Visitor Visa

Every year more than 16 million people visit Canada. As a visitor with a Resident Temporary Visa, you will enjoy the many opportunities Canada has to offer.

To visit Canada you:

• must be healthy. You might need a doctor’s examination;
• must respect Canadian laws;
• will need a valid passport, proof of who you are or other travel documents;
• and may need a letter of invitation:

Many people do not require a visa to visit Canada. These include:

• citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Latvia (Republic of), Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa;
• persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (Green card) or can provide other evidence of permanent residence;
• British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
• citizens of British dependent territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
• persons holding a British National (Overseas) Passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom to persons born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;
• British subjects who hold a passport issued by the United Kingdom and who have the “right of abode” there
• persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China;
• persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See;
• persons holding an ordinary passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes their personal identification number.

Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. Make sure you have health insurance to pay your medical costs before you leave for Canada.

Parent and Grandparent Super Visa

Parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents have a new option for visiting Canada. As of December 1, 2011, you may be eligible to apply for the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa and enjoy visiting your family in Canada for up to two years without the need to renew your status.

To apply for the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, you must:

• be the parent or grandparent of a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
• be found admissible to Canada; and
• meet certain other conditions.

NOTE: You cannot include dependants in this application. Only your spouse or common-law partner is eligible to accompany you under this provision.

Visa officers consider several factors before deciding if a person is admissible. The person must be a genuine visitor to Canada who will leave by choice at the end of the visit. Among the things that could be considered are:

• the person’s ties to the home country;
• the purpose of the visit;
• the person’s family and financial situation;
• the overall economic and political stability of the home country; and
• an invitation from a Canadian host.

In addition to being found admissible to Canada, the parent or grandparent must also:

• provide a written commitment of financial support from their child or grandchild in Canada who meets a minimum income threshold
• prove that they have bought Canadian medical insurance coverage for at least one year; and
• Complete an Immigration Medical Examination if the parent or grandparent is staying for more than six months.

Note: Only some people can charge a fee or receive any other type of payment to represent an immigrant or advise on a Canadian immigration proceeding or application. These are:

• lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society;
• notaries who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec; and
• immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.

Roxana Caro, Managing Director of CARO Global Immigration Services is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) and a member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC).