An applicant's study permit fee payment was declined three times with a generic 'transaction declined' error, despite the card supporting international transactions, and the 'Continue Application' option disappeared from their account afterward.
What resolved it:- The issue was card/bank-specific, not a permanent account block. The applicant tried three different cards from one bank (HDFC) that all failed for this specific government payment gateway (GC Key), even though the same cards worked fine for other international transactions.
- Switching to a card from a different bank (ICICI) worked immediately, and the application was submitted successfully the next day.
- The disappearance of 'Continue Application' was tied to the pending/failed transaction state, not a permanent lockout — it returned to normal once payment succeeded.
If you hit repeated 'transaction declined' errors on an IRCC payment page, don't assume your account is broken — try a card from a different issuing bank before troubleshooting further, and check back for the 'Continue Application' option once payment goes through.