Super visa insurance for parents from Vietnam

Parents applying from Vietnam 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 44 days for Vietnam on 14 October 2026. At age 65, $100,000 of cover with stable pre-existing conditions runs about $2,051 to $3,095 a year, or roughly ₫37 to 56 million.

Who buys the insurance: the parent in Ho Chi Minh City or the child in Mississauga?

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 the dong-to-dollar conversion, and puts the refund paperwork in your hands if the visa is refused.

In practice the search starts in Vietnam. A parent in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or Da Nang hears from a visa service that insurance is required, finds a Bao Viet or PVI overseas travel plan priced in dong, 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 dong. Send this page to your son or daughter in Canada on Zalo or Messenger. They can get a quote, pay in dollars, and send you the certificate as a PDF to upload.

Why Bao Viet, PVI and Bao Minh 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 Vietnamese 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 fee is not refunded either. Worse, the parent has usually paid a non-refundable premium in dong. Read the requirements in full before buying anything.

What does super visa insurance cost in dong?

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 18,170 dong to the dollar, that is roughly ₫29 to 85 million 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. Dong figures are approximate conversions at 1 CAD = 18,169 VND (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 a parent on blood pressure or diabetes medication needs the stable-condition cover. If a lump sum is hard, IRCC accepts monthly instalments with a deposit.

The visa fee of $100 plus $85 for biometrics is about ₫3.4 million at the same rate. 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 Vietnam, and when should the policy start?

IRCC’s processing-times tool showed 44 days for Vietnam when its data was updated on 14 October 2026. Vietnam is not in immigration.ca’s country table of 22 September 2026, so the IRCC tool is the only published figure. IRCC says the estimate includes biometrics time and is not a guarantee.

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.

The IRCC service standard is 112 days. Do not book a non-refundable flight until the passport is back, and avoid the Tết weeks, when clinics and visa centres close.

Timing tips for Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang applicants

Book the medical exam and biometrics as soon as the application is submitted. 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. A check-up at a provincial hospital, however thorough, is not accepted. Search by country 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 Vietnam are in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, per IRCC’s VAC finder. Parents in the Mekong Delta and the south use Ho Chi Minh City; the north uses Hanoi; Da Nang and the central provinces choose whichever is easier to reach. Wait for the biometric instruction letter before booking.

Documents in Vietnamese. 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 household registration book (sổ hộ khẩu) is often used alongside a birth certificate for proof of relationship; translate every page you submit.

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 Vietnam.

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 44-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 visa office handling Vietnam, shown when you select Vietnam 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

The parent shows the printed certificate to the border services officer at Toronto Pearson or Vancouver, and again on every later entry. A policy that starts a week after arrival is a problem at the counter, not just in the file, so keep the start date aligned to the flight.

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, then get a quote.