Super visa insurance for parents from India

Parents applying from India need a super visa policy with at least $100,000 of emergency medical coverage, valid one year from the date of entry, from a Canadian insurer, paid before the file is submitted. India supplied 56% of all super visas issued between 2011 and 2023, and IRCC’s September 2026 estimate for India is about 70 days. At age 65, $100,000 of cover with stable pre-existing conditions runs about $2,051 to $3,095 a year, or roughly 1.4 to 2.1 lakh rupees.

Who buys the insurance: the parent in Punjab or the child in Brampton?

The child in Canada should buy it. Your parent is the insured person and must be named on the certificate, but the purchaser and payer can be you. That keeps the premium in Canadian dollars, avoids foreign-card declines, and puts the refund paperwork in your hands if the visa is refused.

In practice the search starts in India. A parent in Ludhiana, Ahmedabad or Delhi googles “super visa insurance” after an agent mentions it, finds an Indian travel policy for a fraction of the price, and buys it. That policy is then uploaded to the application, and the file is refused. The section below explains why.

If you are the parent reading this, stop before paying anything in rupees. Send this page to your son or daughter in Canada. They can get a quote, pay in dollars, and send you the certificate as a PDF to upload.

Why Tata AIG, Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Lombard policies are refused

IRCC accepts two kinds of insurer only: a Canadian insurance company, or a foreign company authorized by OSFI to sell accident and sickness insurance in Canada and listed on OSFI’s public register. No Indian domestic insurer meets that test. There is no “IRCC-approved list” of foreign insurers; the register is the test.

The officer instructions are specific. A foreign insurer’s policy must have been issued “in the course of its insurance business in Canada” and must carry a statement saying so. Brokers and claims administrators are not insurers and will not appear on the OSFI list. Quotes are not accepted; the policy must be paid in full or by instalments with a deposit.

A refused application forfeits the $100 visa fee and the $85 biometrics fee, and the medical exam fee is not refunded either. Worse, the parent has usually paid an Indian insurer a non-refundable premium. Read the requirements in full before buying anything.

What does super visa insurance cost in rupees?

At age 60, rates seen in October 2026 run $1,621 to $2,741 a year for $100,000 of cover with stable pre-existing conditions. At 65 the range is $2,051 to $3,095, and at 70 it is $3,380 to $4,683. Converted at about 66.7 rupees to the dollar, that is roughly 1.1 to 3.1 lakh depending on age and carrier.

Annual premium, $100,000 coverage, $0 deductible, stable pre-existing conditions covered, rates seen Oct 2026 — verify at quote time. Rupee figures are approximate conversions at 1 CAD = 66.67 INR (OFX, 15 Oct 2026), labelled “approximate, Oct 2026”.

Source tables: BestQuote and PolicyAdvisor. A $500 deductible cuts the premium by roughly 15% at Manulife, and a $5,000 deductible by roughly 35%. Plans that exclude pre-existing conditions are cheaper, but see the Hamilton case below before choosing one. If a lump sum is hard, IRCC accepts monthly instalments with a deposit.

The visa fee of $100 plus $85 for biometrics is about ₹12,300 at the same rate. Lowest of the six carriers compared on 17 October 2026 for a 65-year-old with stable pre-existing conditions: Secure Travel at $2,051.

How long does a super visa take from India, and when should the policy start?

IRCC’s estimate for India was about 70 days on 22 September 2026, after peaking at 208 days in March 2026. Biometrics time is not included. Because the wait can triple inside six months, do not fix the policy start date to a guessed arrival date.

Every carrier in the table above lets you change the effective date before coverage begins, usually at no charge. Set the start date to the planned flight, and move it when the passport comes back. The parent then has the full 365 days from the date of entry that the officer instructions require.

Source: Immigration.ca, 22 Sep 2026. The IRCC service standard is 112 days.

Timing tips for Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi applicants

Book the medical exam and biometrics as soon as the application is submitted, because both run on clinic and VAC calendars that fill up in the autumn wedding season. The insurance certificate must already be in the file at submission. The medical exam result is valid for 12 months, so do not do it months early.

Immigration medical exam. Only an IRCC panel physician can do it. The IRCC Help Centre is blunt: “You cannot choose your family doctor if their name is not on this list.” Panel clinics exist across Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi; search by state on the IRCC tool and phone to confirm fees, which the clinic sets. Bring the passport and the medical request letter with the IME number.

Biometrics. Canada’s visa application centres in India are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune, per IRCC’s VAC finder. Parents in Punjab usually use Chandigarh or Jalandhar; Gujarat uses Ahmedabad; Delhi and Haryana use New Delhi. Booking the biometrics appointment is free; wait for the biometric instruction letter before booking.

Documents in Punjabi, Gujarati or Hindi. Every document not in English or French needs a translation, per IRCC’s document page. A certified translator’s stamp is accepted; otherwise the translator must swear an affidavit and cannot be a relative.

Share this with your son or daughter in Canada. They need to do three things: confirm their income against the LICO table for their family size, sign the letter of invitation, and buy the insurance in Canadian dollars. Send them this link and ask them to get a quote before you book anything in India.

The exact IRCC document checklist

IRCC’s document list is short, but each item is checked. The insurance certificate must name the insurer, the insured parent, the coverage amount, the start and end dates, and show that it is paid. Missing any one of these turns a 70-day file into a refusal or a request for more documents.

1. The online super visa application and the $100 fee plus $85 biometrics fee (family cap $170).
2. A letter of invitation signed by the host child or grandchild in Canada, listing every person in the household with name and date of birth, and showing the host meets the minimum necessary income. A spouse or common-law partner may co-sign; a sibling cannot.
3. Proof of the host’s income (notice of assessment, pay stubs or T4s).
4. Proof of the host’s status: Canadian citizenship document, permanent resident card, or Certificate of Indian Status.
5. Proof of relationship: the host’s birth certificate or another official document naming the applicant as parent or grandparent.
6. Proof of paid medical insurance: $100,000 minimum, health care, hospitalization and repatriation, valid one year from the date of entry, from a Canadian insurer or an OSFI-listed foreign insurer. Quotes are not accepted.
7. Proof of a completed immigration medical exam with a panel physician.
8. Form IMM 5476 if a representative is used.
9. Certified translations of any document not in English or French.
10. Any extra documents required by the New Delhi visa office, shown when you select India on the IRCC page.

The policy must also be shown to the border services officer at the airport, so print it and put it with the passport.

Why the no-questionnaire plan is a false economy

In January 2024 an 88-year-old mother visiting from India spent almost three weeks in Hamilton General Hospital. The family had a basic plan with no medical questionnaire, and the insurer first denied the $96,311 claim for undisclosed heart failure. CP24 reported that the decision was reversed only after the press got involved.

A plan with a questionnaire costs more because it looks at the parent’s health before the claim, not after. For a parent on blood pressure or diabetes medication, which is common in the 60-75 group, answer the questions and buy the plan that covers stable conditions. Compare the stability rules on our cost page, then get a quote.