Finding official application portals (and avoiding fakes)
How to recognise a genuine government immigration website and why it matters.
Last reviewed . Immigration rules change often. This is general educational information, not legal or immigration advice, and Visa & Beyond is not affiliated with any government. Confirm everything on the official website before you apply. Disclaimer
Look-alike websites copy government designs and charge extra fees, or collect your personal data. Some simple checks help.
- Check the domain. Many governments use dedicated domains such as gov.uk, canada.ca, .gov, govt.nz, gov.au, gov.za, go.ke, gov.gh or gov.sg. Learn the official domain for your destination.
- Start from a trusted link. Use the official links in our country guides, or the website of the embassy in your country.
- Be cautious with ads. Sponsored search results can lead to unofficial services.
- Compare fees. If the fee is much higher than the one published by the government, you are probably on a third-party site.
Third-party services are not always illegal, but you should know when you are using one, and never pay for something that is free on the official website.
Official sources
- GOV.UK: Visas and immigrationgov.uk
- Government of Canada: IRCCcanada.ca
- U.S. Department of State: U.S. visastravel.state.gov