SUPER VISA CANADA

If you want your parents or grandparents to be able to visit you in Canada for more than six months at a time then a super visa Canada might be what you need.

I’ll explain exactly what a super visa for Canada is, the requirements you and your family must meet to be approved and how to apply for one.

What is a super visa Canada?

A super visa Canada allows parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents to stay in Canada for more than the standard six months per trip. It’s also known as a parent and grandparent visa Canada.

The super visa for Canada allows parents or grandparents to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time.

But a super visa is valid for 10 years, so the parent or grandparent can visit at many times as they want within those 10 years as long as each trip is less than two years. That means that a super visa is a multi-entry visa.

If the visit to Canada is less than six months at a time then you don’t need a super visa. All you would need is a standard visitor visa or Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) if you’re from a visa-exempt country. You can check out which one you’ll need here .

Just to reiterate – a super visa for Canada is only available to parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents .

Super visa Canada requirements

Eligibility for super visa Canada

There are some basic eligibility criteria that you need to meet to be valid for a super visa Canada. The super visa Canada requirements are:

1. You have to be the parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
2. Your child or grandchild is inviting you to come to Canada.
3. Your child or grandchild meets a minimum income threshold.
4. You must buy medical insurance from a Canadian insurance company valid for at least one year.
5. You have to undergo an immigration medical exam. You can either get this done upfront before you apply or after you apply. Get more details on the process for medical exams here

Super visa income requirements 2022

There is a minimum income that your child or grandchild must meet for the super visa to be approved. This is called the low income cut-off (LICO) threshold.

Your child or grandchild’s spouse or common-law partner’s income can also be included to meet the super visa income requirement; not just the income of your child or grandchild.

The minimum income required is a factor of how many people are in the family unit of your child or grandchild.

To calculate the family size include all the people listed below:

• The host (i.e. the child or grandchild)
• Host’s spouse or common-law partner
• Host’s dependent children
• Anyone the host may have previously sponsored for which the sponsorship agreement is still in effect
• The parent or grandparent applying for the super visa
• The spouse or common-law partner of the parent or grandparent if they have one

Once you’ve added together the above to get the family size, use the table below to find the super visa income requirements for 2022. The table is as of January 7th, 2022. You can check the most recent version here .

Medical insurance requirements for super visa

As mentioned in requirement 4 above, you must have medical insurance to cover your trip to Canada that’s valid for at least a year.

This insurance is referred to as super visa insurance and there’s a whole market that caters towards it. You can read the full requirements for the super visa insurance including how much it will cost and how to go about getting it here.

But if you’re just looking for a good place to get your super visa insurance from then I’d recommend a price comparison website which will search across a whole range of providers to find the best deal for your circumstances. The one I like is Best Quote – it’s most often had the best deals when I’ve been looking. You can check them out here . *

Other requirements

Along with the concrete requirements outlined above, Immigration, Refuges and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will also consider your application to ensure that you’re a genuine visitor and will leave Canada at the end of your visit.

The sort of things they’ll consider here are your ties to your home country, family and finances and overall stability of your home country.

What supporting documents you need for super visa

As evidence for the above super visa requirements, you’ll need to submit some supporting documents.

The exact list will vary depending on your situation but in general all applicants will need to submit the following supporting evidence at a minimum (the numbers correspond to the numbered requirements listed in the section above).

1. Document to show you being the parent or grandparent of the Canadian citizen or permanent resident such as birth certificate, baptismal certificate or other documents naming you as the parent or grandparent.
2. A signed letter from your child or grandchild inviting you to come to Canada. If your child or grandchild’s spouse or common-law partner’s income is needed to meet the low income cut-off (LICO) threshold then then an invitation letter is also needed from them. The letter has to include:
   • A promise of financial support for the full length of your visit
   • A list showing your child or grandchild’s family composition (dependents including spouse, children or other relatives that are financially dependent)
   • A copy of your child or grandchild’s Canadian citizenship or permanent resident document.You can get more information about how to write the letter here.
3. One of the following documents to prove that your child or grandchild meets the super visa income requirement as outlined above. If you need to include the income of your child or grandchild’s spouse or common-law partner to meet the minimum threshold you will need to include one of these documents for them too.
   • Most recent copy of their federal income tax Notice of Assessment (NOA). They can access this at the Canada Revenue Agency’s online service here .
   • Most recent copy of their T4 or T1 documents.
   • A letter from their employer stating job title, job description, date of hiring and salary.
   • Their employment insurance pay stubs
   • A letter from an accountant confirming annual income if they are self-employed.
   • Proof of other sources of income such as pension statement or investments.
4. Proof that you have medical insurance in place for one year from your date of arrival in Canada and for coverage of at least $100,000. Get the full details on this here.
5. If you took the medical exam upfront then you must include a copy of the IMM 1017B Upfront Medical Report in your online application. If you took it after you submitted your application you don’t need to do anything more – the results will be sent through to IRCC. Get more details on the process for medical exams here .

There are other documents and supporting evidence which you will likely need to submit along with the above but this will vary by application.

For example you may need to submit biometric data (fingerprints) if you’re not from a visa-exempt country. The application process (see section below) will confirm if you need to submit biometric or not.

The supporting documents should be in French or English. If they are not then you’ll need to have the documents translated before you submit them. There’s details of what’s accepted as an official translation at the link below.

You should review the IRCC instruction guide for more information on all the documentation you might need.

How to apply for a super visa

You can either apply online or on paper for a super visa. Online is the easiest and quickest way.

You need to start pulling together the core supporting documentation you’ll need as outlined in the section above.

If you’re applying online you’ll need a scanner or camera to convert any hard copy documents to electronic.

On top of the supporting documentation there are number of forms you’ll need to fill out for the application. These will explained when you start the application process.

You need to create an account and start the application here .

Cost of super visa Canada?

The super visa Canada application fee is $100 (Canadian dollars) per person.

On top of this you might have to give biometrics in which case this will cost $85 per person; $170 for a family of two or more people.

You may also have to pay the fee for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) which is $7 per person. See the section below for more details.

The biggest cost you will likely face with getting a super visa however is the cost of your super visa medical insurance. Costs for this vary greatly but at a minimum you’re looking at $800 for one person in their mid-40s. You can check out all the details on super visa insurance including what to look for in the cheapest policies here .

Do you need an eTA as well as a super visa?

If you are from a visa-exempt country and you plan on entering Canada by air, you will need to apply for a Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) after your super visa application is approved. IRCC will provide you with a letter confirming your super visa approval for you to show the border agent when you arrive in Canada.

The eTA will be linked to your passport so you need to travel with the passport you used to apply for your eTA and the letter of approval. You can check out if you’re from a visa exempt country here .

Extending super visa Canada

If you want to extend your stay in Canada on a super visa then you need to apply for a visitor record. It is this that will allow you to stay longer than the expiry date on your current status.

The cost to apply to extend your stay is $100 per person.

You must apply at least 30 days before your current status expires.

You can learn more about the process and how to apply here