APPLYING FOR A SUPER VISA IN CANADA

A Super Visa to Canada enables you to invite your parents or grandparents to stay with you in Canada for up to 2 years at a time if you meet certain eligibility conditions. The visa is valid for up to ten years, and enables your loved ones to travel back and forth to Canada as many times as they like, up until it expires. This means that you can apply once to obtain a Super Visa, but your parents or grandparents can use it for many trips to and from Canada.

How is a Super Visa different than a Visitor’s Visa?

The Super Visa to Canada is a type of visitor’s visa that allows your parents or grandparents to stay inside Canada for up to two years after their first entry using the visa. If they instead travel to Canada using a regular visitor’s visa (TRV), they will be allowed to stay inside Canada for up to 6 months after entry. Before the end of that time, they will either have to leave the country or apply for an extension of their stay. With the Super Visa, your parents or grandparents don’t have to worry about additional immigration processes for the first two years of their visit.
The Super Visa is most appropriate if your parents or grandparents want to come and stay in Canada for longer than 6 months without leaving. If they are planning on a shorter stay, or want to travel in and out of Canada frequently, then a regular TRV might make more sense.

Who is eligible for a Super Visa to Canada?

Parents or grandparents of Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents are eligible to apply for a Super Visa. If you have siblings who still live with your parents abroad, they are not eligible to be included on a Super Visa application and will need to apply for a regular TRV if they want to visit Canada and require a visa to do so.

In addition to providing a letter of invitation to your parent or grandparent, you also need to promise that you will support them financially during their stay, and show that your income meets the required level, depending on the number of people in your family. IN order to determine the correct level of income required, you should add your parents or grandparents (whatever number of visitors you will host) into your total number of family members currently dependent on you.
The required level of income changes on an annual basis. You will be required to provide documents to show your income, including any combination of Notice of Assessment, recent T4 slip, or a letter from your employer. Your income can be combined with your spouse or common law partners’ income if you don’t meet the required level on your own. In that type of situation, ensure that you also include documents to prove your relationship with your partner, and to demonstrate their income.

Income table Jan-Dec 2019

Insurance

As part of the application for a Super Visa, you will need to provide evidence that you have purchased an insurance policy for medical coverage for your parents or grandparents while they are staying in Canada.  The minimum required coverage is $100,000 per person and the policy should be valid for 1 year from the date of entry to Canada.  You are required to actually buy the policy and include it with the application; you can’t just submit a quote.  You will need to notify the insurance company of the arrival details for your parent or grandparent after the visa is approved, and they will adjust the policy to start once your parents or grandparents arrive in Canada.  You should be able to receive a pro-rated refund if they leave Canada before the 1^st year is finished.

Medical Exam and Police Clearance

Parents and Grandparents who are applying for a Super visa will need to pass an immigration medical exam and also provide police clearances that show they are admissible to Canada.

Privileges inside Canada

Parents and Grandparents who have a Super visa are allowed to remain inside Canada for a longer period of time than a regular visitor, but they don’t receive any special privileges while they are here.  They are not eligible for Provincial health care coverage, hence the requirement for private insurance coverage; and they are not able to work legally unless they can qualify for a work permit through one of the existing categories.  They can, however, provide care for grandchildren because, as long as they are related to the children, that is not considered to meet the legal definition of work for which a work permit is required. 

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