‘Super Visa’ a Big Hit, Over 3500 Granted Since Dec.
The new Super Visa, a special visa for the parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, has been granted to over 3,500 applicants since its introduction in December of last year, according to the Canadian Immigration Ministry.
The Ministry said that 83 percent of applications have thus far been approved, with an average processing time of less than eight weeks.
The Parent and Grandparent Super Visa was introduced as a replacement for the parent and grandparent category of the family sponsorship for permanent residence program, which was temporarily suspended in November 2011 in order to stem the build-up in the backlog of sponsorship applications in the parent and grandparent category.
The new visa allows holders to visit Canada for up to 10 years, and stay for up to two years on each visit without being required to get an extension after six months as required by holders of regular visitor visas.