I can’t open the application forms from the IRCC website – what can I do?

We get regular calls from people having trouble opening the PDF immigration application forms for Canada from the IRCC website. They may be thinking about a Canada visa application and want to open the forms to see what Canada requests, but, even after trying different browsers, there still seems to be an error. People often think perhaps the forms are only available to lawyers and legal practitioners, but that is not the case.

IRCC has a guide to answering this question “I can’t open my application form in PDF format. What can I do?”. But it seems their official fix is not helping because people still have issues with opening Canadian immigration forms. If you are having these technical difficulties, the following steps should help to fix the problem.

First, you do not need any type of account or user ID to open these from the IRCC website. They are accessible to everyone. However, they will not open when you click the website link. That is probably what you are doing wrong. There are a couple of more steps than that.

You have to download the forms from the website to your own computer first.

Let us give you some easy steps on how to open immigration application forms for Canada:

1. Ensure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader for your PC or Mac at least version 10 or above – the free downloadable version works.
2. When you click on the form, you get the following error message: “Please wait…If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document…”
3. Don’t fret! Download the form from the website and save it to your desktop.
4. Then, close your Internet browser.
5. Locate the form you just saved onto your desktop and double-click to open it.
6. You should now see the contents of the form. If you are having the same problem and still getting the “Please wait…” error message, you are probably not opening the form on your desktop. Close your Internet Browser, and then click the form icon on your desktop. That should fix it and allow the form to open.

Now, could I be so bold as to have a frank conversation with you?  You are about to embark on a legal process, the outcome of which will significantly affect your future and the future of your family.  Opening the forms is the simplest part of this process, with written instructions on the website. It does not require an IRCC secure account, a gc key, password or login access – dealing with IRCC is a headache in bureacracy, with multiple complex instructions. And, for your application, they do not give you a “Please wait….” message to flag when something is off track. You will only discover you missed something important months later when your application is returned to you as incomplete or refused for being ineligible. 

Please, for the sake of your future, enlist the help of a professional.  The cost of a good professional is always less than losing time and money on your own. 

The Way Immigration exists to make your path to Canada smoother, easier and far less stressful.  Contact us today to get started on your stress-free application process.