About 35 million people visit Canada every year for its immense beauty , business or visiting relatives. Most of those visitors are from visa exempt countries (USA citizens only need to show their driving licenses in most cases, like Canadian nationals visit to USA the same way ) but significant numbers of visa required countries’ citizens also visit here with visitor visas.

If you wish to visit Canada and you are a citizen of a visa required country , you need to get a visitor visa prior to arrival , you must submit a visitor visa application to a visa office at a Canadian embassy, Canadian High Commission or consulate abroad, along with two passport size pictures, proof of available funds, along with a non refundable processing fee of CAD $50.00.
The Canadian visitor visa application involves a two-step process, which begins with the submission at the consular office abroad. A person who makes an application for a visitor visa has the burden of satisfying the visa officer that he or she is not an immigrant. The applicant may be invited to interview where the visa officer will verify the applicant’s reasons for visiting Canada, the applicant’s ability or willingness to leave Canada within the visa validity date and the applicant’s overall admissibility to Canada.

Supporting Documentation

It is essential that an applicant provide sufficient documentary evidence to satisfy the visa officer that he or she has sufficient funds to pay for all expenses that might be incurred while in Canada.
If the person is visiting relatives, and if the relatives are going to assume responsibility for the expenses incurred by the visiting relative in Canada, it would be necessary to have a letter or statutory declaration from the relative setting out responsibility for all expenses.
In addition, the relative must also indicate that he or she has the necessary resources, and it would be helpful if the relative includes a job letter, bank statements, etc.
The applicant and all dependents must be in possession of valid and subsisting passports or travel documents.
A visitor visa to Canada will not be issued beyond the validity date set out in the passport and a person cannot be admitted to Canada at a port of entry by an immigration officer for a period that exceeds the expiry date of the passport.
For applicants who reside outside of North America, it may be necessary to satisfy the visa officer that the applicant has a valid and subsisting airline ticket or proof of funds for travel. One of the primary concerns of the visa officer prior to approving an application for a visitor visa to Canada is whether the applicant has the means and ability to leave Canada within the time period.
As one of the primary concerns of the visa officer is whether the applicant will return to their home country at the end of the visit, it is therefore important to illustrate that the applicant has b ties to their home country. Documentation showing that the person has full-time permanent employment, length of employment, proof of assets including house, bank accounts, will be important.
In some Visa offices, visa officers will require letters of good conduct from local police authorities confirming that the applicant does not have a criminal record.

Once issued the applicant will proceed to the second stage, which takes place at the POE where an immigration officer will question the applicant to ensure admissibility.

A visitor visa may be for single entry or multiple entry use. Single entry visas may be issued up to six months before the expected date of travel. The maximum validity date for multiple entry visitor visas is up to five (5) years or one month prior to the expiry date on the passport/re-entry visa, whichever is earlier. POE officers will routinely grant entry for a period of six months to a person requesting entry as a visitor.

In most cases, temporary residents cannot apply for permanent resident status from within Canada
Visitor Visa Exemptions
People from many countries do not require a visa to visit Canada. These include

• citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Republic of Korea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa.
• Persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (Green card) or can provide other evidence of permanent residence.
• British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
• citizens of British dependent territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
• persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China;
• persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See.

If you are not a citizen or passport holder of the above named countries ,you need to apply visitor visa to travel to Canada.

In some cases an applicant wishing to apply for a visitor visa has an immigrant application already in process. This area is referred to as dual intent. Under Canadian Immigration law Section 22(2)The fact that a prospective visitor has an immigrant application pending or is even planning to apply for permanent residence is not, in itself, grounds to refuse to issue a visitor visa .

A person may have the dual intent of immigrating and of abiding by the immigration law respecting temporary entry. An intending applicant for immigration to Canada may often have a legitimate reason to visit Canada before the residence application is finalized.

Visa officers attempt, in such cases, is to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are those who have no intention of leaving Canada should their immigration application be refused. As visa officers yield significant discretion to issue or refuse a visitor visa this area of decision making has come under increasing controversy.

We, as Authorized Immigration Representatives, can help you to obtain the Canadian visitor visas.