Success: Super Visa

Grandparents are vitally important to taking care of children. On many levels, older individuals contribute to the family in Canada. They are able to share their family history from their home country, teach their cultural background and speak with the children in their native language. All of these points are extremely important for the family in Canada to remain connected with their roots. One of the differences between the “multicultural” approach in Canada and the “melting pot” approach in the USA is that Canada wants newcomers to remain connected with their roots.

As I have previously published in this space, the Conservative government froze the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship application. They created the Super Visa application to replace the sponsorship application. An Applicant with a Super Visa has temporary status and they do not have access to the Canadian health care system. At the same time, they are able to spend long periods with their family in Canada. When the Liberal party was elected in 2016, they reinstated the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship application; however, it is extremely difficult to “win” the lottery to have the chance to submit that application. In many cases, the family’s best option is the Super Visa.

We were retained by a family to prepare and submit a Super Visa. This was a complex situation with multiple refusals. We took the refusal to Federal Court and we successfully negotiated a Settlement Offer from the Department of Justice. That Offer sent the application back to the Visa Office. At this point, we submitted new forms and new evidence for the Officer.

In the end, we successfully obtained the Super Visa for our client. This grandfather is now able to come and spend lengthy periods of time with the family in Winnipeg. The parents who are Permanent Residents, are both extremely busy professionals and they want the grandfather to help care for their children. The grandfather/ applicant is retired and he is extremely knowledgeable about their culture and family traditions. He now has the opportunity to come to Winnipeg and pass along this important knowledge and experience to his grandchildren so they remain connected to their roots.

We love helping parents and grandparents come to Canada. As described above, IRCC Officer can be strict when they assess these applications and we may need to appeal the decision. We have also been successful with the appeal process and you can click here to read about one of these cases we have published online.