Super Visa

A super visa application involves two people: you, and the person you plan to visit. IRCC's name for that person is your host. A host must be 18 or older, must live in Canada, and must earn at least the minimum income required for a family of their size, as listed on the eligibility page.

You also have to meet the usual conditions that apply to visitors coming to Canada, and you have to show you have private health insurance. Even if your passport usually lets you enter Canada without a visitor visa, you can still get a super visa, and it lets you stay five years.

Maybe your host has already sent in an application to sponsor you for permanent residence. You don't have to sit and wait for that decision. A super visa application can go in while the sponsorship is still pending, or the sponsorship can be withdrawn at any point and replaced with a super visa application, as the eligibility page explains. That matters, because IRCC currently quotes about 28 months for parent and grandparent sponsorships outside Quebec.

The private health insurance you buy must cover you for a minimum of one year starting on the day you enter Canada, and you must submit proof of it along with your application. On its eligibility page, IRCC lists this among the applicant's requirements.

To meet this requirement, your host must show they earn enough to support you during your entire stay, and that proof belongs in the letter your host writes to invite you, as explained on the host financial support page.

How many people get counted in the host's family sets the amount. IRCC publishes, in Canadian dollars, the lowest income a host needs for each family size.

From 31 March 2026, a host, along with a co-signer if there is one, can reach the income level in either of the two tax years preceding the application. Before that date, IRCC only considered the most recent year, so a host whose income was low last year might still qualify based on the year before, as the IRCC notice explains.

Family size is not just the number of people living in your host's home: some relatives already hosted or sponsored must also be included, so the official family-size guide can help your host work out who counts. Counted are the host, you, any other super visa applicants the host will be supporting (for example, your spouse), the host's spouse, the children who depend on them, and any parents whom the host or their spouse is already hosting on a super visa or sponsoring. Those parents count even when they are not currently in Canada.

The official page gives examples that show how fast the number climbs:

• One parent invited by a single host makes a family of two.
• A host who has a spouse and two dependent children, and who invites both parents, adds up to a family of six.

Consider a divorced host with shared custody of two children who invites both parents: the count comes to five. Say a grandchild invites one grandparent, and has a spouse and one dependent child. The spouse is also hosting their own two parents on super visas. Everyone counts, so the family size is six, even if those parents aren't in Canada right now.

When you apply, you have to be outside Canada. Applications go through the IRCC Portal online, and you will need a scanner or a camera to create electronic copies of your paperwork, as the how to apply page explains.

1. In the portal, pick Visitor visa or super visa when it asks what you are applying for.
2. When it asks why you need a visitor visa, pick the option that describes a visit to your children or grandchildren lasting longer than six months.
3. Upload your documents, which include the letter of invitation from your host and your proof of insurance.
4. At the end of the application, pay the fees. A valid email address is needed for this.
5. You may need to give biometrics after you apply. The published processing time does not include the time needed for this step.

If you can't apply online and need accommodations, including for a disability, you can ask for the forms in braille, in large print, or on paper.

Most applicants pay two fees, which the IRCC fee table lists.

When biometrics are required, pay that fee at the same time as you apply, since a late payment slows processing down. There is also a link between the two: IRCC cannot give you a super visa that runs past the validity of your biometrics.

If your application is approved and you're flying to Canada, IRCC will tell you if you also need an electronic travel authorization (eTA) and point you to where to apply. That permission is tied electronically to your passport, so when you fly, use the same passport you applied with, and carry the documents that backed your super visa application. The processing time IRCC gives for it is about five minutes.