Immigration Corner | How to apply for a visitor’s visa

Dear Miss Powell,

Could you tell me how I can apply for a visitor’s visa to Canada. I am not a computer person, so can I apply? I’m a hard-working man, I only have a friend there but would love to see the country when I get my long leave. I have six months leave to take and I was hoping to visit Canada and possibly an African country so I would still need to pass through Canada or the USA to get there. Can you tell me exactly what documents I should give them? I look forward to reading your article in The Gleaner.

Thank you.

EB

Dear EB,

Canada offers temporary resident or visitor’s visa to qualified individuals who wish to come to Canada for a short period of time as a tourist, or simply to visit friends and family. The official document will be placed in your passport and has an expiry date. Visitors are usually allowed to stay in the country up to six continuous months, although there is an option to apply for an extension of time if you have a valid reason. This time limit is not applicable to the parent’s and grandparent’s super visa, that I will provide information about in separate article.

The application can be placed online, via the government of Canada’s website. You must have access to a scanner and able to pay your application fees using a valid credit card.

If you are not able to complete your application online by yourself, you may contact a Canadian lawyer to assist you with your application. Before you retain that person, you must first verify that the person is a member of one of the Provincial Law Societies of Canada. Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will not accept applications from third parties, unless they are on the list of authorised lawyers, paralegals, or immigration consultant. You may request the assistance of a family member. However, you will need to provide written authorisation for that person to communicate with IRCC on your behalf.

TRANSIT VISA

If you are planning to transit through a Canadian airport, you may still need a visitor visa to travel to Canada, even if you do not plan to stay in Canada on your way to another country. This visa is a transit visa which allows you to pass through a Canadian airport up to a maximum of 48 hours. This can be a single or double entry transit visa. If your transit time is longer than 48 hours, or need to re-enter Canada more than two times, you may need to apply for a regular visitor’s visa. You must pay attention to the expiry date as you must use the transit visa within the specified time.

If you are planning to apply for a visitor’s visa and a transit visa it is best to provide a copy of your itinerary, so that the dates and times that you plan to travel are clear to the visa office. It is optional, but could be extremely important especially for a transit visa.

MANDATORY DOCUMENTS

Below are several items that you should submit to the visa office when applying for a visitor’s or transit visa. Some documents are optional, based on the circumstances of your case. You should only use it as a guide, as every case is different and in some cases the officer may request additional information during the processing of your file.

PASSPORT

A passport is mandatory. Since you plan to maximise your vacation time, I would recommend that you ensure that you have a valid passport that will not expire within the next 12 months. If your passport will expire in less than 12 months, you should check to see if you will be permitted to renew your passport early. Most countries will permit you to renew your passport within a year of the expiry date.

You should also provide a scan of the stamped pages of your expired passports, as the visa officer will want to review your travel history (if any). You will need to provide exact dates of travel, country, and reason for your travel as part of the application.

If you are not within your home country, but authorised to spend more than six months in the country where you are, you should provide a copy of your visa, or permits such as work permit, study permit or dependent pass.

BANK STATEMENT AND STATEMENT OF ASSETS

You must be able to show that you have the finances to afford the trip for the time that you would like to visit. You should request a bank statement from your bank. The letter must be on the bank’s official letterhead and signed by the official banking authority. It should include the number of years that you have been banking with them, list all your accounts and liabilities. IRCC will be examining this statement to see if you have enough funds to facilitate your trip. You must be able to meet your financial responsibilities before and after the trip.

Proof of assets such as registered and unregistered land in your home country should be provided. You should provide a copy of your title, or document to demonstrate that you are the legitimate owner of the land, if you do not have a registered title. You can discuss this in detail with your lawyer, who will be able to guide you on about the acceptable proof. If you have additional properties such as motor vehicles, heavy equipment, leases, or rental agreement, then you should provide proof of these items.

JOB LETTER

You indicated that you are employed and entitled to “long leave”. You should request a letter from your employer to prove this. The letter must be on your employer’s official letterhead and signed by an official of the organisation, such as your human resources manager, the chairman, manager, or supervisor. The letter must include your status such as if you are a permanent, temporary, or contractual worker, the length of time employed with the company, the vacation period, your salary and benefits.

If you are self-employed or the owner/ director of the company, you will need to provide proof of registration of the business, tax returns and any other document to demonstrate that you own and operate a legitimate and viable business.

FORMS

There are some basic forms that are required for all countries, these are the application for temporary resident visa, family information form, authority to release personal information to a designated individual or use of representative forms. When you or your representative have completed the online form, you will be provided with an electronic checklist of documents that should be upload as part of your application. Check to see you are required to provide additional documents, based on the country from which you will be applying.

OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS

IRCC will be verifying first that you are not a threat to the safety of persons in Canada, that you have social and economic connection to the country from which you are applying among other things. If you are married and have children, you should provide a copy of the marriage certificate and the children’s birth certificates. If you are in a common law relationship for over one year, you may provide a statutory declaration of common law union. This would be necessary if you have joint bank accounts, joint ownership, or property or have joint lease/ rental agreement that you will be providing as a part of your application.

If you are staying with a family member or friend, you should request a notarised invitation letter which supplies information about your family and friend. It should also state reason you are visiting Canada and the intended length of time for your visit. If you are staying at a hotel or AirBnB, you should provide a confirmation of your booking.

You will also need to provide a recent electronic photograph of yourself. Although a police record is not mandatory, you may want to request one, just in case the visa officer requests one. The police record is usually valid for six months. You will also be required to provide your biometrics to the nearest Visa Application Centre. This biometric report is usually valid for 10 years. I hope you find the above helpful and that your application will be successful.

Deidre S. Powell is a lawyer, mediator and notary public in Canada. You may connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.