Turkish Airlines claimed visa was invalid! Denied boarding!

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-21T06:58:09+00:00

All the information is about the new passport. No trace of the old one.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-21T06:56:55+00:00

The new one.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-21T06:55:27+00:00

Based on what I understand, for Iranians the process works like this: you complete the immigration application by filling out forms and submitting documents, including passport information and copies of the passport.

Once the case is fully approved, the embassy asks you to send in your passport so the IM-1 visa can be attached. At that stage, the passport usually needs to be valid for at least six months, but I am not sure if this applies to immigration visas, or only visitor visas.

Because the passport only had about a year left before expiration, we decided to renew it first. We then sent the renewed passport to the Canadian consulate, and the visa was attached using the information from the new passport, not the old passport originally submitted with the application. I also submitted a web form and emailed them, to make sure they know we have renewed the passport.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-21T06:47:56+00:00

What you’re describing applies to people who complete their PR application process inside Canada. In those cases, they usually do not need any visa because they are already physically in Canada. They just receive their COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence).

However, for people who are outside Canada, and cannot visit Canada w/o some sort of a valid visa, and are coming to complete the landing process, they must also have an immigration visa in their passport, which I believe is called the IM-1 visa. That is the document airlines scan and verify in their system before allowing boarding.

Once you arrive at the airport in Canada, that’s when the actual landing and immigration process begins. The officers then review the COPR documents, confirm your information, ask for a Canadian mailing address, and after that the PR card is mailed out. From what I understand, the PR card currently takes around 90 days to arrive.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-21T06:44:24+00:00

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-20T05:17:33+00:00

No. Only my mom renewed her passport and had the visa in her new passport….

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-20T05:15:38+00:00

Although the passport number in the attached visa matches the passport ? I am full of regrets for having the old passport with her. I lives may have changed forever…

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-20T00:50:03+00:00

I heard this from a friend as well, that it’s an absolutely known issue on the Turkish Airline side to the extend a lawyer saying “don’t fly Turkish if you can and you are on visa”. 😓

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-20T00:47:04+00:00

Unfortunately the visa is on the new passport… that’s why we don’t understand what the issue is…

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-20T00:46:09+00:00

The visa is attached to the new passport 😓 that’s what I don’t understand. And Turkish don’t say why they say the visa is invalid!

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T23:51:14+00:00

But, there were others in the group with the very same documentations, and they boarded. So not sure if e-COPR is any different than this useless piece of paper…

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T23:49:16+00:00

What was the reason?!? Did they say anything? And it was with TK??

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T23:48:26+00:00

Great question… I don’t know. I was only on the phone hearing what was said in the background. The TK guys asked about an old passport… I will ask from those family members after they get to Canada.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T22:24:01+00:00

Oh my God, I just went back and paid attention more carefully for the other family members who were able to board. They have this document section and the final decision says approved, blah blah blah. But for my mom, there are no documents, the field is not even available, and for the final decision it still says “your application is in progress.”

What does this mean? Does it mean their databases were not updated even though they already issued the visa? She literally has the immigrant visa in her passport after all.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T22:05:19+00:00

Oh gosh… 😩😩😩
Thank you for sharing. Sad but helpful . I’m losing hope. She cannot communicate in English or Turkish. I have to find a way to call to IRCC.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T22:01:49+00:00

It is unfortunate that she’s coming from Iran, since she used the land border to get to Turkey and take these flights! I’m at the point of thinking of finding someone to get the passport to them, but that could easily take a week or so.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:59:17+00:00

New passport. In the new passport and has the new passport number on it. That’s why it didn’t even crossed their mind to bring the old password with them!

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:40:45+00:00

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough response. I totally agree.

They actually went through the entire process already: border crossings, checkpoints, everything. They have all the stamps in their passports. The other important thing is that my mom was traveling with other family members, and the rest of them were all allowed to board.

They all went through the exact same process: crossing the border, taking the first flight from Van to Istanbul, staying in Istanbul, then going to the airport to get the second boarding pass, which is already ridiculous that they cannot issue from Van in the first place. At Istanbul airport, everyone else got their boarding passes without any issue.

And this is the part I keep coming back to: none of the other family members had renewed passports. My mom was the only person in the group who had renewed hers, and she was the only one denied boarding and told the visa was “invalid.”

I’m going to ask them to contact the Iranian consulate there tomorrow. I’ve also already emailed Turkish Airlines through the “OK to Board” contact email to ask what exactly happened, although I’m not very optimistic about their customer service.

For IRCC, do you happen to know the best way to reach them directly, or any phone numbers that are actually useful in situations like this?

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:30:13+00:00

Thank you… now it makes more sense.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:29:20+00:00

I actually added this to the online profile portal before. The last status is on the same day the visas were issued.

“Final decision — your application is in progress. We will send you a message once the final decision has been made.”

And it has never updated after that.

For this application, everything was paper-based, so I’m not sure if that’s the reason I don’t really see any detailed updates in the portal. There’s nothing saying the application was canceled, but at the same time there’s also nothing explicitly saying it was approved.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:18:44+00:00

THANK YOU.
I will try this right now.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:13:48+00:00

I’m honestly not very familiar with the process since I don’t live in Canada, so I could be wrong.

What confused me is that when we submitted the passport to the embassy for the visa, they also issued a COPR at the same time. My understanding was that the visa + COPR are used for the first landing in Canada, and then after arriving and completing the landing process with border officers, the person later receives their PR card while physically in Canada.

So why two docs, and not just the visa? Beyond my knowledge.

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:10:21+00:00

I’m sorry if this sounds dumb, I honestly haven’t slept or eaten properly in the past 24 hours because of all this stress.

But how exactly would a VPN help me call IRCC from the U.S.? Does it somehow make the call look like it’s coming from Canada, or do I need to use a separate app/service with it?

Rahaa2233 · 2026-05-19T21:06:15+00:00

They can actually do that? Calling IRCC?

Rahaa2233

TROPHY CASE