Documents for obtaining a visa to Canada

The consular office provides the opportunity to obtain a visa to Canada virtually. Another model of potential actions is to independently submit a request through the Canada visa center in Moscow or in another region of the Russian Federation.

• We provide professional services for issuing Canadian visas to Russians, taking into account all the requirements of the visa regime.

The obtaining procedure consists of the following steps

1. Submitting an application;
2. Payment of the consular fee;
3. Preparation of documents;
4. Translation of documents
5. Filling out the form;
6. Personal visit to the Canadian Exhibition Center for an interview.

Types of visa permits to Canada

Based on the goals of the traveler, you will have to choose the appropriate class of visa permit, and then you need to take into account that the package of papers will be different. Let's look at the different types of visas to Canada.

Temporary resident visa

In English, it will sound like “temporary resident visa”. This type of permission is granted to persons who decide to come to the country with the following intentions:

1. As a tourist;
2. For training in short courses;
3. Visits to family and friends.

It is important to understand that a Canadian tourist visa is also labeled as a temporary resident permit.

Applying for a tourist visa to Canada

The consular office provides the opportunity to obtain a visa to Canada virtually . Another model of potential actions is to independently submit a request through the Canada visa center in Moscow or in another region of the Russian Federation.

• We provide professional services for issuing Canadian visas to Russians, taking into account all the requirements of the visa regime.

The obtaining procedure consists of the following steps

1. Submitting an application;
2. Payment of the consular fee;
3. Preparation of documents;
4. Translation of documents
5. Filling out the form;
6. Personal visit to the Canadian Exhibition Center for an interview.

Canada is a country with a significant level of ecology, development and culture.

• There are no special architectural attractions here, but the natural landscapes outshine the splendor of the buildings of the old cities of Europe.

Tourist visa to Canada

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• Consultations with a VFS visa specialist are held Mon-Fri, from 9:00 to 18:00

Consultation

Temporary visa for employed people

When you are employed in your destination country, you must first have an agreement with the Canadian employer and also obtain permission to work there.

• The main condition for opening such a visa is that the applicant has a compelling argument that he has an important reason to go to Canada and an even more compelling incentive to return. It is fundamentally important to convince the Consulate employees that you do not intend to emigrate.

Applying for a visitor visa to Canada

The issuance of a visitor visa to Canada for Belarusians, Russians and citizens of other CIS countries is carried out according to the same regulations.

A visitor visa is requested if there is an invitation from:

• friends,
• relatives,
• pen pals.

The obtaining procedure consists of the following steps

1. Submitting an application;
2. Payment of the consular fee;
3. Preparation of documents;
4. Translation of documents
5. Filling out the form;
6. Personal visit to the Canadian Exhibition Center for an interview.

An entry permit does not give the right to work or use free medical services.

• The guest type is considered similar to a regular tourist visa, but instead of a hotel voucher, it provides an invitation from the host party.

The host is a resident or citizen of Canada . To increase the chances of issuing a visa, it is necessary to add personal information about the receiving party and its financial status to the invitation.

• A visitor visa to Canada can be short-term or long-term. Usually a single entry permit is issued, less often a multiple visa is issued.

In order to determine whether a guest type of permit is suitable for you, you must consult with specialists at our visa center. You can also select the type of visa on the official website of the Canadian consulate. After registering on the portal, the applicant needs to pass a short test, which will indicate the type of document being requested.

Visitor visa to Canada

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• Consultations with a VFS visa specialist are held Mon-Fri, from 9:00 to 18:00

Consultation

Permanent Resident Visa

In fact, this is the documentary basis for immigration to the country. You can subsequently obtain a residence permit on this basis. Such permission is granted under the following conditions:

1. If the applicant opens his own business in Canadian territory;
2. in case of family reunification;
3. when proving the fact of discrimination in the homeland;
4. if the applicant is a highly qualified specialist in demand internationally;
   when minors were adopted by Canadian citizens.

List of required documents

1. As often happens, there is a standard, basic list of documentation and an accompanying one. Mandatory papers include:
2. Application form sample IMM 5257, completely filled out, signed by the applicant (when filling out electronically at the beginning of all pages, it is important to save space for coding).
3. Schedule 1 Application for IMM;
4. A questionnaire with data on the composition and specifics of the IMM 5645 family, if required.
5. Forms IMM 5409 and IMM 5476, if necessary (instructions for registration are posted on the official website of the Embassy).
6. A current original foreign passport with at least one blank page.
7. 2 high resolution photos. The basic standard of photo printing: full face, lack of a pronounced emotional background, the “age” of the photo is no more than six months, without any accessories that obscure or hide the face. The photo parameters are 35 by 45 mm. No computer processing of photos is allowed.
8. A receipt confirming payment of the consular fee.
9. A copy of your work or study permit (if necessary).
10. Evidence of financial ability to pay for the trip.
11. Your dossier should be as complete as possible so that it is impossible to “undermine” it. It is better if it contains a certificate from your place of work about your status and position, salary parameters, bank statements, documents indicating ownership of real estate or any other property, etc.
12. A copy of a valid return flight ticket (can be presented in electronic form).

When traveling without parental accompaniment of minors, or when traveling only with one of the parents, consent to the trip from the other party (or from both, in the case of a child leaving independently). This paper must be notarized.

Consulate employees have the right to demand an expansion of the package of papers.

If parents or grandparents travel to visit their immediate relatives, they additionally provide:

1. Invitation letter from a family member. Plus any document indicating that the inviter has funds to pay for the departure.
2. Confirmation of family ties.
3. Medical insurance valid for 12 months or more.
4. Tourists include in the main package:
5. Plan of the proposed trip;
6. Evidence of booking a hotel or other place of future accommodation, as well as round-trip flight tickets.

Those traveling with a guest invitation letter present this letter itself (it is important that the inviter confirms the legality of his stay on Canadian soil).

• If an applicant travels to study short courses, he must present an invitation letter from the educational institution.
• When traveling to Canada, business people present an invitation letter.

When obtaining a visa to Canada on your own, it is important to understand that completing the application form is allowed either in English or French.

How to get a visitor visa to Canada

Self-registration

Persons wishing to independently obtain a visitor visa to Canada must be confident in their level of foreign language proficiency. Additionally, it is necessary to understand electronic documentation, as well as the legal aspects of the procedure.

To submit your application yourself, you must complete the following steps:

1. Register on the official website of the Canadian Embassy. Each applicant is assigned an individual code, which must be remembered or saved on a computer. This code is indicated on the applicant's application form and is presented to the officer upon entering the consulate for an interview.
2. After registration, the counterparty finds an electronic application form, fills it out using the keyboard and hints built into the text. Filling out is carried out in the official language of Canada.
3. Next, a consular fee of 100 Canadian dollars is paid. Without a receipt, consideration of the documentation package does not begin. The amount can be transferred in rubles, but it is advisable to choose an exchanger with a favorable rate, since the consulate’s payment system has its own tariffs.
4. Photos are scanned and saved in jpg, jpeg or png format. It is prohibited to edit red eyes or background color in the photo, or add frames or other decorations. Written documentation is saved in Docx format; it is advisable to have the latest version of Word.
5. Those who submit electronic applications are required to appear for an interview. If your application for a visitor visa is approved, the email address provided will be notified. After this, you need to log in again to the embassy’s website, go to the visas and immigration section, and select a free time for registration.
6. Next, the applicant comes to the consulate, the interview is conducted in English. Local regulations must be followed inside the embassy office. It is advisable to come in business attire; you should not bring large bags or food with you.

The main danger when applying for a visitor visa to Canada on your own is poor knowledge of the English language, as well as the inability to correctly collect and send documents. Most people feel nervous during an interview, which makes Canadian officers doubt the candidacy.

Visitor visa through the Visa Application Center

Specialists at an accredited visa center will do absolutely all the work for you.

• To cooperate with a client, you do not need to sign a power of attorney; electronic exchange of documentation is possible. The client must submit biometric data and provide information about himself to fill out the questionnaire.
• Invitations from friends and relatives are also requested by the visa applicant. All other concerns fall on the visa center employees.

They complete the package of documents, carry out translations and notarization, and cooperate with courier services. At the end of the experts’ work, the client simply needs to pick up his foreign passport with a completed visa.

An additional advantage of seeking the services of specialists is high efficiency. The minimum period for issuing an urgent visit visa is one day.

Immigration to Canada

This issue is much more complicated. To assess the eligibility of an applicant to travel to Canada, he is offered a procedure for passing a specialized questionnaire on the website of the Canadian Consulate. Those who are related by family ties to Canadian citizens, highly qualified specialists working on the basis of a long-term contract and certain other categories of persons are allowed to immigrate.

Currently, a specialized ExpressEntry system is operating that selects applicants. Based on the applicant’s profile created virtually, the potential of his capabilities is assessed. It will not be possible to submit a request for a permanent residence permit on your own; you must first wait for an appropriate invitation.

If the outdated federal program gave preference to the first applicant, now it is not quantitative, but qualitative characteristics that are considered in terms of factors allowing the right to immigrate.

Applying for a tourist visa to Canada

Tourists come here to ski, go mountain climbing, and get acquainted with Western culture. The main obstacle on the way from Russia to Canada is obtaining an entry permit or tourist visa.

Despite the increasing number of quotas for specialists , the number of illegal migrants to Canada is growing. In view of this, authorized officials at the embassy or visa and migration department consider each applicant as a potential illegal immigrant.

• The tourist must collect not only documents indicating his financial stability and safety for Westerners, but also indicating the existence of significant reasons for returning to his homeland.

Applying for a tourist visa to Canada on your own requires native knowledge of one of the local official languages.

• The applicant must have a deposit in a bank; if a visa is requested for subsequent receipt of a residence permit, the deposit should be opened immediately in a Canadian bank.
• In order not to miss the details of the procedure and increase the likelihood of approval, you should contact an accredited visa center, where for a small additional payment all burdens will be removed from you.

Employees themselves collect documents, translate them and apply notary stamps. The service includes support for taking biometrics and to the embassy for an interview. The cost of a full service and a limited set of services can be found on the website.

Child visa

Such permission is issued in accordance with general regulated standards. However, the most important thing is that, regardless of age, all minors are issued a personal passport with a visa. There is no need to present a birth certificate.

• A form is filled out separately for each minor, which is signed by a parent or legal representative. It is important not to lose sight of the presence of parental consent for the trip, based on the circumstances of the trip (given by one or both parents).

How to submit an online request

1. First, you take a test on the official website of the Canadian Consulate to verify that you have chosen the correct visa.
2. You are assigned a personal number, which will be needed when filling out the IMM 5257 form.
3. Complete the electronic version of the application form and download it to your PC.
4. You receive a GCKey (by clicking the “Continue to GCKey” option to register). It is better to use a name of at least 8 characters to create a personal account.
5. After creating your personal account, you must answer the verification question (in English) and enter your personal code.
6. You are given 2 months to prepare the documentation and upload it to the portal (in pdf, docx, jpeg formats).

On the official portal you can clarify what your steps are to complete the request step by step after downloading the entire documentation package. But keep in mind: you should either speak excellent English, or ask a translator to adequately help you understand it.

Canada visa application requirements

Form IMM5257 or Visitor Visa Application is the basis for consideration of an alien's application.
The application form does not need to be downloaded or printed ; it is filled out in electronic format, however, the tourist must go through the registration procedure on the official website of the Canadian Migration Service. Acrobat Reader is used to view the visa application form. If the form does not open, you should update your browser or reinstall the Adobe extension.

The application for a visa to Canada is accompanied by a complete list of documents. You can attach files in PDF (portable document), JPG, TIFF or PNG (image), DOC or DOCX (Microsoft Word document) formats. The maximum size of one file should not exceed 4 MB.

Application for a visa to Canada

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• Consultations with a VFS visa specialist are held Mon-Fri, from 9:00 to 18:00

Consultation

We use the assistance of visa managers

Today, VFS Global service centers are successfully operating in Russia, located in a number of Russian settlements (except for both capitals, these are Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov).

You must act according to this scheme

• Save all sample forms, instructions on your PC, format everything properly and print it out.
• Pay the consular fee, remembering to print out the receipt, and pay for the mediation of the service center.
• Either personally or through a third party, submit a request to the service center (when submitting through third parties, it is important to have a power of attorney).

Visa standards

It is possible to obtain a visa to Canada, despite the difficulties, even on your own. But remember that this state strictly regulates immigration processes. What should you consider when preparing your dossier?

1. First of all, it must be expanded. Pay special attention to convincing consular officers of the grounds for your return to your homeland (marriage certificate, birth certificate of children, real estate, business, etc.). Do everything to prove that you have incentives to return.
2. Upon first request, you must present the documentation required by the Consulate. And it’s better not to delay this.
3. Convince the officials making the decision to issue a visa that you have sufficient funds for the trip.

How much does a visa to Canada cost?

Several items should be included in the total cost of a visa: the consular fee itself, the services of intermediaries (service center) and postage (in the last two cases, optional).

• Transit is provided free of charge.
• Temporary resident visa - 100 Canadian dollars (further each amount will be equivalent to the calculation in Canadian dollars).
• Work and temporary resident visas - $155.
• Student (and temporary resident visa) - $150.
• Family fee (maximum) - $500.
• Temporary resident visa - $200.
• Service center services - $31.2.
• Additional center fee is $4.04.

All payments are accepted only in ruble equivalent in accordance with the current exchange rate of the National Bank.

Tourist visa to Canada - probability of refusal

The category of persons “non grata” includes people who do not have sufficient financial security, have previously been convicted or have been refused a Schengen visa or permission to enter the United States.

Difficulties also arise when trying to obtain a tourist visa for the unemployed: a salary certificate can be replaced with a letter from a sponsor, but if an unemployed person does not have a family or expensive real estate, he has no reason to return to the Russian Federation.

To get a tourist visa to Canada with a 100% guarantee of approval and not spoil your visa reputation, contact the specialists of the Unified Visa Center. For a small fee, experts can issue you a visa in 1 day without refusal.

The procedure is carried out legally, the activities of employees are carried out in accordance with Russian legislation.

Terms of consideration

The exact regulations for the acceptable wait for a Canadian visa cannot be found either on the official portal of the Canadian Consulate or on the website of the service center. You can rely on indicative statistics on the issuance of permits for individual Russian regions, and these data are regularly updated. As practice has shown, the most typical thing is to obtain a visa within 2 weeks. But it’s difficult to say for sure: it could be 10 days or 60.

For those who have already booked tickets, paid for studying in Canada, or have simply invested substantial funds in the planned trip (if permission is required in relation to the exact date), we can offer two important recommendations:

• Provide the most extensive package of papers.
• Make a petition very early so that you don’t have to urgently change plans later (which is not easy).

You can read discussions on thematic forums to weigh the pros and cons.

Visa validity periods

All types of visa permits issued to Russians by Canada are automatically equivalent to multiple-entry visas - that is, you have the right to cross the border more than once.

• Let's look at the validity period of each type of document.
• With a transit visa, you are allowed to stay in the country for 2 days.
• On a temporary resident visa - 5-10 years.
• By decision of consular officers, you may be given a one-time six-month visa.

The regulated period of permitted stay is 6 months. But you must definitely take into account the deadlines indicated in the reservation or invitation letters. The officer affixing the stamp at the border makes an individual decision (writing down how many days a particular person is allowed to stay in the state).

Where can I get a visa to Canada?

You can obtain permits to enter the country:

• In large travel companies

Online application for a visa to Canada

Online application for a visa to Canada

Online application for a visa to Canada

Online application for a visa to Canada
You can use the following languages: English, French. All completed forms and copies of documents will be stored on the server for up to 60 days.

Advice. If you have problems using the site (difficulty logging into your personal account), it is recommended to use VPN applications or extensions with Canadian IP addresses.

• At visa centers

All forms are filled out electronically; we provide an example below. Before you start filling out the forms, you must take a test on the website, which will help the system determine what type of visa you need. Based on its results, a personal code is issued - we save it to fill out the IMM5257 questionnaire.

Online application for a visa to Canada

The form includes 7 sections:

• The first section provides information about the applicant's full name, gender, date of birth, citizenship, country of residence, marital status and whether the applicant was previously in any relationship. The country in which the application is being filled out is also indicated, and whether the applicant has lived in another country over the past 5 years.
• The second paragraph contains information about your foreign passport.
• The third contains the applicant’s contact information.
• In the fourth, information about the trip to Canada is entered: purpose, duration of stay, name of the person who is the receiving party.
• The fifth contains data on education.
• The sixth paragraph includes all places of work over the past 10 years, as well as the current place of work, position and address of the organization.
• The seventh contains health data. If this section contains o in at least one field, you should provide additional information about your disease.

Important! Apart from the foreign passport, which must be the original, all other documents must be submitted in the form of photocopies, since you will not be able to get them back. Before meeting with the Canadian consul, be prepared to prepare convincing arguments about the absence of migration intentions; documents about the presence of children in the country of residence and about marriage in your country may be suitable for this.

Since in each specific case the set of documents is different, it is better to find out the exact list from the staff of visa centers or on the website.

• anketa-na-vizu-v-kanadu – Download the Canada visa application form
• anketa-na-vizu-v-kanadu_dop – Download the questionnaire for additional information about the applicant
• anketa-na-vizu-v-kanadu_semja – Download the questionnaire for family information

Canadian visa refusal

Often our compatriots are faced with the fact that the reason for rejecting a request is completely incomprehensible (and consular officers have the right not to explain the reasons for their actions). In addition to typical reasons, such as incorrectly completed documents, incompleteness of the submitted dossier, or misrepresentation of facts about the applicant, your application may be rejected in a number of situations:

• There may not be enough evidence to support your intentions to return home.
• Even if there is a shadow of suspicion about immigration intentions, you can forget about obtaining a Canadian visa (by the way, the factors that provoke these suspicions also include the financial success of the applicant).
• Unconvincing or suspicious behavior during conversations with consular officials. It can ruin all your efforts, even when everything is in order with the documentation.

Always keep in mind that Canada is quite hostile towards representatives of our country (and, presumably, has reason for this). But the situation cannot be called hopeless either, if you take the preparatory procedures very responsibly and comply with all the requirements of the visa policy.

If your visa request is rejected , then the amount of the consular fee will not be returned to you (it is paid for consideration of the request, but it was also considered in this case). The typical explanation provided by the Consulate for commenting on a refusal is suspicion of an attempt to become an “illegal immigrant.”

Applying for a visitor visa by invitation to Canada

Canada, with its standard of living, is a very attractive state not only for immigrants, but also simply for those who would like to see North America and feel the flavor of those lands.

Of course, not everyone manages to get here. But those who have relatives in this country have the opportunity to obtain a visa to Canada by invitation. Naturally, everything is not so simple, and first you need to carefully prepare, collect a whole package of documents, comply with all the requirements of the visa regime and, in the end, be patient, since the review may take a long time. However, a visitor visa to Canada is real, and it can be done in different ways, the main thing is to take up the issue and delve into the details and details.