Letter of Invitation for a visitor visa in the Canadian Immigration context

Usually a letter of invitation will be required in order to satisfy the Immigration Officer that the foreign national (someone who isn’t a Permanent Resident or Citizen of Canada) applying for a visitor visa will only remain in Canada on a temporary basis and that the applicant (the person applying) will leave at the end of the authorized period.

The Super Visa is a visa that allows parents and grandparents of a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident to stay in Canada for up to 2 years without renewing their visa.  Super Visa holders  may re-enter as many times over a 10-year period (the period for which said super visa is valid).  A letter of invitation is mandatory and always required.

The Letter of Invitation for visitor visas to Canada – it’s content

A letter of Invitation from the host a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident inviting the Applicant will significantly help the applicant applying for the visitor visa.

The information that the letter must contain are set out on Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s website.

With Respect to the Host’s information at a minimum there should be the name, date of birth, contact information, status in Canada, occupation and the number of people residing in the household. Some detail should be given about the relationship of the people living in the household to the Host drafting the letter (i.e. Wife, son, daughter, roommate, etc.). There should also be a promise to support the applicant during his stay in Canada with respect to financial assistance and/or accommodation.

For the applicant, the required information is: Full Name, Date of Birth, Current address, telephone number, relationship to the Canadian or Permanent Resident Host, the duration of the applicant’s stay in Canada, and lastly arrangement for accommodations (whether host will provide it or provide details about the Hotel/Hostel/other type of accommodation you will be staying).

Provide the following documents as evidence to support your letter of invitation:

• Proof of Host’s financial means by providing the last two Notices of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency or a letter of employment from the Host’s employer indicating clearly the job position, the date of employment (since when they have been working with the company), and their yearly salary.
• Evidence of the size of host’s family members in Canada, in order to demonstrate that the Host will have sufficient means to support the applicant during his stay along with his dependants. This minimum income requirement is found the low-income cut-off and can be found on Citizenship and Immigration’s website in their Visitor Visa Guide all the way at the bottom of the guide. As of December 2016, the current Low income cut-off is:

We have thus seen the requirements for the content of a letter of invitation to support a Visitor Visa application. If you require help to draft a letter of invitation, have it notarized or if you have any questions with regard to any Canadian immigration issue please contact the Chaudhary Law Office.