Super visa vs visitor visa: which should your parents apply for?

Apply for the super visa if your parent will stay more than six months at a time, or will come back more than once over the next decade, and your household income meets the minimum for your family size ($38,002 for two people, $56,724 for four, from 29 July 2025). IRCC approves 75 to 81% of super visa applications and each entry allows a five-year stay. Apply for an ordinary visitor visa only for a single trip of six months or less; it needs no income test, medical exam or insurance, but approval runs about 50%.

IRCC’s own guidance draws the line at six months: “If you want to stay for 6 months or less, apply for a visitor visa,” per the super visa overview. Everything else in the decision follows from that.

What is the actual difference between the two visas?

Both are multiple-entry temporary resident visas valid for up to 10 years. The super visa is restricted to parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and registered Indians, and each entry carries a five-year authorized stay. The visitor visa is open to anyone and carries a six-month stay per entry. The super visa file has three extra requirements: host income, a medical exam and paid insurance.

The visa fee and biometrics fee are the same for both. The super visa’s extra cost is the medical exam, paid to the panel physician, and the policy.

Which one gets approved more often?

The super visa. IRCC’s report to Parliament shows approval rates of 75 to 81%, with 73,604 super visas issued in 2023 and 53,695 in 2024. Ordinary visitor visas were approved at roughly 50% in 2025. The super visa file is longer, but every extra document answers the question an officer asks on a visitor file: who pays if something goes wrong?

That is why the insurance and income evidence matters more than the forms. A visitor visa applicant from India, Pakistan or Nigeria has to persuade the officer that they will leave and that they will not cost Canada money, with only bank statements and a family letter. A super visa applicant hands over a Notice of Assessment, a signed promise of support and a paid $100,000 policy.

When is the visitor visa the right choice?

For one short visit, or when the host cannot meet the income test. A wedding, a birth or a single summer fits the six-month limit. The visitor visa also suits a host whose income is below 75% of LICO even after using the two-year and co-signer options, because the visitor visa has no income test at all.

A parent on a visitor visa still needs a visitors to Canada policy. IRCC does not ask for it, but an Ontario hospital bills a non-resident at full rates from the first hour.

Can a parent switch from one to the other?

Only by leaving Canada. The eligibility page requires the applicant to be outside Canada at submission and to have the visa printed by a visa office abroad. A parent already here on a visitor visa can apply for a visitor record to extend, then fly home and apply for the super visa with a paid one-year policy in the file.

The reverse is simpler. A super visa holder who wants only a short visit still enters on the super visa and leaves whenever they like. The five-year stay is a maximum, not a commitment.

Where does insurance fit in the decision?

Insurance is a condition of the super visa and a practical necessity for the visitor visa. For the super visa, the policy must be in the file before submission: $100,000 per applicant, covering health care, hospitalization and repatriation, valid at least one year from the date of entry, from a Canadian insurer or an OSFI-authorized foreign insurer, paid in full or by instalments with a deposit. Quotes are not accepted, per IRCC’s forms and documents page.

Because processing takes weeks to months, buy a policy whose start date can be moved before it begins, and confirm the refund rule if the visa is refused. The cost page shows annual premiums by age and the refunds page shows which carriers refund in full on an IRCC refusal letter.

What about the Parents and Grandparents Program?

It is not an alternative right now. IRCC paused intake of new PGP applications and interest-to-sponsor forms on 15 July 2026 until further notice, with up to 15,000 admissions planned for 2026. The same notice presents the super visa as the route for parents who want to keep visiting. See the super visa vs PGP comparison for the full picture.

SuperVisaDirect is operated by Super Visa Direct Insurance Services, an independent Ontario life and accident-and-sickness insurance agency licensed by FSRA (licence [FSRA-LICENCE]), serving Ontario residents; British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are planned for 2028. Designated licensed agent: Cameron Hayes. Email [email protected] or request a callback, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:00pm Eastern Time. Once you have chosen the route, the step-by-step application guide shows where the insurance certificate is uploaded.