What Type Of Visa Is Appropriate For My Fiancé?

2.9 minute read

"The Canadian government has a variety of visas that help travelers and visitors to Canada. These visas enable different lengths of stays according to the type of program that your fiancée qualifies for. "

Written by My Visa Source Team
Updated on: Feb 23, 2021

The Canadian government has a variety of visitor visas that help travelers and visitors to Canada. These visas enable different lengths of stays according to the type of program that your fiancée qualifies for. However, there are three types of lengths and five different visa categories, which complicates issues when you ask yourself “how should I sponsor my fiancée?”

When deciding the best type of visa for your loved one, consider the basic types and categories of visas that your fiancée will be able to utilize to enter into the country.

The Three Types of Temporary Resident Visas

Single-Entry Visa

The single entry visa is good for a single stay in Canada and may be obtained up to half a year before the expected arrival date. When landing under a single entry visa, you should make sure that the expiry date is a least a month past the date that you expect to land in the country. Single entry visas usually have strict time limits compared to multi-entry visas.

Multiple Entry Visa

A multiple entry visa is one of the most flexible types of documents, giving the holder the ability to travel outside of Canada without worrying about whether or not they will be able to return. This is usually provided for those who are not yet permanent residents, or those who are unable to become permanent residents but are allowed to live within Canadian borders for a long period of time.

According to current law:

The visa can have a validity date that extends as long as ten years after the expiry date, up until one month before expiry.
Multiple-entry visas enable “the holder to seek entry into Canada from any country as often as necessary during the validity of the visa.”
The document is issued with legitimate travelers in mind, and may be considered valid even if attached to an expired travel document.

Transit Visa

Transit visas are usually given for free and are only needed to be able to pass through Canada on the way to another destination. This type of visa is only needed if you happen to be meeting your fiancée in Canada, as you travel to another destination outside of the country.

Visa Categories

Diplomatic and Official

If your fiancée happens to be part of an official delegation that performs official or diplomatic work for the Canadian government, this is the best visa stream to consider. Of course, in order to qualify, your fiancée actually has to have official business within Canada, as well as a passport and status from the home country of the applicant.

Super Visa

A super visa is a type of long-term, temporary residence document that allows parents and grandparents to stay in Canada for up to ten years with a multiple-entry provision. In order to qualify for this type of visa, your fiancée has to pass health checks, have health insurance and have proof of financial support on behalf of their children.

The private insurance purchased should cover a minimum of $100,000 of expenses that include hospitalization, health care and repatriation.

Business Visas

People arriving in Canada as part of a business delegation, or for the purposes of conducting business, may apply for temporary resident visas. This type of visa helps your fiancée enter the country for business reasons, which will require documentation that proves bonafided education, experience and the business being conducted within Canada.

Courtesy Visa

The appropriately-named courtesy visa is issued for those who are deemed “of sufficient importance to warrant a visa to facilitate their admission.” Consider the lack of specific language, there are quite a few reasons why someone may be admitted under a courtesy visa, including visitors giving lectures at a conference or those on a trade mission, but unable to receive a business visa for whatever reason.

This courtesy extends to diplomats who seek to enter Canada for vacation as well as members of the International Air Transport Association.

Facilitation Visa

Facilitation visas are specifically given to those who have already earned a Canadian passport, but for whatever reason need a document that allows them to enter and exit Canada. For example, if someone loses their passport and needs to gain access to Canada, a facilitation visa may be granted to prevent problems at the border.

In cases where, through no fault of their own, documentation needed for entry into Canada hasn’t or will not arrive in time, facilitation visas prevent hardship due to bureaucratic problems and similar situations.