Bring Parents to Canada
Bring Parents to Canada
It is a wise decision to bring parents to Canada if you are a citizen or a permanent resident of the country and do not have much time to visit them overseas. In this case, you will be able to spend quality time together in Canada, work, and live together. There are three main ways to bring parents to Canada: a visitor visa, a super visa, and parents’/grandparents’ sponsorship. You need to know the peculiarities of each way to choose the most suitable for you.
A visitor visa is an official document that shows that the individual meets the requirements to enter Canada. If you want to bring parents to Canada for less than six months, you can help them to apply online or on paper for a visitor visa. However, you should know that the border service officer can allow your parents or grandparents to stay for less or more than six months at the port of entry. In this case, they put the date your parents or grandparents have to leave by in their passports. The officers can also give them a visitor record, the document, which shows the date when they have to leave Canada.
If you plan to bring your parents to Canada with a visitor visa, you need to know that they must initially apply for this visa from the country of their residence. Consequently, your parents and grandparents need to visit the Canadian visa office in their country of residence. Then a visa officer checks whether your parents or grandparents meet the requirements and decides whether to issue the visa. If you want to bring parents to Canada, they need to meet basic requirements to get a visitor visa.
- The parents must have valid passports or other travel documents.
- The parents must be in good health. The visa officer can ask to provide a medical exam report to be assured in this statement.
- The parents must have no criminal or immigration-related convictions. The visa officer can ask to provide the police certificate to check the information.
- The parents must convince an immigration officer that they leave Canada after the visit. Your parents or grandparents can show that they still have a job, take care of dependent children (relatives), or have other reasons to leave Canada.
- The parents must have enough money to stay. The amount of money they need depends on how long they stay in Canada and whether they stay in a hotel or live with you or other relatives.
Please visit the web page of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) if you want to find out more information about the visitor visa for your parents and grandparents.
Bring Parents to Canada though Super Visa Application
If you want to bring parents to Canada for up to two years, they need to apply for a super visa. It is a permit for temporary residency for parents and grandparents that can be valid for up to ten years. There are two main differences between a visitor visa and a super visa. The super visa allows your parents and grandparents to leave and re-enter Canada multiple times. Moreover, they have a right to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time. The visitor visa allows your parents and grandparents to stay in Canada for up to six months at a time. Then they need to leave the country or apply to extend their stay. You should consider these factors when you are going to bring your parents to Canada.
You need to know that your parents or grandparents need to meet several requirements to be eligible to apply for a super visa. Some requirements, such as ties to the country of residence and purpose of the visit, are the same as for a visitor visa. Nevertheless, there are two additional factors.
If you want to bring parents to Canada, you need to prepare a letter of financial support, which they have to submit with the application for the super visa. You need to prove that you meet a minimum required income and can financially support the parents’ or grandparents’ stay. The government of Canada defines how much income someone needs based on the size of the family, and the income table is updated every year. Please visit the web page of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada if you want to check whether you meet the income requirements.
If you want to bring parents to Canada, you have to be sure that they have Canadian medical insurance that meets the minimum requirements and is valid for no less than one year. You need to know that Canadian insurance companies offer coverage at different price points. Consequently, you need to check whether the medical insurance satisfies the super visa requirements. Additionally, your parents or grandparents can need to undergo an immigration medical examination.
Bring Parents to Canada through Family Sponsorship
The third option to bring parents to Canada is parents’/grandparents’ sponsorship. If you wish to permanently transfer your parents or grandparents to Canada, you can sponsor their residence in the country. Moreover, you can include the dependent family members of your parents or grandparents in the sponsorship application.Now the parents’ and grandparents’ sponsorship program is a process of random selection. In other words, children and grandchildren, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada, need to fill out a form telling Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada that they want to bring parents to Canada and wish to sponsor them. Then, IRCC randomly selects 10,000 applications each year and invites their families to apply for parents’/grandparents’ sponsorship. The applicants need to submit a complete application package within three months after receiving an invitation. If you are going to fill out the interest to sponsor form, you have to meet the eligibility requirements. First, you have to be at least 18 years old, live in Canada, and have a status of a citizen, a permanent resident, or an individual who is registered as an Indian under the Canadian Indian Act. Second, you have to meet the income requirements for each of the three tax years before the application date for a sponsorship program. You need to provide proof of income to show the immigration officer that you have enough money.
Additionally, if you want to bring parents to Canada, you must promise that you will be financially supporting the people you are sponsoring. It is called an undertaking promise. It means that you are obliged to financially take care of your sponsored family members for 20 years, starting from the date they become permanent residents of Canada. Moreover, you have to refund the money your sponsored family members get from the government (social assistance from the province) during that time.
Your sponsored family members and you also have to agree to take certain responsibilities during the sponsorship period. It is called the sponsorship agreement. It means that you have to financially support the basic needs of your sponsored family members. Nevertheless, they must also try to financially take care of themselves and other relatives. You will be required to complete and sign the undertaking and the sponsorship agreement forms during the submission of the application for the parents’/grandparents’ sponsorship.
If you want to bring your parents to Canada, but you live in the province of Quebec, you have to meet the immigration sponsorship requirements of the province after IRCC approves you as a sponsor. You have to know that you need to sign an undertaking agreement with the province of Quebec. Moreover, the Quebec ministry in charge of immigration will evaluate your financial capacity. You can learn more about Quebec’s immigration sponsorship requirements online too.
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