Ask the VAC about expedited/tatkaal-style processing. One member suggested the faster paid option, noting the stamping itself can then be done quickly — confirm the extra cost and availability with the visa application centre.

  3. Travel to the US on an existing US visa is unaffected — the Canadian stamping question only matters for when they actually enter Canada.


The thread's other questions — whether stamping can be completed from inside the US, and whether the passport-request letter expires — went unanswered; check IRCC/VFS guidance directly for those.

The practical takeaway: if your travel window is under two weeks, don't rely on standard passport-submission timelines — ask the VAC about the fastest submission option immediately, or plan to submit the passport after returning.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Tip: Standard passport stamping in India was taking around 13 days in this period — plan travel accordingly (historical timing).
  • Do: Ask the VAC about expedited submission if your travel window is only a few days.
  • Tip: The stamping timing doesn't block travel to third countries the traveller already has visas for.

Have a question about this? Join the discussion.

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