Ottawa, November 28, 2011 — Starting December 1, people all over the world can go to a Canadian visa office and apply for a Parent and Grandparent Super Visa.
The new Parent and Grandparent Super Visa will be valid for up to 10 years and will allow an applicant to remain in Canada for up to 24 months at a time without the need for renewal of their status. CIC visa officers expect to issue Super Visas within eight weeks of application. This means that instead of waiting for eight years, a parent or a grandparent can come to Canada within eight weeks. Parent and Grandparent Super Visa applicants will be required to obtain private Canadian health care insurance for their stay in Canada.
The Super Visa is super great because processing will be quick and it will respond to a genuine need.
Here is what some people are saying about the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa:
Liberal Immigration Critic Kevin Lamoureux:
It will help families being reunited immensely. A lot of people will be happy to hear about that.
(Winnipeg Free Press – November 5, 2011)
The super-visa, what a wonderful thing to call it. Super-visa, ten years, and we have the five-year multiple visa currently. It’s a great idea. It’ll actually help clear up part of the backlog, there’s no doubt about that.
(CBC Power and Politics – November 4, 2011)
NDP Immigration Critic Don Davies:
I’m glad that the government’s doing that [introducing a Super Visa].
(CBC Power and Politics – November 4, 2011)
Don Davies, NDP immigration critic, welcomed the new visa and the increased intake of parents and grandparents.
(Globe and Mail – November 4, 2011)
NDP immigration critic Don Davies said he’s pleased to see the introduction of a supervisa.
(Calgary Herald – November 5, 2011)
The Opposition NDP welcomed the idea of the new visa.
(Canadian Press – November 4, 2011)
Richard Kurland, Immigration Lawyer:
The Minister’s Ten year Visa is, however, what most of my clients just want: to come to Canada to stay with their kids for a while and go home.
Mr. Kurland estimated that about 20 per cent of those parents and grandparents in the queue for permanent residency would withdraw their application if they could instead secure a long-term, multiple-entry visa that stipulated they cover their own health insurance in Canada.
(Globe and Mail – November 4, 2011)
Thomas Tam, CEO, SUCCESS:
I would like to see that [extended stay multiple-entry visa] tried out, at least to solve the immediate backlogs and also to help a lot of families.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
My gut feeling is that at least one third or half of the parents do not have very strong intentions of staying permanently.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
Naeem (Nick) Noorani, President and CEO, Destination Canada Information Inc.:
I think the super visa is frankly a silver bullet. I have spoken to a lot of immigrants. A lot of parents don’t want to come to Canada because they’ve got their own networks back home.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 15, 2011)
I think what this would allow is allow parents to come and go back and forth. The only reason why many of them actually apply for the family class visa is because it’s a problem getting visitor visas. I believe that the super visa will alleviate a lot of them.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 15, 2011)
It allows you to go back and forth. This is the freedom it allows you to have. I don’t think we’ve ever had this kind of thing before, and I think it’s great.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 15, 2011)
Tom Pang, President, Chinese Canadian Community Alliance:
Indeed, if they only want to come to Canada to be with their family, then all we need to do is to give them an extended visa. They will pay for their own transportation, their own health insurance, their own living expenses. That way we solve the backlog problem and they get to be united with their family.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
I agree that we should give them an extended visa to come, a visitor’s visa, as long as they don’t become a burden on society.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
I think the backlog would definitely drop. Either people would take the visa and come as visitors or some people would drop out of the queue.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
Amy Casipullai, Senior Policy and Communications Co-ordinator, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI):
It’s a really good idea. It could be a way for parents and grandparents to be here while their applications for sponsorship are being processed.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
The multiple-entry visa will open up opportunities for many more people and that will definitely cut down on the backlog.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – October 25, 2011)
Mr. Roger Bhatti, Immigration Lawyer:
I would submit that the suggestion that a 10-year multiple-entry visa be granted to alleviate the difficulty for those waiting in the cue is an important consideration. It’s a good suggestion. It’s one which, in dealing with my clients, they definitely have a positive reaction to and it is a positive step that would alleviate some of the distress that’s been caused by the increase in the wait periods which is now approaching seven years for most parents and grandparents.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 1, 2011)
When I do discuss it with clients, more often than not they regard it as a very attractive alternative. For many of the families, they have a cultural aspect of living in extended families. And their parents often still want to maintain some kind of presence in the home country or be able to visit there again.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 1, 2011)
At the same time, the 10-year multiple entry visa is going to allow our medical system some benefit. These visitors will, then, be obtaining private insurance for their visits. And the potential concern with the stress and strain on Canada’s social structure will no longer be as acute. So it’s a very good alternative, one that my clients, once they’re made aware of it, are very much in favour of.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 1, 2011)
I do think this would be a very attractive alternative that provides a number of benefits and allows the social structure to maintain itself while allowing some family reunification on a regular basis.
(Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – November 1, 2011)
Manpreet Grewal, Abbotsford-based writer:
Few would argue the wisdom of the new parent and grandparent super visa. In principle and on paper, it is a nice piece of policy work rooted in the reality of many immigrants’ family lives.
(Vancouver Sun – November 23, 2011)
The super visa will allow parents and grandparents to follow a natural flow between Canada and other countries without creating an unnecessary burden on the Canadian taxpayer or spinning families into unnecessary stress.
(Vancouver Sun – November 23, 2011)
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Citizenship and Immigration Canada
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