Your mother wants to be here when the baby arrives. Your brother’s family hopes to come for your wedding at a banquet hall on Airport Road. An uncle you have not seen in twelve years has finally retired and wants to see where you live. So someone at the kitchen table in Brampton opens a laptop and asks: what do we need to send them?
The instinct is to treat this as the host’s project, since you are the one in Canada with the English-language paperwork and the steady income. Yet the applicant is the visitor. The officer’s job is to decide whether that person meets the requirements, and much of what will decide it lies in their life back home, not in yours. A host can help a lot, but the help works best when you understand which part of the job is yours.
Please read this as general information rather than legal advice on a particular application. Rules, fees, and forms change, so confirm everything on the IRCC website before you submit. If a past application was refused, we discuss that situation separately, and the reasons for that refusal should shape what you do next.
First, Check Whether a Visa Is Needed
Not every visitor needs a visitor visa. Citizens of many countries travel with an electronic travel authorization instead, and citizens of some visa-required countries may qualify for an eTA when flying if they meet added conditions. IRCC’s online tool asks for nationality and travel plans and gives you an answer. Use it before anyone pays for an application. People who are coming by road or who have a parent or grandparent planning a stay of more than six months may have a different answer, including a possible Super Visa.
Passports matter here. If your relative holds two nationalities, the answer may differ by passport, and they will need to travel on the one used for the application.
What the Officer Is Deciding
Stripped of the forms, the question for the officer is whether this person is a genuine temporary visitor who will leave at the end of the authorized stay, has the money for the trip, and is admissible to Canada. The officer has discretion and looks at the whole picture.
You will not find a checklist that guarantees approval, but in practice, these points tend to carry the weight:
- Ties to the home country. A job, a business, land, a spouse or children staying behind, caring duties, studies.
- Finances. Enough money for the trip, with a believable source and history.
- Purpose. A clear reason for this trip, at this time, for this length.
- Travel history. Past trips, especially to countries that are also careful about visas, can help.
- Family in Canada. This cuts both ways. Close family here explains the trip, but an officer may also ask what would draw the person to stay.
That last point is something hosts often miss. Having a successful daughter in Brampton does not automatically help a parent’s case. If every close relative has moved to Canada and the applicant has few remaining ties at home, the officer may worry about overstay. The answer is to address this directly with evidence, rather than leaving it unspoken.
Writing the Invitation Letter
An invitation letter is useful but optional in many cases, and it never guarantees anything. IRCC says so in plain terms: a letter does not ensure a visa will be issued. Its value lies in making the plan concrete and confirming that you exist, have status, and are expecting this person.
IRCC’s guidance says the letter should include:
About the visitor: full name, date of birth, address and telephone number, your relationship, the purpose of the trip, how long they plan to stay, where they will stay, how they will pay for the visit, and when they plan to leave.
About you: full name, date of birth, Canadian address and telephone number, job title, your status in Canada, and family details, including the names and birth dates of your spouse and dependants.
Proof of your status: a photocopy of a document such as a Canadian birth certificate, citizenship card, PR card or record of landing, or a Certificate of Indian Status.
IRCC’s page does not call for a notarized letter on an ordinary visit. Some visa offices or situations may differ, so check the instructions the applicant receives. A plain, signed, truthful letter usually does the job. If the visit is for a Super Visa, there are further requirements, including a written promise of financial support and details about your family size.
The letter does not have to be long or formal. Here is the sort of approach that tends to work: name the event or reason, state the dates, say who will pay for what, and explain how the visitor will return home. Avoid gushing, and avoid promises you cannot keep. You might add something like, “My mother will return to Ludhiana before her pension review in June,” if that is true and there is a document that backs it up. A specific date tied to a real event is more persuasive than “she will definitely go back.”
What Your Letter Commits You To
Hosts often worry about this. According to IRCC, writing a letter does not make you legally responsible for the visitor after they enter Canada. IRCC does expect you to write in good faith, meaning you must tell the truth and plan to keep the promises you make.
That is not a licence to be casual. If you say you will house and support someone, and it later turns out you had no such plan, that can affect your credibility the next time you invite someone, and false statements in a supporting document can create misrepresentation problems for the applicant. Do not state an income you don’t have, or describe your rented basement unit as a four-bedroom house.
Supporting Documents From the Host
If you are paying for some or all of the trip, supply the evidence. Reasonable items would include an employment letter, recent pay stubs, a Notice of Assessment, and recent bank statements, along with a lease or mortgage document that shows where the visitor will stay. A short explanation of who lives in the home may also be useful, since a family of six in a two-bedroom unit is going to raise a practical question.
Be wary of large, unexplained deposits. Moving a sum into an account a week before the application, whether yours or your relative’s, can look like borrowed money for show. IRCC recommends that the applicant include a bank statement showing at least six months of activity and balances, along with the bank’s details and the account holder’s name and address. A smaller but steady account history is often more persuasive than a big and sudden balance.
What the Applicant Should Prepare
Most of the evidence must come from the visitor. A complete package typically includes a passport with at least six months of validity beyond the travel date, copies of pages showing identity and any stamps or visas, a recent employer letter on letterhead, financial statements, property or business records if any, and a realistic itinerary. Booking a non-refundable flight before a decision is rarely wise. A draft itinerary is enough.
Children under 18 need a letter authorizing their travel when they are not travelling with both parents, and the parents’ details should be clear. Anyone whose documents are not in English or French will need proper translations, and a family member cannot do that translation for them, even if they are fluent. Some applicants will also need to give biometrics, and the instruction letter sets out the deadline. Book early. In some cities, appointments may fill up.
Applications are normally filed online through the IRCC Portal or a secure account, and paper filing is limited to specific situations. The processing fee stands at $100 per person, or $500 for a family of five or more, with biometrics at $85 per person or up to $170 for a family. Confirm these figures before paying, since they can change.
Entry Type and Length of Stay
Many people expect a ten-year multiple-entry visa to appear automatically. It may not. A visa can be issued for up to ten years or until the passport or biometrics expire, whichever comes first, but an officer can choose a shorter date, and may issue a single-entry visa. Do not plan a return trip around an expectation that a visa will still be usable.
Note too that the visa expiry is not the same as the permitted stay. The visa allows the person to travel to Canada and request entry. The officer at the airport decides how long they may stay, which is commonly up to six months, and may mark a different date in the passport or issue a visitor record. Check the passport at the airport, not the visa, for the date that matters. A visitor who wants to stay longer must apply to extend before that date passes.
Things Visitors Cannot Do
A visitor is not allowed to work in Canada without authorization. That includes helping out at a family store on Queen Street or at a cousin’s trucking yard, or being paid to look after a relative. Staying with family and helping around the house with no pay and no real job being filled is ordinary family life, but anything resembling employment is a risk. Studying also has limits. Short courses may be fine, but a full program usually needs a study permit.
Hosts should explain this before the visitor arrives. A visitor who overstays or works without permission can harm their own chance of returning, as well as the credibility of the family when someone else applies.
A Sensible Order for Doing It
If you are starting from scratch, try this order:
- Check whether a visa or eTA is needed, and whether a Super Visa is a better fit.
- Agree on realistic dates and purpose with your relative.
- Have the applicant gather their ties and finances evidence first. This is the most important part.
- Prepare your letter and host documents to match the plan.
- Read the whole package as a stranger would. Do the dates line up? Is any statement contradicted by another document?
- File with enough time for processing and biometrics. Check IRCC’s site for current processing times rather than relying on a friend’s experience.
If there have been prior refusals, a past overstay, or a criminal or medical issue, consider advice before filing. Our temporary residence page describes the help available. For many families, though, a careful and honest application prepared at home will be enough to put the case fairly in front of the officer.