Super visa insurance for parents from Iran

Parents applying from Iran 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. IRCC’s processing tool showed 265 days for Iran on 14 October 2026, about nine months and the longest wait of any major source country. At age 65, $100,000 of cover with stable pre-existing conditions runs about $2,051 to $3,095 a year, roughly 199 to 301 million tomans at the rate below.

Who buys the insurance: the parent in Tehran or the child in Richmond Hill?

The child in Canada must buy it, not just should. Your parent is the insured person and must be named on the certificate, but the purchaser and payer can be you. For Iran that distinction matters more than for any other country, because the parent cannot realistically pay a Canadian insurer from an Iranian bank.

Cards issued by Iranian banks are not accepted by Canadian payment processors. Canada’s Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations prohibit financial services to listed persons and any dealing that facilitates a prohibited transaction, and Canadian banks apply broad compliance screening to anything touching Iran. The practical result is that a premium sent from Iran is declined or frozen. Pay with a Canadian card in Canadian dollars and leave Iranian banking out of the file.

If you are the parent reading this, do not buy anything in Tehran. Send this page to your son or daughter in Canada on Telegram or WhatsApp. They can get a quote, pay in dollars, and send you the certificate as a PDF to upload.

Why Iran Insurance, Asia Insurance and Alborz 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 Iranian 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.

We checked OSFI’s register on 18 October 2026; none of the three appears, and none operates a Canadian branch. A refused application forfeits the $100 visa fee and the $85 biometrics fee, and the medical exam and travel costs are not refunded either. Read the requirements in full before buying anything.

What does super visa insurance cost in rials and tomans?

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. At roughly 971,000 rials to the dollar, that is about 157 to 455 million tomans depending on age and carrier.

Iran has more than one exchange rate, and the open-market rate moves daily, so the figures below are rougher than for other countries. They are approximate conversions at 1 CAD = 971,071 IRR (exchange-rates.org, 16 Oct 2026), shown in tomans (1 toman = 10 rials), labelled “approximate, Oct 2026”. Annual premium, $100,000 coverage, $0 deductible, stable pre-existing conditions covered, rates seen Oct 2026 — verify at quote time.

Source tables: BestQuote and PolicyAdvisor. A $500 deductible cuts the premium by roughly 15% at Manulife, and a $5,000 deductible by roughly 35%. If a lump sum is hard, IRCC accepts monthly instalments with a deposit, which also limits the cash tied up during a nine-month wait.

Lowest of the six carriers compared on 18 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 Iran, and when should the policy start?

IRCC’s processing-times tool showed 265 days for Iran when its data was updated on 14 October 2026, more than double the 112-day service standard. Iran is not in immigration.ca’s country table. IRCC says the estimate includes biometrics time and is not a guarantee, so plan for longer.

This is where the policy start date becomes the main risk. A certificate must be in the file at submission, but the parent will not travel for nine months or more. Choose a carrier that lets you move the effective date before coverage begins, set it to a date beyond the estimate, and move it again when the passport is returned. Do not let the policy start while the parent is still in Tehran; the parent then loses part of the 365 days from entry that the officer instructions require.

Parents who hold residence in the UAE or Turkey may apply from there instead; see our UAE page. Processing is tied to where the application is made, not to nationality alone, so confirm with the visa office instructions before choosing.

Timing tips for Tehran, Mashhad and Shiraz applicants

There is no Canadian visa application centre in Iran, so biometrics mean a trip abroad. Plan that trip to cover the medical exam as well, and do not book it until the biometric instruction letter arrives. The insurance certificate must already be in the file at submission.

Biometrics. IRCC’s VAC finder lists no centre in Iran and says applicants without a VAC in their country may use any other VAC. Families commonly use Istanbul or Ankara in Turkey, Dubai in the UAE, or Yerevan in Armenia, depending on visa-free access and flight cost. Confirm the centre’s hours on the finder before flying; it warns they can change at short notice.

Immigration medical exam. Only an IRCC panel physician can do it. Check the panel physician list for Iran before travelling; if no clinic is listed, book the exam in the same city as the biometrics appointment. The exam result is valid for 12 months, so with a 265-day wait, time it so it does not expire before the visa is issued. Bring the passport and the medical request letter with the IME number.

Documents in Persian. Every document not in English or French needs a translation, per IRCC’s document page. A certified translator’s seal is accepted; otherwise the translator must swear an affidavit and cannot be a relative. The shenasnameh (birth identity booklet) is the usual proof of relationship; translate every page that names the child.

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 with a Canadian card. Send them this link and ask them to get a quote before you book any travel for biometrics.

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 adds months to a file that already takes nine.

1. The online super visa application and the $100 fee plus $85 biometrics fee (family cap $170), paid from Canada.
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, shenasnameh pages, 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 visa office handling Iran, shown when you select Iran 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.

What a hospital stay costs without cover

Without cover, Ontario hospitals bill non-residents a daily rate set by each hospital; published 2026 schedules run from $3,100 a day for a ward bed at Toronto East Health Network to $4,005 at Queensway Carleton, and far more in intensive care, before physician fees. A parent with a stable heart or blood-sugar condition should buy the plan that covers stable conditions and answer the health questions exactly. Compare the stability rules on our cost page, check the refund rules in case the visa is refused, then get a quote.