How to Bring Your Parents and Grandparents to Canada
Considering moving to Canada but worried about barely seeing your parents or grandparents? No matter your immigration plans, there are still many methods in which you may bring your parents permanently or for long-term in Canada and here’s how! 👴🏻👵🏻
3 Types of Visa and Programs for Parents and Grandparents
There are 3 pathways you can choose from when it comes to bringing your parents/grandparents to Canada.
- Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP)
- Parent and Grandparent Super Visa
- Temporary Resident Visa (TRV)
Want to know which one’s best for you? Learn more about these programs in the following sections down below.
Table of Contents
PR Visa through Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP)
🧓🏻 What is Canada's Parent and Grandparent Program?
Parents and grandparents who want to be reunited with their children and grandchildren may be sponsored by Canadian citizens and permanent residents under Canada’s Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program.
The Parent and Grandparent Program (PGP) started choosing members this September 2021 via a lottery system that will choose 40,000 individuals. Following the invitation, those who want to apply will have 60 days to complete their application. With invitations now closed for the year 2021, there is still no definite date yet for the year 2022.
🍁 Program Eligibility and Requirements
Both the sponsor and the sponsor’s parent or grandparent must satisfy IRCC’s eligibility requirements to be eligible for Canadian permanent resident status. In addition, it is the sponsor’s responsibility to meet the Minimum Necessary Income (MNI) criteria based on their family unit’s size and to provide proof to the Canada Revenue Agency that they have met the MNI requirement for a minimum of three consecutive years. Sponsors must also meet the following criteria:
- Must be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada
- Must be of 18 years or older
- Must be the child or grandchild of the sponsored person
📬 How to Submit a PGP Application?
An immigration agency such as CanadaCIS may be helpful even if you don’t need one to make sure your application is correct, but if you still wish to apply on your own, we’ve provided 5 easy steps on how to do so:
Step 1: Gather the required documents for the application
Step 2: Complete the application
Step 3: Pay the application fees
Step 4: Double-check your application to avoid errors
Step 5: Submit the application
Parent and Grandparent Super Visa
🧓🏻 What is Canada's Super Visa?
If you have elderly parents or grandparents who wish to stay in Canada for more than 6 months, they may be eligible for a Super Visa, which allows them repeated entries over the course of up to 10 years. With the Super Visa, a person may remain in Canada for two years at a time, while a 10-year multiple entrance visa only provides for a status term of six months for each visit.
🍁 Program Eligibility and Requirements
Applicants must be the parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens or permanent residents to be eligible for the super visa. Although the super visa does not cover dependents of parents or grandparents.
Several requirements are taken into account by officials before making a decision on admissibility, such as:
- Fill out and send the [IMM5257] form (to be filled outside of Canada).
- Finances of both parents and the host will be taken into account.
- Letter of invitation from the host.
- Parents or grandparents must offer financial assistance from their kid (host) and satisfy the minimal and income requirements of a household in order to participate in the program. (about $20,000)
- Show that you have health insurance in Canada (for at least 1 year).
- Completion of all required medical tests.
📬 How to Submit a Super Visa Application?
A super visa application may be submitted online or on paper. Applying online is the most convenient and time-saving option available today. Begin compiling all of the necessary supporting documentation as your first step (a scanner or camera is required if you’re submitting your application electronically rather than in hard copy form). Additionally, you’ll have to complete several forms on the official government of Canada website along with submitting all required supporting documentation.
Temporary Resident Visa (TRV)
🧓🏻 What is Canada's Temporary Resident Visa?
A temporary resident visa (TRV), sometimes known as a visiting visa, is an official document issued by a Canadian visa office and put in your passport to demonstrate that you have fulfilled the criteria for temporary resident entry to Canada.
🍁 Program Eligibility and Requirements
In order to apply for a Canada Temporary Resident Visa, you must meet the following requirements:
- To apply for a primary visa, you must be 18 years old.
- Have a valid passport with at least one blank page.
- Translate and validate any papers that are not in English or French.
- Provide proof of a clean criminal background with court papers.
- Prepare to pay the required visa application and processing costs.
- Sign and date the required papers.
- Fill up and sign a VAC Consent Form.
- Present your current immigration status, either abroad or at home.
- Plan beforehand for your stay in Canada.
- Prepare to interview or provide biometric data.
- Prepare to take a medical exam if requested by the Canadian Consulate.
- Prove that your travel to Canada is just temporary and that you will return home thereafter.
- Must show no intention to work or study in Canada.
📬 How to Submit a TRV Application?
To apply for a super visa, you need to submit an application to a visa office and provide
- A letter of invitation written and signed by your child or grandchild promising financial support for the entire duration of your stay in Canada.
- The most recent copy of their federal income tax notice of assessment. If your child or grandchild does not have a paper copy of their notice of assessment, they can view (and print) their tax returns as well as other personal tax information using the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Account online service.
- The most recent copy of the child or grandchild’s T4 or T1.
- An original letter from child’s or grandchild’s employer stating their title, job description and salary.
- The child or grandchild’s employment insurance pay roll, including
a letter from an accountant confirming annual income. If self-employed
proof of other sources of income (for example, pension statement, investments). - Proof of Relationship to the Canadian Citizen/Permanent Resident (such as birth certificates)
- Minimum $100,000 in health insurance
After that, you must then get a medical checkup and submit evidence of the findings.
Which Immigration Program is Better: PGP, TRV, or Super Visa?
Each option is great for your parents or grandparents to enter Canada, but it’s really based on how long you want them to remain in Canada. PGP for permanent residency, TRV for temporary visits, and Super Visa for long-term stays that last up to 2 years! Whichever you choose will ultimately depend on how long you plan to have them with you after becoming a permanent resident in Canada.
