Document · Invitation letter
The invitation letter for your parents
Three things have to be in it. Almost every template online contains none of them, and includes a great deal that does not matter.
The short answer
A super visa invitation letter has to prove three things: that the host meets Canada's minimum necessary income, how many people the host counted to arrive at that figure, and who those people are, each with a name and a date of birth. The host writes and signs it, and a spouse may co-sign. Everything else in the letter is optional.
What IRCC asks the letter to contain
The letter is a document with a job, not a courtesy. It is where you, as the host, declare the number the income test is measured against, which is why it has requirements at all.
Proof that you meet or exceed the minimum necessary income
The list and number of people you counted for family size
The name and date of birth of each person in that count
Who may co-sign, and who may not
Your spouse or common-law partner can co-sign the letter and add their income, if they are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian. Other family members cannot. A brother with a higher income cannot co-sign this letter, and families plan around that assumption more often than any other point on this page.
The family size you have to declare
This is the part that changes the income figure, and it is counted in a way that surprises most hosts. IRCC is counting obligations rather than people living in your house, so it reaches a spouse you are separated from and a relative you sponsored years ago.
the parents or grandparents applying, including a spouse applying alongside
the host child or grandchild
the host's spouse or common-law partner, including a separated spouse
every dependent child of the host and of their spouse, whatever the custody or child-support arrangement
anyone holding a super visa under an earlier invitation letter from the host that still applies
anyone the host or their co-signer has previously sponsored, where the undertaking is still running
Work it out before you write anything else, because the number decides which income figure applies to you. A host with a spouse and two children, inviting both parents, is a family of six, which needs CAD 72,560 rather than the CAD 56,724 a family of four needs. Undercounting by one person is the most common reason a letter has to be redone.
Which income figure you are proving
There are two routes and the letter should be explicit about which one you are using, because they need different documents.
Route one
Your total income, including a co-signing spouse, meets the whole minimum in either of the two tax years before the application. Either year, not both. Proved with your notice of assessment.
Route two
Your income reaches at least 75% of the minimum in the year before, and your parents' own income makes up the rest. Their pension, rent or business income counts towards it.
Route two is the one that rescues borderline families and it is barely written about in India. It has a hard floor: below 75% of the minimum, no amount of income from your parents can be added.
The full income table, and the rest of what the super visa asks
Why there is no template on this page
Officers read these letters constantly. A letter assembled from a template is recognisable because it is warm in the places templates are warm and silent in the places that matter, and it describes a family that could be anybody's.
Write the required content first: the income proof, the counted family size, and every person in it with a name and a date of birth. Then say the things that are true about your own situation. Who lives in the house. Who is paying for the flights and the insurance. When the visit ends and why then.
That last one earns its place. A stated end to the visit is evidence on the question the officer is actually deciding, which is whether your parents will leave at the end of their stay, and a letter that describes an open-ended arrangement argues quietly against them.
What that question looks like when it goes wrong
The other document only you can arrange: the health insurance policy
Questions hosts ask
What must a super visa invitation letter include?
A super visa invitation letter must include proof that the host meets or exceeds the minimum necessary income, the list and number of people the host counted when working out their family size, and the name and date of birth of each of those people. The host writes and signs it. Their spouse or common-law partner may co-sign and add their income if they are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian; other family members such as a brother or sister cannot co-sign. Anything else in the letter, the welcome, the plans, the description of the spare room, is optional and does not affect whether the letter does its job.
Who counts in the family size for a super visa invitation letter?
The family size counts the parents or grandparents applying, the host, the host’s spouse or common-law partner including a separated spouse, every dependent child of the host and of their spouse regardless of custody or child support arrangements, anyone already holding a super visa under an earlier invitation letter from the host that still applies, and anyone the host or a co-signer has previously sponsored while that undertaking is still in effect. It is a count of obligations rather than of people in the house, which is why it reaches a separated spouse and a sibling sponsored years ago. Getting it wrong understates the income the host has to show, and the letter is where the host states the number.
Can my brother or sister in Canada co-sign the invitation letter?
A brother or sister cannot co-sign a super visa invitation letter. Only the host’s spouse or common-law partner may co-sign and contribute income, and only if they are themselves a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian. IRCC states this restriction directly. It matters because families frequently plan around it, assuming that a sibling with a higher income can carry the application. They cannot, and a letter co-signed by one does not add their income to the calculation.
Should I use an invitation letter template?
A template is not the problem in itself, but the letters produced from templates usually fail for the same reason: they contain the warmth and leave out the three things IRCC actually asks for. Officers read a great many of these, and a letter that could be about any family says nothing about yours. Write the required content first, meaning the income proof, the counted family size, and the name and date of birth of every person in that count. Then add whatever is true about your own situation. A letter that is specific about who is in the house, who is paying for what, and when the visit ends is doing work no template can do.
Where this comes from
The invitation letter
Send us your draft and your notice of assessment.
We check the family size against the way IRCC counts it, confirm which of the two income routes your tax years support, and write the letter so that it proves what it has to prove.
Three fields · about 30 seconds