Canada Visitor Visa & Super Visa Application – Avoid These Mistakes

Canada visitor visa is tiny bit tricky to apply and it’s easy to get lost once you start the application process. Visitor visa for Canada is the stamp on your passport which can let you travel to Canada for a set period of time. Depending on the type of visitor visa Canada, the granted person is allowed maximum 6 months or 2 years continuous stay in Canada before they are ordered to leave. The said visitor visa can be a single entry or multiple entry Canada visitor visa.

We have seen clients facing huge troubles when they started the process of their parents visitor visa or visitor visa for themselves to explore Canada and its beauty. Missing documents, not able to arrange certain proofs, lack of invitation letter, lame financial proofs and disorganized Canada visa files are the common things people face when they start the visitor visa application for Canada.

Taking that into consideration, we have decided to create this Canada visitor visa blog covering every single detail in depth and providing you with one stop solution to launch your visitor visa file.

Let’s dive deep into each and every single detail related to visitor visa for Canada.

Just a disclaimer that, this would be a long post. Possibly a 20 minutes read. So, if you want to grab a coffee, feel free.

Reason for that is, we don’t want to leave you more confused than before. Our goal is to provide you with best resource available on whole internet circled around visitor visa Canada application.

We have written and articulated this post in such a way that, it’s suitable for all the people who wants to:

Basically, there can be a slight change in terms of documentation that you need to prepare for the proof depending on the country of residence.

Out of all the countries, Indian applicants require to submit huge set of documents for Canadian visitor visa.

What is the main concern for Canadian visa officer when evaluating visitor visa application?

Applicant not returning back to their home country.

Yes. Canadian visa officers are highly concerned you wouldn’t start a new life in Canada based on visitor visa. There have been incidents in past where people migrated illegally on the basis of visitor visa. Keeping that in mind, you would have to demonstrate a strong case why and how you would be returning back to your home country.

You will have to connect many dots eventually constructing a case which doesn’t look like the objective is to enter Canada and never leave.

Do you need a Canada Visitor Visa?

Depending on your home country and the way of travelling, you might not require a visitor visa for Canada. You can get a visa on arrival if you belong from one of the few qualifying countries.

List of Visitor Visa Exempt Countries for Canada

Before, only USA used to be in the list of visa exempt countries for Canada visitor visa. And, list kept growing over the time. If you are from India, it’s not in the list of visa exempt countries, but Canada is on good terms with India and you can be granted visa easily if provided necessary documentation.

Type of Visitor Visa Canada

Normally, when it comes to visitor visa for Canada, people know only two types of visa:

However, the visitor visa can be further divided into multiple categories.

• Canada visitor visa for sports event

Granted to the person visiting Canada to attend a sports event or play any sports in Canadian land. For this one, you can apply for one time visitor visa as the processing time for that visa is much slower than normal visitor visa.

• Canada visitor visa for business persons

If you are a business person looking to visit Canada for your business related activity, you can arrange the proofs accordingly and get the business persons visa.

• Canada visitor visa for tourists

Craving a Niagara Falls or Lake Louise visit? You fall into tourist visa category and the necessary proofs include the hotel booking, proof of stay, flight tickets, health insurance and much more.

• Facilitation visa for Canada

This is special type of visa granted to the person having dual citizenship who do not have a Canadian passport. Only thing you can do with the facilitation visa is visit the embassy.

• Diplomatic and official visa for Canada

If you are a foreign government official and you or any of your family member is intending to visit Canada for diplomatic reasons, you can apply for this type of visa.

• Dual Intent visa for Canada

If you are planning for a PR after visiting Canada, you can apply for dual intent visitor visa. However, we don’t recommend applying under dual intent visitor visa even if you want to settle in Canada. Get in touch with our team to know why and what are the alternatives.

Our email address is TeamAbroadHero@gmail.com

Where to begin the process of visitor visa Canada?

You are reading a lots and lots of stuff about visitor visa for Canada but flabbergasted in terms of where should you actually begin. We sense that.

In our opinion, you first start by arranging all the required documents at one place. Be it digital or actual physical copies of the documents.

We recommend getting scanned copies of all the documents required for visitor visa for Canada. After that, create a folder in your PC and start putting all the documents with proper names and number.

Documents Checklist for Visitor Visa Canada

Here are the primary things you MUST need in order to apply for Canadian visitor visa.

Note: This Canada visitor visa document checklist is prepared in the context of Indian applicants. If you are from some other country, you will have to submit relevant document to the one mentioned here.

Documents needed from sponsors or the person inviting you from Canada (PR holders and citizens only)

Documents needed from person inviting you from Canada (Students, work permit holders and temporary residents)

So, now you know the list of documents needed to apply for visitor visa Canada. Note that, although this list is updated regularly on our website, there can be more documents needed to make your case event stronger.

What is the difference between Canada Visitor Visa and Super Visa?

It’s burning question for anyone looking to apply for visitor visa, especially their parents visitor visa for Canada.

To put it simply, super visa is long term stay visa and visitor visa allows you for maximum 6 months stay in Canada.

One should apply for super visa if they want the person invited to stay longer in Canada and 6 months aren’t enough for them to visit.

In our opinion, super visa is tougher to get as compared to visitor visa. You go through a tough and hard scrutiny when applying for super visa. As it creates a sensible doubt in visa officer’s mind if someone is going to visit Canada for 2 years straight, they might as well settle there and that’s something they don’t want you to do.

Whereas visitor visa Canada is less risky as a said person is asked to leave Canada within 6 months maximum stay.

Also, for super visa, you might need to put lot of extra documentation to make your profile and case much more stronger. In visitor visa for Canada, it’s ok to put minimal documentation while still not forgetting necessary strong documentation to get the visa approval on first try.

Get in touch with experts at AbroadHero to help you launch your visitor visa or super visa for Canada file.

How long one can stay on visitor visa Canada?

Depending on the type of visitor visa, most people can stay in Canada for upto 6 months. However, visitor visa like super visa allows someone to stay upto 2 years.

However, for the normal visitor visa, 6 months stay is not guaranteed. Once you land in Canada, officer at the port of entry can allow you for more than 6 months or less than 6 months.

If the maximum stay on visitor visa for Canada changes, the officer would mention the date on your passport by which you will have to leave Canada.

You will be given a document named visitor record which will mention the date and time you will have to leave Canada.

Can you stay more than 6 months on visitor visa to Canada?

It all depends on how your visitor record document is being made upon your arrival in Canada. Once you arrive in Canada, you can request the officer to grant you more stay on your visitor record document. If your appeal is decent and genuine, in some best cases, visa officers are lenient to approve more stay on your visitor record document.

You do not need to worry about visitor record document if you have no intention to stay more than 6 months. But, if you do, you must need to apply for visitor record document 30 days before the Canada visitor visa expires. You can apply at the border or even after entering Canada.

If you apply at the border, Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) will process your visitor record document and if you apply after arriving in Canada, in that case, you will have to apply online and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will process the Canada visitor record document.

However, if you are intending to stay more than 6 months on your visitor visa, we recommend you talk about it at the port of entry when you first arrive to Canada and get the visitor record document then and there. It would be instant whereas IRCC might take a while to grant you a visitor record document.

Visitor record document is a separate document and don’t confuse it with a visitor visa stamp on your passport. It’s same as I-94 document for USA visitor visa.

Eligibility Requirements for Visitor Visa Canada

These are some basic components you need to qualify in order to apply for visitor visa to Canada.

• you have a valid passport
• your health is good (medical examination would be required)
• your criminal and immigration conviction record is clear
• your home ties are strong and you have concrete reasons to return back to your home country. Some reasons include a full time job, home and properties, financial investments, settled family etc.
• proper convincing of Canadian visa officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your granted stay on visitor visa
• have enough financial support for the duration of your stay
• The total amount of money you need is not fixed. It depends on your stay whether it’s gonna be a hotel or with friends and family or relatives and your purpose of visit
• You have the letter of invitation from someone living in Canada who is inviting you
• You pass the medical exam required by IRCC

Who are not allowed to visit Canada?

Canada clearly refuses some people for the visitor visa. There are few reasons which are not tolerated by Canadian government to grant you a visitor visa and those include:

• criminal background and activity
• violation of human rights
• organizational crime

Processing time for Canada Visitor Visa

Processing time really varies from one country to another.

Canada visitor visa processing time for high demanding countries like India is around 123 days. If you are from any other country than India, it would be less than 123 days for you.

Application fee for visitor visa

Visitor visa fees for Canada is: 100 CAD

If you need to do biometrics and fingerprint as well, it would be separate 85 CAD.

Also, note that cost of medical examination required for visitor visa is not included in the application fee. It’s to be paid separately at the hospital where you get your medical examination done.

How to Apply for a Canada Visitor Visa?

Canada visitor visa process is very tricky and we highly recommend getting help of professional visa advisors such as Team AbroadHero (500+ visitor visa processed over 7 years).

However, we would like to give an idea of step by step process to apply for Canadian visitor visa on your own.

Step by step process to apply for Canada Visitor Visa

Remember, it’s not knowing the process that matters, its’ making visitor visa file stronger that matters and that’s where experts at AbroadHero Visa File Preparing Team can help.

Step 1: Arrange the list of documents mentioned in the checklist

We shared a checklist of visitor visa in this article a while ago. Create an empty folder in your computer, go through that checklist and start arranging scanned copies of all the documents mentioned. For some high integrity documents like property valuation and birth certificate, get them notarized or in some countries known as (true copy). This is not must but highly recommended.

Step 2: Create an account on IRCC

Visit this link and follow the instructions to create an IRCC account: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/visitor-visa-application-start.html

Step 3: Get the invitation code and copy it at safe place.

Step 4: Follow the instructions and create an account

You would get a verification code in your email and once you put it in, site would take you to apply for visitor visa page.

Step 5: Click on the link shown in image and start the Canada visitor visa application

Please note that you would have 60 days to complete and submit your Canada visitor visa application.

Click on Start Application.

Step 6: Select group if you are applying as a family. Maybe you are applying for visitor visa for both your parents etc.

Give a name as well to your group. For example, “Singh Family” etc. It really doesn’t matter much. It’s for your own use only.

Step 7: Select the type of visitor visa and a reason to go to Canada

Step 8: Fill in the details properly. If you get confused about putting reasons

Step 9: Depending on the type of visitor visa you selected, you might need an “Invitation Letter to apply for Canada visitor visa” from the person inviting. It should be professionally written and should be in the pillar support of visitor visa application.

We at AbroadHero Immigration, are experts in writing such invitation letter on behalf of the person inviting from Canada. If you need our help, you can get in touch by email: TeamAbroadHero@gmail.com

Step 10: Fill in all the relevant information and click hitting next.

Step 11: Fill in the applicant information and hit save and continue. This section would have questions on your passport and such.

Step 12: Fill in the citizenship questions and hit save and continue.

Step 13: Fill in the bi0metrics questions and hit save and continue. Note, if you haven’t done the biometrics, you will have to pay biometrics fees and get your biometrics done.

Step 14: Enter the information of person inviting and proceed further.

Step 15: Enter the financial ability information. Also, enter if someone from Canada is going to sponsor your stay. This is crucial information and may decide fate of your application.

Step 16: Occupation and business information.

Step 17: Answer al the security questions and hit save and continue

Step 18: Answer family information and marital status questions and move on

Step 19: Enter contact information and continue

Step 20: Go through the summary of everything that got filled and hit save and continue

It’s an ideal step to correct any wrong information which got filled in a hurry. Give summary page a couple of hours and try to find mistakes. You would find some.

Get in touch with our team (TeamAbroadHero@gmail.com) if you have any doubts.

Step 21: Upload all the supporting documents for visitor visa application of Candaa

Step 22: Upload all the optional documents for Canada visitor visa

Step 23: Do the same process for next applicant in the group if you are applying for more than one person. Once you have done that, select the principal applicant in the group and the relationship of all the other persons with the principal applicant for Canada visitor visa application.

Step 24: Make the payment and submit the application.

As you can see, if you have not done your biometrics before, you will have to pay CAD $85 separately on top of your visitor visa application.

That’s basically it in terms of full application process for Canadian visitor visa.

We have guided you each and every step involved in application.

As discussed earlier, some steps can be trickier to go through. But, have the intention of convincing visa officer on returning back to your home country after your visit to Canada is done. And, by doing that, you would have an idea on how to fill that information up.

Frequently Asked Questions on Visitor Visa Canada

We get these questions a lot in our email. So, we decided to list them all here.

What if my passport expires before visitor visa expiry date?

In that case, you will have to leave Canada before your passport expiry date. You will have to leave Canada by whichever date comes first, either your passport expiry date or visitor Canadian visa expiry date.

Normally, Canadian embassy would grant you a visa till your passport expiry date only.

We recommend that if your passport is near expiry then get your passport renewed first and then apply for visitor visa as in that case, the duration for your visa can be longer.

If I don’t know English at all, can I be rejected for Canada visitor visa?

It really depends under which category you are applying for visitor visa. If you are applying for tourist visa who is going to visit Canada on their own, visa officer might expect you to know a little English.

If you are applying to visit your family member in Canada who is settled, it really doesn’t matter if you don’t know English at all as visa officer is convinced there is someone to give you a language support when needed.

Also Read:

• Statement of Purpose Sample for Canada Student Visa Rejection
• Actual Approval Sample SOP for Canada Student Visa – 100% Success Rate ✅
• SOP Sample for Canada Student Visa – 100% Approval Rate
• Best SOP Sample for Student Visa – 1000+ Clients Approved!!
• Canada Student Visa SOP – This Client Got Approved With 3 Backlogs & Study Gap
• Canada Student Visa SOP – This Client Got Approved With 3 Backlogs & Study Gap
• Statement of Purpose for Graduate Certificate Course in Project Management at Conestoga College
• Visa SOP Writing Services – 1000+ Clients Approved!