Auto-fill IMM Forms

VisaFlo fills a case’s IMM PDF forms with the answers from the questionnaire. You start it from the case’s Forms page, and the filled forms land in the case’s Files tab. Autofill saves you the typing. It doesn’t replace your review, so check every form before you file it.

​

Before you start

• The questionnaire is complete. On the Forms page, each questionnaire under Questionnaires should show 100%. Inside a questionnaire, every section in the left panel has a green check. To find what’s missing, click the eye button in the left panel (Show Only Incomplete Questions).
• The case has a representative. Autofill puts the representative’s details on the forms, for example on IMM 5476 (Use of a Representative). If you don’t pick one for the case, VisaFlo uses your firm’s default representative. With neither, autofill is blocked. An admin adds representatives and sets the default in Settings > Autofill Settings, under Representative Information.
• Your plan includes autofill. If it doesn’t, the autofill button is greyed out. Hover over it to see “Your current plan does not include this feature.”

​

Open the case’s forms

1. Open the case and click View Forms. The Forms page opens.
2. Under Representative & Contact Details, check the representative. If you see Select a representative to enable autofill., click Edit, pick a representative, and click Save.
3. Under Questionnaires, check that each person’s progress shows 100%. To go through the answers, click Open.

The autofill button is at the top of the left panel, under the case name. Run it from the Forms page to fill the forms for everyone on the case. If you run it from inside one person’s questionnaire, VisaFlo fills only that person’s forms.

​

Activate autofill for the case

You do this once per case.

1. In the left panel, click Activate Autofill.
2. Read the note and click Activate. Activating counts as one autofill usage against your plan. If your plan’s quota is already used up, it’s charged as an additional autofill. After that, autofill for this case is unlimited.
3. You see Autofill activated for this case. The button changes to PDF Autofill. On the case page, the Autofilled field now shows the date and time you activated.

​

Generate the PDF forms

1. Click PDF Autofill.
2. The dialog says Generate autofilled PDF forms for this case. Click Start PDF Autofill.
3. The dialog now says Your autofilled PDF forms are being generated. VisaFlo fills the forms on its servers, so you can close the dialog and keep working. To go straight to the forms, click View Files.

​

Find the generated forms

1. On the case’s Files tab, open All files.
2. Open the folder whose name starts with IMMs_ followed by the date and time of the run, for example IMMs_20260929_163342. Double-click it, or open its menu (…) and choose Open.
3. The forms are inside. They’re named with your firm’s Autofilled Form Naming Option. The default is <Case Type> - <Form Name> - <Applicant Name>.pdf, for example Study Permit - IMM1294E - Raghunathan Priya.pdf.

The forms can take a few minutes to appear. If the folder isn’t there yet, wait a moment and open the Files tab again. Each run makes its own folder, so the forms from an earlier run stay as they were. If a form runs out of rows, for example more previous countries of residence than the form has room for, the folder also has a Word file with Extra in its name. It lists the rows that didn’t fit. If your firm connected Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or Box, VisaFlo also saves a copy of each form there, in a Visaflo folder for the case. That folder isn’t split by run: on Google Drive, each run replaces the earlier file with the same name. Keep earlier versions from the IMMs_ folders in VisaFlo.

​

Which forms a Study Permit run makes

For a Study Permit applicant, VisaFlo fills:

• IMM 1294, Application for Study Permit Made Outside of Canada
• IMM 5257 Schedule 1, Application for Temporary Residence
• IMM 5476, Use of a Representative
• IMM 5645, Family Information

If the applicant answers Yes to Will you be traveling alone?, the run also makes IMM 5646, Custodianship Declaration. The questionnaire asks this only when the applicant is 18 or younger. An admin can change which forms you get in Settings > Autofill Settings:

• PDF Form Autofill Language: English or French forms.
• Family Information Form Generation: IMM 5645, IMM 5707, or Both.
• Generate PDFs for Rep PR Portal forms: for permanent residence cases, IMM 0008, IMM 5406, IMM 5669 and IMM 5562 are normally completed in the Rep PR Portal, so VisaFlo doesn’t make their PDFs unless you turn this on. See Auto-fill Rep PR Portal.

​

Schedule A for eligible open work permits

For a work permit or a work permit extension, VisaFlo adds IMM 5669 (Schedule A) when all of these are true:

• The applicant is 18 or older.
• The permit type is Open Work Permit.
• The answer to Is this open work permit based on a spousal/partner sponsorship application for permanent residence (spouse or common-law partner in Canada class / family class)? is Yes.

The questionnaire then asks for the extra background information Schedule A needs. Confirm the sponsorship basis and the applicant’s age before you rely on the form. Check all Schedule A history and declarations against the source information before you file.

​

Check each form against the questionnaire

1. In the IMMs folder, double-click a form, or open its menu (…) and choose View.
2. The preview shows a yellow note: XFA Form Detected. IRCC forms are XFA forms, so the preview may not show every field correctly. For the final check, click Download and open the form in Adobe Acrobat.
3. Compare the form with the questionnaire and the client’s documents. Check names, dates of birth, passport and document numbers, addresses, family members, travel and work history, and any answer that needs your judgment.
4. If something is wrong, fix it in the questionnaire, then click PDF Autofill again. Don’t fix only the PDF, or the next run brings the mistake back.

​

Online portal case types

Some case types are submitted in an online portal, for example Express Entry or permanent residence sponsorship. For these, activating autofill also turns on online autofill. An Online Autofill card appears under PDF Autofill and shows when the case last synced to the VisaFlo extension. Click How to use? for the steps, or see Autofill with Extension.

​

Troubleshooting

The autofill button is greyed out.

• If you see Select a representative on the Forms page first., go back to the Forms page and pick a representative under Representative & Contact Details.
• If hovering shows “Your current plan does not include this feature.”, your plan doesn’t include autofill. Check Settings > Subscription.
• PDF Autofill waits for your changes to save. Wait until the questionnaire stops showing Unsaved changes or Saving…, then try again.

I don’t see Activate Autofill or PDF Autofill. Turn off Review Mode in the left panel. In Review Mode, the button is Submit Review instead. The button says Autofill Not Supported. This case type has no PDF autofill in the Forms workspace. VisaFlo says it’s still processing autofill for this case. A run is already going. Try again in a few minutes. The IMMs folder or a form is missing. Wait a few minutes and open Files again. For a permanent residence case, check Generate PDFs for Rep PR Portal forms. If a form is still missing, check the questionnaire for answers the form needs, then run PDF Autofill again. A form doesn’t open or looks incomplete. Don’t file it. Download it and open it in Adobe Acrobat. If it’s still wrong, correct the questionnaire and run PDF Autofill again. For more, see How VisaFlo generates IMM PDFs and Troubleshooting autofill failures.