CICC Licence R709592 · MAK Canadian Immigration Services
Last reviewed: August 2026
Police Clearance Certificates From Pakistan for Canadian Immigration: What IRCC Actually Accepts
For a Pakistan police certificate, use the issuing route identified for the relevant police authority and follow the immigration or citizenship program’s own timing rules. IRCC’s Pakistan instructions identify Islamabad Police, Punjab Police, Sindh Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and Balochistan Police, while applicants outside Pakistan use the Pakistan embassy or consulate route described by IRCC.
If IRCC has asked you for a police certificate from Pakistan, you are being asked for a specific document from a specific authority, and ordering the wrong one costs weeks you may not have. IRCC publishes a country page for Pakistan that names the police authorities and the routes for applying, and it publishes separate instructions on when a certificate is considered current.
This guide follows what canada.ca states and says so plainly where canada.ca is silent. It does not fill gaps from third-party sources, and nothing here is a prediction that any application will be approved.
What canada.ca states about the issuing authority
IRCC’s Pakistan police certificate page, date modified September 4, 2025, identifies the relevant police authorities and the application routes. It names Islamabad Police, Punjab Police, Sindh Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and Balochistan Police, and it refers to the document as a Police Character Certificate or Police Clearance Certificate.
That page does not identify NADRA as the issuer of the police certificate. It does not mention NADRA at all. Because canada.ca is silent on the point, this article makes no claim about NADRA’s institutional role, in either direction. What canada.ca does state is that a certified copy of your national identity card is one of the documents you submit when you apply for the certificate. Canada.ca does not name the body that issues that card, and we are not going to invent one.
The practical consequence is simple. If a service provider offers to sell you a “police clearance certificate” for a Canadian immigration application, ask two questions before paying: which police authority will issue the document, and whose letterhead and seal will appear on it. If the answer is not one of the police authorities named on IRCC’s Pakistan page, you are not buying the document IRCC asked for.
Who needs a police certificate
Permanent residence, citizenship and International Experience Canada
IRCC states that you must provide a police certificate if you are applying for permanent residence, for citizenship, or for International Experience Canada. For permanent residence this is a document requirement, not a discretionary extra, and a strong file elsewhere does not remove it.
Temporary residence
For visitor visas, study permits and work permits there is no blanket requirement on the IRCC page. The wording is that if you have a prior criminal record you may need to provide a police certificate for any other programs. In practice an officer can request one during the assessment of a temporary residence application, and being asked is not by itself a signal that something has gone wrong. Check the document checklist for your program and any local visa office instructions.
Family members
IRCC’s wording is that “You and any family member 18 or older may need to get a police certificate, depending on the program you’re applying to.” Note the phrase “depending on the program”. Whether a particular family member needs a certificate is answered by the instructions for the program you are applying under and by your personalised document checklist, not by a general rule copied from another program.
It is not only Pakistan
What the Express Entry instruction says
For Express Entry, IRCC’s current instruction asks for a certificate from “every country you (or a family member) stayed in during the last 10 years for 6 months in a row or longer”, for you and family members who are 18 years or older. The same page also states that “After you apply, an officer may ask for additional police certificates from any time in your life since you were 18 years old.”
Read those two sentences together. The 10 year framing tells you what to gather before you submit. The second sentence tells you that IRCC retains the ability to request more. Neither sentence cancels the other, and neither is a reason to guess.
What applies outside Express Entry
If you are not applying through Express Entry, do not carry the Express Entry wording across to your file. Follow the instructions that apply to your program, the general police certificate instructions, and the personalised document checklist generated for your application. Those are the documents that control what you must submit. Where they differ from another program’s page, the instruction for your program is the one that governs your file.
Gulf employment changes the shopping list
For applicants who also lived or worked in the Gulf, this can matter. Six months in a row in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Oman can generate its own certificate requirement from that country’s authorities, and each of those authorities has its own procedure. Work out the full country list first, then check with each authority what its process involves before you order anything.
The two timing rules
The country you live in now
IRCC states: “The police certificate for the country where you currently reside must be issued no more than 6 months before the date you submit your application.”
Six months counted back from the date you submit, not from the day you started assembling the file and not from the day you were invited to apply. This is an easy rule to miss, because a certificate obtained early can fall outside the six month window by the time the rest of the file is ready.
Every other country
IRCC states: “For any other country, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you resided there for 6 consecutive months or longer since the age of 18.”
That rule is more generous than people assume. If you left Pakistan permanently in 2015 and obtained a Police Character Certificate in 2016, that certificate was issued after the last time you resided in Pakistan for a qualifying period. Age alone does not make it stale. The six month freshness clock applies to the country you live in now.
Certificates that carry their own expiry date
Some countries print an expiry date on the certificate. IRCC’s instruction is to include it, and IRCC states it will accept the certificate where it was issued after the last time you stayed in that country for six consecutive months or longer and it is not for your current country of residence.
Time in Canada and time before you turned 18
IRCC states that you do not need to give police certificates for any period of time before you were 18 years old, or for time spent in Canada.
How to apply from inside Pakistan
Pakistani citizens
IRCC’s Pakistan page sets out a picture that varies by province rather than a single national process.
- In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the page states that in-person processing is only done in that province, through the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police.
- In Punjab, IRCC refers to Police Khidmat Markaz facilitation offices and states that an applicant can apply for a Character Certificate from any centre across Punjab rather than being tied to a home district.
- Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan each operate their own online application arrangements.
Completed certificates are delivered by courier to a mailing address or collected from the office. IRCC’s Pakistan page is the authoritative index for the current portal addresses, and we deliberately do not reproduce those links here, because a stale portal link is worse than no link.
Foreign nationals living in Pakistan
If you are not a Pakistani citizen but you have lived in Pakistan for a qualifying period, IRCC directs you to apply directly at the local district office of the Senior Superintendent of Police, with broadly the same supporting documents.
How to apply from outside Pakistan
Through a Pakistan embassy or consulate
For Pakistani citizens living outside Pakistan, IRCC directs you to your nearest Pakistan embassy or consulate with:
- a completed application form,
- certified copies of your passport, including all pages showing your legal stay,
- a certified copy of your national identity card,
- three passport-size photographs, and
- the applicable fees.
IRCC refers to “applicable fees” without publishing amounts, and it does not publish how long the Pakistani certificate takes to issue. We are not going to publish either figure. Ask the mission you are dealing with.
Having a relative apply for you
IRCC’s Pakistan page states that “In some cases, a relative who lives in Pakistan can apply on your behalf”, and lists an affidavit on judicial stamp paper and an authority letter among the additional documents.
Two cautions. IRCC says “in some cases”, not in all cases, and whether the relevant authority accepts the request is that authority’s decision. And if you use this route, keep every receipt, reference number and courier tracking number. If the certificate does not arrive in time, those receipts become your evidence that you tried.
The Canadian High Commission cannot help you get it
IRCC states this on the Pakistan page directly: the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad cannot help you get a police certificate. There is no escalation channel there for this document. If a representative tells you they can push it through the High Commission, that is a reason to stop and reconsider who you are dealing with.
Translations
IRCC’s requirement is that “If your certificate is in a language other than English or French, send the original police certificate along with a translation from a certified translator.” IRCC’s Help Centre also states that “We don’t accept translations by family members.”
Where any part of the document, including a stamp or an endorsement, is in Urdu or any other language that is not English or French, obtain the certified translation rather than arguing the point with an officer.
If you genuinely cannot get one
IRCC publishes a route, and it is narrow. You must “show proof that you requested a police certificate from the correct authorities” and “write a letter explaining all you’ve done to try to get one”. IRCC then states the consequence in its own words: “Even if you send us both of the above items, we can’t guarantee we’ll accept your application.”
For Express Entry specifically, where you have 60 days from the invitation to submit, IRCC accepts a letter of explanation together with proof that you made your best effort to get the certificate on time.
Two things follow. Collect the evidence as you go rather than reconstructing it afterwards. And treat this as mitigation, not exemption. IRCC is explicit that the two items do not guarantee anything: “Even if you send us both of the above items, we can’t guarantee we’ll accept your application.”
If you are not sure which countries trigger a certificate on your file, or whether the certificate you already hold is still usable, a licensed consultant can go through it with you before you spend money on documents.
Frequently asked questions
Does NADRA issue the police certificate IRCC asks for?
IRCC’s Pakistan page names police authorities as the issuing bodies and does not mention NADRA at all. Because canada.ca does not address NADRA’s role, this article does not make a claim about it. Order the document from the police authority named on IRCC’s Pakistan page for your province.
How recent does my Pakistani police certificate have to be?
If Pakistan is the country where you currently reside, IRCC requires a certificate issued no more than six months before the date you submit your application. If you live somewhere else, it must have been issued after the last time you resided in Pakistan for six consecutive months or longer since you turned 18.
I left Pakistan in 2016. Do I need a new certificate?
Not on the face of the timing rule, if the certificate you hold was issued after the last time you resided in Pakistan for a qualifying period. Age alone does not invalidate it. The six month freshness rule applies to your current country of residence. An officer can still ask for more, so keep the original available.
Do I need a certificate for time I spent in Canada?
No. IRCC states that you do not need to provide police certificates for time spent in Canada, or for any period before you turned 18.
Can my brother in Lahore get the certificate for me?
IRCC states that in some cases a relative living in Pakistan can apply on your behalf, with an affidavit on judicial stamp paper and an authority letter among the documents. Whether the police authority accepts that request is the authority’s decision, not IRCC’s.
My certificate has Urdu text on it. Do I need a translation?
If the certificate is in a language other than English or French, send the original along with a translation from a certified translator. IRCC’s Help Centre states that translations by family members are not accepted.
Do my children need police certificates?
The requirement in IRCC’s wording reaches you and family members aged 18 or older, and depends on the program. No period before a person turned 18 counts. Check your personalised document checklist rather than assuming either way.
What happens if I submit without one?
That depends on the program and the stage. An incomplete application can attract a request for the missing document, and in some programs it can be returned. Use the letter of explanation route only where you genuinely cannot obtain the certificate and can prove what you did to try.
Before you order anything
Sequencing is what decides whether this document costs you two weeks or four months. Work out every country that triggers the requirement for your program, including Gulf employment, before you order a single certificate. Start the slowest country first. Order the certificate for your current country of residence last, because that is the only one with a six month clock running against your submission date. Keep every receipt and tracking number as you go.
For timelines on the application that follows, use IRCC’s live processing times tool rather than any figure quoted on a blog, including this one.
Official sources reviewed
- IRCC, Police certificates: Pakistan (date modified September 4, 2025). canada.ca
- IRCC, Who needs to get a police certificate (date modified February 19, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, When you need to get a police certificate (date modified February 19, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, Express Entry: police certificates (date modified June 22, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, How to get a police certificate (date modified July 16, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC Help Centre, translation of documents that are not in English or French. ircc.canada.ca
- IRCC, Check processing times (live tool, linked instead of publishing a figure). canada.ca
Official sources last checked: August 11, 2026.
This article is general information about Canadian immigration law and policy. It is not legal advice and it does not create a consultant and client relationship. Immigration rules change without notice. Confirm your own situation with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant or a lawyer before you act.
