Visitor visa
For visa-required travellers. Placed in the passport, subject to its own validity and to examination at the port of entry.
Temporary Resident Visa · 2026 Guide
The Canada visitor visa, explained properly
A visitor visa is permission to travel to Canada — not a guarantee of entry, and not a fixed formula you can satisfy with a bank balance. Here is what IRCC actually requires, what the documents need to prove, what it costs, and why applications are refused.
- Fees and requirements verified against IRCC
- Covers refusals, reapplying and extending your stay
CAD $100Visitor visa fee, per person
CAD $85Biometrics fee, per person, where required
Up to 6 monthsUsual period of stay, set at the border
VariesProcessing time, by country and case
01 · Start here
A visa is permission to travel, not permission to enter
A Temporary Resident Visa is a counterfoil placed in your passport confirming you met the requirements to travel to Canada. A border services officer still decides, on arrival, whether you may enter and for how long. IRCC states it plainly: a valid visa and travel document do not guarantee that you can enter Canada.
No shortcuts
There is no magic number and no magic document
Every application is assessed on its own facts. There is no guaranteed approval, no published minimum bank balance for an ordinary visitor visa, and no single document that substitutes for the three things an officer is actually weighing: a credible temporary purpose, enough money to fund it, and genuine reasons to return home.
Visitor visa or eTA?
Which one you need depends mainly on your citizenship, your travel document and how you are arriving.
Electronic Travel Authorization
For eligible visa-exempt travellers flying to Canada. Linked electronically to the passport. Different rules can apply arriving by land or sea.
The entry decision
Made by a border services officer on arrival, regardless of which authorisation you hold. This is a separate decision from the visa.
02 · Eligibility
What IRCC requires of every applicant
These are the requirements as IRCC states them. The first three are largely documentary. The last three are judgement calls made by an officer — which is where most applications are won or lost.
A valid travel document, such as a passport
Good health, with a medical exam if one is required
No criminal or immigration-related convictions
Enough money for your stay
Ties — a job, home, financial assets or family — that will take you back home
That you will leave Canada at the end of your visit
Why are you visiting?
The purpose has to be specific, reasonable and matched by the documents. Tourism, visiting family or friends, a wedding or graduation, short business activities, or compassionate reasons are all ordinary purposes — but a vague purpose is a weak application. Parents and grandparents planning a long stay should look at the Super Visa instead.
Business visitors
Meetings are fine. Working is not.
Attending meetings, conferences or short training can be a legitimate visitor purpose, but a visitor generally must not enter the Canadian labour market. Your main place of business and your source of income need to remain outside Canada. If what you are actually doing looks like work, you need work authorisation, not a visitor visa.
03 · Evidence
What the documents need to prove
The portal generates a personalised checklist and the visa office may ask for more. The useful way to think about documents is not as a list to satisfy, but as answers to the questions an officer is asking.
| Category | Typical documents | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Passport bio page; pages showing visas, stamps and markings | Who you are, and that your travel document is valid |
| Purpose | Invitation, itinerary, event registration, accommodation details | Why you are going, when, and where you will stay |
| Finances | Bank statements, proof of income, sponsor evidence where relevant | Whether you can actually pay for this trip |
| Employment or business | Employer letter, approved leave, business registration, tax records | What you are established in, and returning to |
| Family and property | Marriage and birth records, property or tenancy documents | Personal and residential ties at home |
| Travel history | Previous visas, entry and exit stamps, permits | Whether you have travelled before and complied |
Documents that are not in English or French generally need a translation meeting IRCC's requirements. Never submit altered, incomplete or misleading evidence — misrepresentation carries consequences far more serious than a refusal, including a bar on future applications.
How much money should you show?
IRCC does not publish a universal minimum for an ordinary visitor visa. The amount needs to reasonably cover transport, accommodation and daily costs for the length and nature of the visit you have described.
What officers look for
A consistent financial story
Income, savings and the cost of the proposed trip should agree with each other. Several months of account history is more persuasive than a single balance certificate, because it shows a pattern rather than a moment.
Common problem
Unexplained deposits
A large sum appearing shortly before the application invites the question of whose money it is. If there is a legitimate explanation — a bonus, a property sale, family support — document it rather than leaving the officer to guess.
Staying with family
Free accommodation lowers the cost, not the requirement
Staying with relatives legitimately reduces what the trip costs, and it is reasonable to say so. It does not remove the need for a credible financial plan covering everything else — flights, daily expenses, and the contingency of a longer stay than planned.
04 · Temporary intent
Showing you have reasons to come home
An officer weighs employment, business ownership, study, close family responsibilities, property, finances, previous travel compliance and your circumstances as a whole. Quality and internal consistency matter far more than volume — a thick file of unrelated paperwork does not strengthen a weak story.
Dual intent
Wanting to immigrate later does not disqualify you now
Holding a longer-term intention to apply for permanent residence does not, by itself, prevent a temporary visit. What you must still satisfy the officer of is that you will respect the conditions of temporary status — including leaving when required — if permanent residence does not come through.
Invitation letters and the host's role
An invitation letter can set out the relationship, the purpose, the dates, the accommodation and who is paying. The host may add proof of their Canadian status, address, income or relationship where it is relevant.
Set expectations
An invitation is supporting evidence, not a sponsorship
The applicant still has to establish their own eligibility. An invitation letter does not guarantee approval, and it does not make the host legally responsible for the visitor once they are in Canada. Hosts frequently misunderstand both points.
05 · Applying
How the application works
Confirm what you actually need
Establish whether the traveller needs a visitor visa or an eTA before anything else — it changes the entire process.
Build the application around the story
Complete the forms accurately and organise the documents around your stated purpose and circumstances, so the file reads as one coherent account.
Submit, then respond promptly
Pay the fees, give biometrics if asked, and answer any IRCC request by its deadline. Missed deadlines close files.
Send the passport if approved
A visa-required applicant usually has to submit the passport so the visa counterfoil can be issued.
Before you book
Do not buy non-refundable travel on an assumption
Processing times vary by country and case, posted estimates change, and they generally do not include the time needed to provide biometrics. Book flexible travel, or wait until you hold the authorisation.
Government fees
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor visa | CAD $100 per person | Family rate of CAD $500 where five or more eligible family members apply together |
| Biometrics | CAD $85 per person | Family maximum of CAD $170 for two or more eligible people applying together |
These are IRCC's government fees only and do not include third-party costs such as biometrics collection at some locations, translations, or professional fees. Fees change — confirm the current amount before paying.
06 · Arrival
What happens at the border
Carry your passport, your visa or eTA, your invitation and the documents supporting the purpose and funding of the visit — in your hand luggage, not your checked bag. Answer the officer's questions truthfully and consistently with what you told IRCC.
Up to six months
Most visitors are admitted for up to six months. The officer may authorise a shorter or longer period and, if so, will write the date you must leave by in your passport.
Six months, or passport expiry
If your passport is not stamped, you may generally stay for six months from the day you entered, or until your passport expires — whichever comes first.
Entry is never automatic
A valid visa and travel document do not guarantee admission. The officer at the port of entry makes that call independently of the visa decision.
The most common date mix-up
Visa expiry and permitted stay are two different things
The expiry printed on the visa counterfoil is a travel-document date — the last day you may use it to travel to Canada. How long you may remain once you are here is set separately, by the border officer, by a passport stamp, or by a visitor record. People overstay by reading the wrong date.
07 · Refusals
Why visitor visa applications get refused
Refusal letters are generic, but the underlying concerns are consistent. Most come down to the officer not being satisfied on purpose, money or return.
- The purpose or length of the visit is unclear, or inconsistent with the documents
- The finances do not reasonably support the trip as described
- Employment, family, property or other reasons to return are not sufficiently shown
- Documents conflict with the forms, with prior applications, or with each other
- Travel history, immigration history or admissibility raises concerns
- The officer is not satisfied the applicant will leave at the end of the authorised stay
Before you reapply
Resubmitting the same file usually produces the same answer
There is normally no mandatory waiting period after a refusal, but reapplying without changing anything rarely changes the outcome. Work out which concern was fatal and address the evidence gap. Depending on the case, the options can include obtaining the officer's notes, preparing a materially stronger new application, requesting reconsideration in limited circumstances, or taking advice about judicial review — which has short deadlines.
08 · Staying longer
Extending your stay with a visitor record
A visitor who wants to remain beyond their authorised stay generally applies for a visitor record before that status expires. Applying in time may allow you to remain under maintained status while IRCC decides, provided the applicable conditions are met.
A status document
A visitor record sets a new date by which you must leave Canada. It governs how long you may stay.
Not a visa
A visitor record does not let you travel to Canada and does not guarantee re-entry if you leave. If you need a visa to return, you need a valid one.
Apply before expiry
Applying after status has expired is a materially worse position than applying before it, and the remedies available are narrower.
FAQ
Common Questions
No. A visitor visa does not authorise work. You need specific work authorisation unless a narrow exemption applies to what you are doing. Working without authorisation puts your status and any future application at risk.
Some short programs can be taken without a study permit, but longer studies generally require one. Confirm the rule for the specific program and its length before you enrol rather than after.
No. A return itinerary can support temporary intent, but IRCC assesses the whole application, and a ticket on its own proves very little. Buying non-refundable travel before a decision is a risk, not a strategy.
There is no universal host-income threshold for an ordinary visitor visa. That is a different program: the Super Visa, for parents and grandparents, has its own financial requirements on the Canadian host.
There is usually no mandatory waiting period. The real question is whether anything has changed — a new application that does not address the reason for refusal will most likely be refused again, and each refusal becomes part of your history.
IRCC decides, and validity can be limited by your passport's expiry among other factors. A multiple-entry visa may be issued for a longer period, but every entry remains subject to examination at the border.
Most visitors are admitted for up to six months unless the officer sets a different date. Check your passport stamp or visitor record — and do not rely on the visa's expiry date, which means something else entirely.
No, and anyone promising otherwise should be avoided. No representative can guarantee a decision. What an authorised representative does is identify the weaknesses in your case, organise the evidence properly, make accurate submissions and deal with IRCC on your behalf.
Build an application an officer can say yes to
Mehrul Rajib, RCIC, can review your travel purpose, financial evidence, home-country ties, invitation documents and any previous refusal — and tell you honestly where the application is weak before you submit it.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules, forms, fees and processing practices change without notice, and no approval, admission or processing outcome is guaranteed. Fees and requirements were verified against IRCC's published pages at the time of writing; confirm current requirements with IRCC or seek advice about your own circumstances.