Visitor Visa in Canada
A visitor visa in Canada is the Temporary Resident Visa for a citizen of a visa-required country. It authorizes entry for tourism, a family visit, or short business travel. Mirzoyan Immigration prepares visitor visa applications for hosts across Canada, in person, online, or by phone. Every file is built and submitted by a licensed RCIC: Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, or Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223. The visa is not approved on the invitation alone. An officer decides whether your guest holds real ties to home and will leave at the end of the visit. This page covers who the visa fits, the IRCC process, the fees, and the document patterns behind most refusals.
Last reviewed by Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, on 2026-06-30.
Who a Visitor Visa Is For
A visitor visa is for a person who wants to come to Canada temporarily and holds a passport from a visa-required country. It is the host in Canada who usually starts the file, by inviting the guest and proving the visit is genuine. It is not a work or study authorization, and it is not a route to permanent residence on its own. The profiles below are the ones that fit this visa.
Hosts Inviting Family or Friends
The most common profile is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, work-permit holder, or student. The host invites a parent, sibling, friend, or business contact who lives abroad. The host drafts an invitation letter, proves their own status and income, and supports the genuineness of the visit. The guest must be a citizen of a visa-required country and must not appear on the IRCC visa-exempt list. Mirzoyan Immigration builds the full host-and-applicant package for these files.
Applicants With a Pending Permanent Residence File
Some applicants want to visit Canada while a permanent residence application is already in progress. A spouse mid-sponsorship or a candidate in the Express Entry pool is the usual case. This is a dual-intent file under section 22(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and it is the harder version of a visitor visa to win. The application has to show the visit is genuine and that the applicant will leave if the permanent residence file is refused. Mirzoyan Immigration structures the dual-intent file as a strategy question, not a paperwork question.
Parents and Grandparents Weighing the Super Visa
Many hosts inviting a parent or grandparent assume a standard visitor visa is the right tool. For a long stay, it usually is not. The Super Visa authorizes a stay of up to five years per entry, where a standard visitor visa defaults to roughly six months. The table below sets the two side by side on the points that decide the choice. Mirzoyan Immigration runs both, and the consultation begins by confirming which one fits.
| Feature | Visitor Visa (TRV) | Super Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Who can apply | Any eligible visitor in any relationship | Parents and grandparents of a Canadian citizen or PR only |
| Stay length per entry | Up to 6 months, set by the border officer | Up to 5 years |
| Host income test | Not required, though host support helps | Required (minimum necessary income, LICO-derived) |
| Medical insurance | Not required by IRCC; private travel cover advised | Mandatory, minimum $100,000, one full year |
| Best fit | A short visit, a wedding, a business trip, any relationship | A parent or grandparent planning months or years |
Eligibility Requirements at a Glance
A visitor visa file clears assessment when the applicant satisfies an officer on identity, purpose, funds, ties, and admissibility. The legal test for issuing a Temporary Resident Visa sits in section 179 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, and the officer must be satisfied the applicant will leave Canada at the end of the authorized period. The criteria below are the gates most applicants pass.
A valid passport from a visa-required country, valid past the intended visit, since the visa cannot extend beyond the passport.
A genuine temporary purpose, such as tourism, a family event, a wedding, a funeral, a medical visit, a conference, or a business meeting.
Enough funds to cover the trip, shown through the applicant's own resources, the host's support, or both.
Ties to the home country, such as employment, family, or property, that an officer reads as reasons to return.
Admissibility, meaning no criminal, medical, or misrepresentation bar that would refuse entry.
Honest disclosure of every prior visa refusal from any country and any prior overstay, since the application asks directly and the system flags omissions.
How the Visitor Visa Process Works
The process runs through five working stages, from confirming the right document to the decision. The first stage has to clear before any forms are drafted, because a visa-exempt guest may only need an eTA. The practitioner work runs alongside every stage, not after it.
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Mirzoyan Immigration checks the guest's passport nationality against the current visa-exempt list. The client confirms the guest's country of citizenship and country of residence. [VERIFY: 2026 visa-exempt country list]
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The host signs a letter naming their status, address, relationship to the guest, the purpose and length of the visit, the accommodation, and a financial-support commitment. The client provides proof of status and income, such as a Notice of Assessment, T4, or employment letter. [VERIFY: IRCC letter-of-invitation guidance]
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The applicant assembles employment confirmation, property or rental records, family documents, and prior travel history. The client gathers the evidence an officer weighs to decide the visit is temporary.
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The application forms (IMM 5257 for the visitor visa, with IMM 5645 and IMM 5476) are filed online with the fees. The applicant gives fingerprints and a photo at a Visa Application Centre after the biometrics instruction letter arrives. [VERIFY: 2026 IRCC form numbers IMM 5257, IMM 5645, IMM 5476]
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The licensed RCIC submits the file under a signed representative authorization and follows it to a decision. The client prepares for the port-of-entry inspection, where a border officer sets the actual length of stay, by default up to six months. [VERIFY: 2026 default visitor stay length and CBSA discretion]
Visitor Visa Fees and Processing Times
The IRCC visitor visa fee has historically been $100 per person, and biometrics are $85 per person or $170 per family. An eTA, where it applies instead, has historically been $7. Those are government fees paid to IRCC. Mirzoyan Immigration's legal fee is separate, a flat fee quoted after the initial consultation, published on our immigration consultant cost page. Processing time turns on the guest's visa office, not on the host's address. Confirm every figure below against the live IRCC schedule before you plan against a travel date.
Plan two to four weeks of preparation before submission for the invitation letter, the ties file, and form review. A file from a high-volume visa office can run several months, so the realistic clock is the visit date, not the application date.
| Item | Amount (CAD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor visa application fee | $100 | Per person. Historical figure. |
| Biometrics | $85 | Per person, or $170 per family of two or more. |
| eTA (visa-exempt guests instead) | $7 | Only where the guest is visa-exempt and flying. |
| Mirzoyan Immigration legal fee | Flat fee | Quoted after the initial consultation. See our flat-fee structure. |
| Processing standard | Varies by visa office | Set by the guest's country of application. Verify on the IRCC processing times tool. |
Ready to File Visitor Visa Application?
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Every consultation is with Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, or Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223. Not an intake coordinator.
Why a Licensed RCIC Matters
A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant is the only non-lawyer practitioner IRCC authorizes to represent applicants. The licensing body is the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. The College sets the Code of Professional Conduct, runs a public complaints process, and maintains the public register of every active license. An RCIC operates under that regulatory framework. An unlicensed "consultant" does not. When your file is mishandled by an unlicensed practitioner, you have no recourse through the CICC, and IRCC treats the application as if you represented yourself.
The license does not guarantee an outcome. What it guarantees is accountability. A licensed RCIC carries professional liability insurance, signs a written retainer that sets fees and scope, and is bound to the conduct code on every file. Verify any practitioner before you sign. Search the CICC public register and confirm the license is active.
Why Clients Choose Mirzoyan Immigration
Mirzoyan Immigration is led by Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, and Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223, both Paralegals of the Law Society of Ontario. Two frameworks govern every visitor visa file the firm opens.
One on One Advisory. When you hire Mirzoyan Immigration, your questions go directly to a licensed RCIC. Not an intake coordinator. Not a paralegal assistant. The consultant who builds your file is the consultant who answers your messages. That holds from the first call through the IRCC decision and any follow-up.
The Mirzoyan Methodology. Every file moves through six stages before IRCC sees it: risk diagnosis, evidence mapping, document verification, consistency audit, submission, and IRCC response management. Each stage catches a specific class of officer-flag pattern that returns or refuses visitor visa files.
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The file opens with a structured read of the failure factors in the profile: a prior visa refusal from any country, thin ties for a young single applicant, a self-employed applicant whose income is hard to document, or a pending permanent residence file that raises dual intent.
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Every claim maps to the document that proves it. The genuine-visit claim maps to the invitation letter and the purpose evidence. The ties claim maps to employment, property, and family records. Gaps surface before drafting starts.
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Each document is checked against the issuing-authority and translation rules IRCC enforces but rarely publishes plainly. Source-language records from Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, and similar countries are checked for certified translations before the file moves.
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Every figure is cross-checked across the file. The income the host promises in the invitation letter is matched to the Notice of Assessment. The visit dates in the letter are matched to the forms. A mismatch between the promised support and the documented income is a known visitor visa refusal trigger, and this stage catches it before submission.
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The licensed RCIC handling the file authorizes and executes the IRCC submission through the correct portal in the format the system silently requires.
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The firm manages every officer communication after submission: additional document requests, procedural fairness concerns, and the next move after a refusal, including a stronger reapplication.
Canada-Wide and Virtual Service
Mirzoyan Immigration serves clients across Canada and worldwide. Consultations run by Zoom or Microsoft Teams on a schedule that works across time zones. That matters when the host is in Canada and the guest is abroad. Documents are exchanged through an encrypted client portal. Clients who prefer to meet in person can book an in-person appointment. The choice between in-person, online, and phone service does not change the fee, the consultant assigned to the file, or the One on One Advisory standard.
Common Document Rejection Triggers in Visitor Visa Applications
The IRCC checklist tells you what to submit. It does not tell you where those documents trip real applicants. The four patterns below cause most visitor visa refusals on files reviewed at the office. Each names a failure mode the consistency-audit and document-verification stages of the Mirzoyan Methodology catch before submission.
Weak ties to the home country. The most common refusal reason on a visitor visa is that the officer is not satisfied the applicant will leave, the core test under section 179 of the IRPR. A thin file of personal documents, with no employment letter, no property record, and no family anchor at home, reads as a person with little reason to return. Self-employed applicants and young single applicants without assets carry the highest risk. They need a deeper ties file than the average applicant, not a thinner one.
A dual-intent file presented as a simple visit. When the applicant has a permanent residence application pending or planned, such as a spouse mid-sponsorship or an Express Entry candidate, the visitor visa becomes a dual-intent file under section 22(2) of IRPA. An application that hides the parallel file reads as intent to stay rather than visit. So does one that never explains why the applicant will leave if the permanent residence file is refused. The fix is to present the dual intent openly and prove the temporary purpose, not to conceal the immigration plan.
An invitation letter that contradicts the host's income. The invitation letter is a cross-check against the host's financial documents. The officer reads a gap as a weakness when the host promises full support but files no income proof. The same applies when the promised support exceeds the income shown on the Notice of Assessment. The same risk applies when the letter omits an explicit financial-support sentence or names visit dates that do not match the forms. The consistency-audit stage matches the letter to the income documents line by line before submission.
An undisclosed prior refusal or overstay. The application asks directly about prior visa refusals from any country and prior overstays in Canada. Applicants forget a refusal from years ago, a United States visa refusal, or a short overstay, and they leave the box blank. IRCC's systems flag the omission, and an undisclosed refusal can convert a winnable file into a misrepresentation finding under section 40 of IRPA, which carries a multi-year bar. Every prior refusal has to be disclosed and addressed, not omitted.
Not sure which temporary residence stream fits your goals?
Speak with a licensed RCIC. We will map your situation against the available pathway and point you to the option that fits your facts.
Bringing a Parent or Grandparent for a Long Stay?
A standard visitor visa fits a short trip in any relationship. For a parent or grandparent planning months or years in Canada, the Super Visa is usually the stronger route. It authorizes a stay of up to five years per entry, instead of the roughly six months a standard visitor visa allows. The Super Visa carries its own host income test and a mandatory medical insurance requirement. The choice turns on the planned stay and the total cost. For local help with that pathway, see Super Visa Toronto.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The IRCC visitor visa fee has historically been 100 dollars per person, and biometrics are 85 dollars per person or 170 dollars per family. An eTA, where it applies instead, has historically been 7 dollars. Those are government fees paid to IRCC, and they change over time. Mirzoyan Immigration charges a separate flat legal fee, quoted after the initial consultation. See our flat-fee structure for the breakdown.
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Processing time depends on the country your guest applies from, not on your address in Canada. A file from one visa office can clear in a few weeks while the same documents take months at another. Add two to four weeks of preparation before submission for the invitation letter and document assembly. Verify the current range on the IRCC processing times tool for your guest's visa office before you plan against a travel date.
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A visitor visa, or Temporary Resident Visa, is a counterfoil placed in the passport of a citizen of a visa-required country. An Electronic Travel Authorization, or eTA, is a digital travel authorization for citizens of visa-exempt countries flying to Canada. The two are not interchangeable. Filing a full visitor visa package when your guest only needs an eTA wastes weeks, and the wrong one for the nationality is a common avoidable error.
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IRCC issues a multiple-entry visa by default, valid for up to 10 years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. Single-entry visas are issued in narrower situations. Each entry is normally authorized for up to six months, set by the border officer on arrival, not by the visa itself. For a parent or grandparent planning a long stay, the Super Visa is usually the stronger fit than a standard visitor visa.
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Often yes. Section 22(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows dual intent, meaning a person can hold both a genuine intention to visit and an intention to immigrate. The file has to satisfy the officer that the applicant will leave at the end of the authorized stay if the permanent residence application is refused. A pending sponsorship or Express Entry profile does not bar a visit, but it has to be addressed directly, not ignored.
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Yes. Mirzoyan Immigration serves clients across Canada and worldwide through secure video consultations on Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Documents are exchanged through an encrypted client portal. Clients who prefer to meet in person can book an in-person appointment. Service in English, Russian, and Armenian is available for every consultation.
Trusted Toronto Immigration Consultants
Trusted Toronto immigration team helping individuals and families with spousal sponsorships, work permits, visitor visas, and permanent residence.
Narek Mirzoyan
Vahe Mirzoyan
Narek Mirzoyan is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC#R1005184) in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, a proud member of the Canadian Association Of Professional Immigration Consultants (CAPIC), a Licensed Paralegal (P12490) with the Law Society of Ontario, the founder of Mirzoyan Canadian Immigration Services Inc. and an immigrated to Canada himself. That experience shapes how he explains each step to clients.
Vahe Mirzoyan is a seasoned Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC#R514223) with over a decade of dedicated experience working with individuals, corporations, and institutions on the full spectrum of Canadian immigration law. With a career built on precision, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to client success, Vahe has established himself as a trusted authority in Canadian immigration.
Start Your Visitor Visa File Today
A clean visitor visa file gives an officer the evidence the decision needs: a strong ties package and an invitation letter that matches the host's income. A thin or inconsistent file draws a refusal, and a refusal makes the next application harder. Visitor visa files take two to four weeks of preparation before submission, and the visa-office clock starts only when the file is complete. Book a consultation with our Canadian immigration representatives, or call 1-888-636-2122. Every consultation is with Narek Mirzoyan, RCIC # R1005184, or Vahe Mirzoyan, RCIC # R514223. Your file will not be routed through an intake desk.
This page is for general information about the Canadian visitor visa and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. IRCC rules, fees, and processing times change. Individual circumstances vary. For advice tailored to your situation, book a consultation with a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant.