14 June 2023
Do you live in Canada and wish that your family members, such as your grandparents or parents, could visit you for more than half a year? Then you might want to consider obtaining a Super Visa for Canada.
A lot of people who migrated to Canada have a hard time without their families. Your grandparents or parents generally need an eTA or an Electronic Travel Authorization if they are traveling from a visa-exempt country or a standard visitor visa if they want to visit for less than six months.
The general visa criteria for family members who want to visit Canada to see their loved ones can be quite challenging, especially if the duration of the visit is more than six months. However, you can easily have your grandparents or parents over with the Super Visa for Canada. Let us explore Super Visa in detail:
What is a Super Visa for Canada?
A Super Visa for Canada enables the grandparents or parents of permanent Canadian residents or citizens to live in Canada for more than half a year on each trip.
Also known as the Canadian parent and grandparent visa, a Super Visa in Canada allows you to have your grandparents or parents live in Canada for a maximum of five years for each visit. A Super Visa for Canada is valid for a decade and enables multi-entry.
What are the eligibility criteria to obtain a Super Visa for Canada?
There are some essential requirements that you need to mandatorily complete to be qualified for obtaining a Super Visa for Canada, such as:
- The Super Visa for Canada is only eligible for grandparents or parents of a permanent residents or a Canadian citizen.
- The grandchild or child must invite you to visit them in Canada.
- The grandchild or child needs to meet a lower income threshold.
- The candidate needs to purchase medical insurance issued by a designated foreign insurance provider or a Canadian insurer which must be valid for a minimum of one year.
- The applicants need to pass an immigration medical exam. They could either finish this examination upfront before applying, or it could be taken after they apply.
- The Super Visa for Canada must be applied when you are outside Canada.
- The applicant must legally be permitted to enter Canada.
What are the minimum income requirements to obtain a Super Visa in Canada?
There is a lower income threshold that the grandchild or child of the Super Visa applicant must meet to be eligible. This lower limit is called the LICO or the low-income cut-off threshold.
The spouse of your grandchild or child can also help them in meeting this income requirement for obtaining a Super Visa. The minimum income that is needed to become eligible to obtain a Super Visa for Canada is a characteristic of the number of people in your grandchild or child’s family unit.
To calculate the size of their family, here are all the people that should be included:
- The host or the grandchild or child
- The common-law partner or the spouse of the host
- Any dependent children that the host may have
- Anyone that the host previously sponsored such that the sponsorship agreement is still valid
- The grandparent or parent who is applying to receive the Super Visa
- The common-law partner or the spouse or the applicant, if applicable
Once the family size has been calculated, you can see the minimum salary requirement for a Super Visa here:
1 person: 26,620 CAD
2 people: 33,140 CAD
3 people: 40,742 CAD
4 people: 49,466 CAD
5 people: 56,104 CAD
6 people: 63,276 CAD
7 people: 70,448 CAD
If there are more than seven people in your grandchild or child’s family size, 7,172 CAD is added for each additional member
Which additional documents are required to obtain a Super Visa for Canada?
Here are some additional supportive documents that are needed when applying for a Canada super visa for parents:
- A document that proves the relation between the permanent resident or Canadian citizen and the applicant. This can be a baptismal certificate, a birth certificate, or any document that names the candidate as the grandparent or parent.
- A signed letter from the grandchild or child inviting the applicant to visit them in Canada.
- If the common-law partner or spouse of your grandchild or child is required to help them cross the LICO threshold, they also need to provide a signed letter of invitation.
- The letter of invitation needs to include the following points:
- A promise from your grandchild or child to provide financial support for your entire visit
- A list of your grandchild or child’s family to illustrate their composition
- A copy of the grandchild or child’s permanent resident document or Canadian citizenship.
- Here is a list of documents that your grandchild or child can use to prove that they qualify as per the low-income cut-off threshold:
- A recent copy of the federal income tax Notice of Assessment
- A recent copy of T1 or T4 documents
- A letter from the employer that states their salary, date of joining, job description, and job title
- Employment insurance pay stubs
- If self-employed, a letter from their accountant stating their annual income
- Investments or pension statements as proof of other sources
- Proof that the applicant holds medical insurance that is valid for at least one year after they arrive in Canada or medical insurance with a minimum coverage of 100,000 CAD.
- The IMM 1017B Upfront Medical Report needs to be included as part of the application if the candidate appeared for the upfront medical examination. If the candidate plans to take the medical exam after submitting their application, no further steps are needed. The results from their medical test would automatically be submitted to IRCC.
What is the difference between a grandparent/parent sponsorship and a Super Visa for Canada?
A grandparent or parent Super Visa is similar to a visitor visa which means that your grandparents and parents would not be allowed to stay with you in Canada. Your grandparents and parents would not gain permanent residency or obtain any other right to enter the country automatically.
The grandparent and parent sponsorship is a method by which permanent residents or Canadian citizens can apply for their relatives to obtain permanent residency.
This indicates that their relative will be allowed to stay in Canada indefinitely and will become eligible to enjoy all the advantages of a Canadian PR, such as getting provincial healthcare coverage and getting a job.
Under the sponsorship program, permanent residents or Canadian citizens can help their spouses, dependent children, and other relatives in obtaining a Canadian PR.
Conclusion
If you have a close family relative such as a child or a grandchild living in Canada, who wants to invite you to stay with them for more than a year, a Super Visa is for you.
A Super Visa in Canada can help you in entering the country multiple times until the visa is valid. It is generally valid for a decade, and it allows you to visit your family as often as possible. The Canada Super Visa for parents is an excellent way to ensure that you can always be close to your loved ones if needed.
