Canada Super Visa: Requirements, Documents & RCIC Assistance

Who the super visa is for

The super visa exists for one relationship: parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. It is not available to siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins or friends, and it is not available to the parents of someone who is themselves only a temporary resident in Canada — a student or work permit holder cannot invite their parents on a super visa.

Families typically come to it in three situations:

• A long visit is the actual goal. Parents want to spend extended periods with family, particularly around the birth of a grandchild or during illness, without leaving and re-entering every six months.
• Permanent residence is not currently available. The Parents and Grandparents Program depends on a limited intake, and in years when it is closed or an invitation does not come, the super visa is the practical alternative. See family sponsorship.
• A previous visitor visa was refused. A refusal changes what the next application has to do. See visitor visa refusals.

Eligibility and requirements

The income requirement

This is where most preparation time goes, and where most avoidable refusals originate. The inviting child or grandchild must demonstrate income at or above the Low Income Cut-Off for their family size — and the visiting parents or grandparents count as members of that family for the calculation.

Three points that are routinely misunderstood:

• The family size includes the visitors. A couple with two children inviting both parents is a household of six for this purpose, not four. The threshold rises accordingly, and rises again if both sets of parents are invited.
• It is income, not savings. A large bank balance does not substitute for income at the required level. Evidence normally means Canada Revenue Agency Notices of Assessment, employment letters, pay statements and, where relevant, business records.
• The figures change. LICO amounts are updated annually. Using last year's table is a common and entirely avoidable error.

Current LICO figures for the super visa (IRCC)

Medical insurance

Insurance is a hard requirement and a frequent source of technical refusals. The policy must be from a Canadian insurance company, or from an insurer outside Canada that IRCC recognises, must be valid for at least one year from the date of entry, and must meet IRCC's minimum coverage for healthcare, hospitalisation and repatriation.

Check three things on the certificate before it is submitted: that the coverage amount meets the current minimum, that the validity period runs at least a full year from intended entry rather than from the purchase date, and that the named insured matches the applicant's passport exactly. A policy that is paid for but not yet in force, or that expires eleven months after entry, will not satisfy the requirement.

Required documents

IRCC's checklist for your specific application governs. A well-prepared super visa application generally includes:

From the applicant (the parent or grandparent)

• Passport, valid well beyond the intended stay
• Completed application forms and a digital photograph to IRCC specifications
• Proof of the relationship — birth certificates, family registers, other civil records
• Immigration medical examination results from a panel physician
• Certificate of qualifying medical insurance
• Evidence of ties to the home country — property, pension, dependants, ongoing obligations
• Travel history, including previous visas and entries to any country
• Full disclosure of any previous refusal, by Canada or any other country

From the inviting child or grandchild in Canada

• Signed invitation letter, including the promise of financial support
• Proof of Canadian citizenship or permanent residence
• Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency
• Employment letter stating position, salary and length of service
• Recent pay statements, and business records where self-employed
• A list of everyone in the household, so family size can be verified

The application process

1. Confirm eligibility Relationship, the inviting person's status, and whether the household income meets the current threshold for the resulting family size.
2. Assemble the financial evidence Usually the longest step. Gaps and inconsistencies are resolved here, not after a refusal.
3. Obtain qualifying insurance Confirm coverage, validity period and named insured before purchase.
4. Complete the medical examination With an IRCC-approved panel physician.
5. Prepare the invitation and submission Including, where there has been a previous refusal, a direct explanation of what has changed.
6. Submit online and pay The visitor visa fee applies, plus biometrics if required.
7. Give biometrics At a designated collection point, unless exempt.
8. Await the decision and respond to requests Then, once approved, submit the passport for the visa if required.

Processing times

Varies substantially by visa office and country of residence — from a few weeks to several months. IRCC publishes live processing times that change frequently and vary by country of residence and application type. Use the official processing-times tool for a current estimate for your own situation.

The medical examination and insurance both have validity periods, so they should be timed against the expected processing time rather than obtained as early as possible.

Check current IRCC processing times

Government fees

Why super visa applications are refused

Income below the threshold, or documented badly

Sometimes the income genuinely falls short once the visitors are counted in the family size. More often the income is sufficient but the evidence does not establish it — missing Notices of Assessment, an employment letter that omits salary, self-employment income that is asserted rather than shown. The officer assesses what is in the file.

Purpose of visit and intention to leave

This is the most common refusal ground for any visitor application. An officer is not satisfied that the applicant will depart at the end of the stay. Contributing factors typically include limited ties to the home country, a stated purpose that does not match the length of the visit, the fact that the entire immediate family is now in Canada, or an application that simply never addresses the question.

Insurance that does not meet the requirement

Coverage below the minimum, a validity period shorter than a full year from entry, a policy in the wrong name, or a quotation submitted instead of a certificate of coverage. These are technical refusals and are entirely preventable.

Relationship not adequately proven

Where civil records are old, inconsistent in the spelling of names, or unavailable, the relationship needs to be established by other means. This is common and solvable, but it has to be anticipated.

An unexplained previous refusal

Previous refusals — Canadian or otherwise — must be disclosed. An application that discloses a refusal but says nothing about it leaves the earlier concerns standing. The new application has to answer them.

Inconsistencies across the file

Dates that do not match between forms, a household size in the invitation letter that differs from the tax records, travel history omitted from one form but present in another. Each looks small; collectively they undermine the credibility of everything else.

How 5AB Immigration helps

• The income calculation done correctly. Family size determined properly — including every person who counts — against the current LICO table, with the shortfall identified in advance if there is one.
• Financial evidence assembled to match. Which documents establish the income claimed, what each one must show, and what to do when income is self-employment or comes from more than one source.
• Insurance checked before purchase. Coverage amount, validity window and named insured verified against the requirement rather than against a broker's assurance.
• The intention-to-leave question answered directly. A written submission setting out the purpose of the visit, its planned length, and the ties that support a return — rather than leaving the officer to infer them.
• Previous refusals addressed head-on. Where there has been one, the new application identifies what the earlier concern was and what has changed. See refusals and complex cases.
• Family strategy considered together. Whether a super visa, a regular visitor visa, or waiting for the Parents and Grandparents Program fits your family's actual plans — these are different decisions and should be made deliberately.

Case example

Details are changed and circumstances combined to protect client confidentiality. This illustrates how a file is analysed. It is not a prediction, and no outcome is implied or guaranteed for any other application.

Frequently asked questions