Canada visa guideThe Canada visitor visa, also called a temporary resident visa (TRV), is what an Indian passport holder needs for a holiday, a family visit or a short business trip to Canada. The officer decides single or multiple entry and how long it is valid, up to 10 years, and most visitors may stay up to 6 months per entry.
You apply online through the IRCC Portal, pay CAD 100 plus CAD 85 for biometrics, and give fingerprints at a VFS centre such as Chandigarh, Jalandhar or New Delhi. IRCC's processing time for applications from India was 30 days on 7 October 2026, not counting the biometrics step.
Do Indians need a visa for Canada, and which one?
Yes. Indian passport holders need a visitor visa, which IRCC also calls a temporary resident visa (TRV), for every visit. The eTA that many other nationalities use is not available to you. "Tourist visa" and "visitor visa" are the same document in Canada: one visitor category covers holidays, family visits and short business trips.
It is not an e-visa in the usual sense. You apply online through the IRCC Portal, give fingerprints and a photo at a Visa Application Centre (VAC), and if you are approved, IRCC asks for your passport and puts a visa sticker in it. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) decides every application.
The visa and the stay are two different things:
- Validity. The officer chooses single or multiple entry and how long the visa lasts. The ceiling is 10 years, or the expiry of your passport or biometrics if that comes first. Since IRCC's change in November 2024, a 10-year multiple-entry visa is not automatic.
- Stay. Most visitors can stay up to 6 months. The border officer at entry may allow less or more, and stamps the leave-by date in your passport or issues a visitor record.
Canada visitor visa at a glance
- VisaTourism, family visits, business visits
- Visitor visa (TRV)
- FeesFamily caps: CAD 500 visa, CAD 170 biometrics
- CAD 100 visa + CAD 85 biometrics
- Where you applyBiometrics at a VAC: Chandigarh, Jalandhar, New Delhi and others
- Online, IRCC Portal
- Processing from IndiaIRCC figure updated 7 Oct 2026, excluding biometrics time
- 30 days
- ValidityOfficer decides single or multiple entry
- Up to 10 years
- Stay per visitSet by the border officer
- Usually up to 6 months
IRCC visitor visa pages and processing-time data, checked 14 Oct 2026
Where do applicants from Punjab apply?
Online, from home, and in the ordinary course there is no consulate interview. The steps run in this order:
- Create an IRCC account, answer the questionnaire, and upload the documents on your personalised checklist.
- Pay the visa fee and the biometrics fee together.
- Wait for the biometric instruction letter (BIL), then book a VAC appointment. Booking is free, and you have 30 days from receiving the BIL to give biometrics.
- Give fingerprints and a photo in person at the VAC.
- If IRCC approves the file, it sends a passport request; you submit the passport at the VAC or through VFS courier.
IRCC lists 10 VACs in India, run by VFS Global. Two are close to home: Jalandhar and Chandigarh. The New Delhi VAC serves Delhi, and the others are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. You pick the centre when you book, and the decision is IRCC's either way. Check our Canada appointment availability page to see how dates are moving.
Who gives biometrics: everyone aged 14 to 79, unless another exemption applies. Children under 14 and applicants over 79 are exempt, judged by age on the day the application is submitted. Biometrics last 10 years, so if you gave them recently you may not need to again, but IRCC cannot issue a visa valid beyond 10 years from your last biometrics. From 24 February 2026, VFS also requires applicants to upload the Biometric Instruction Letter.
Which documents depend on your situation?
Every applicant needs a passport, which IRCC says should be valid for at least 6 months from the date you plan to travel, and a letter authorising travel for any minor child. Beyond that, the portal generates your checklist, and IRCC's New Delhi office adds its own instructions for applicants in India. The most important of these: six months of bank history and two years of income tax returns.
Salaried
- What to add
- Employer's leave letter with your job, pay, hire date and the employer's contact details
Business owner or self-employed
- What to add
- Business evidence: registration, GST, business bank statements, ITRs
Retired
- What to add
- Pension proof, with bank statements showing it arriving
Student
- What to add
- Proof of enrolment and approved absence from classes
Someone else pays for the trip
- What to add
- A signed undertaking from the payer, with their identity, relationship to you and financial evidence
Visiting family or friends
- What to add
- An invitation with the visit dates, purpose, relationship, the host's status in Canada, household details and how you will be supported
Minor travelling alone or with one parent
- What to add
- Consent of the non-travelling parent, copies of their identity documents, and custody papers where relevant
For a family visit, IRCC's guidance on the invitation letter is specific. Your host should give your full name, date of birth, address and phone, your relationship, the purpose and length of the trip, where you will stay and who pays, and when you will leave. They add their own address, job title, whether they are a citizen or permanent resident with a copy of proof, and their family details. Bring the letter when you fly; a border officer may ask for it.
Documents not in English or French need certified translations. Declare every previous refusal from any country, and answer the background questions accurately.
How much is the Canada visa fee for Indians?
The visitor visa fee is CAD 100 per person, and a family of 5 or more pays a maximum of CAD 500 if everyone applies at the same time and place and the children qualify as dependants. Biometrics cost CAD 85 per person, or a maximum of CAD 170 for family members applying at the same time. IRCC's own India page puts the visa fee at around 6,000 rupees and warns that fees are the same for everyone. VFS charges nothing for the biometrics appointment; optional services such as two-way passport courier at ₹1,716 cost extra. Government fees are not refunded if the visa is refused. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.
How long does it take, and when should you apply?
IRCC's published processing time for visitor visas applied for from India was 30 days when it was last updated on 7 October 2026. That figure does not include the time it takes you to give biometrics, so book the VAC as soon as the BIL arrives.
The clock can stretch. IRCC may ask you to attend an interview, send more information, take a medical exam or get a police certificate, and says processing depends on the visa office and on any of those extra steps. After approval, add the time to submit your passport and get it back by courier.
When to apply:
- Start 2 to 3 months before travel if your dates are fixed, so a request for documents does not cost you the trip.
- Book tickets after the visa, or keep them refundable.
- Avoid incomplete files. IRCC says an incomplete application may be refused, which costs more time than a careful first filing.
Why do Canada visas get refused for Indian applicants?
The legal test is in section 179(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations: the officer must be satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your authorised stay. IRCC's eligibility page turns that into plain requirements: ties to your home country such as a job, home, financial assets or family, enough money for your stay, good health, no criminal or immigration-related convictions, and convincing the officer you will leave. A refusal letter ticks broad boxes against these grounds.
Ties that do not outweigh the pull of Canada
The most common refusal ground for Indian applicants. A job with approved leave, a running business, land, a spouse or children staying in India: each is evidence that you will return. If close family is settled in Canada, your ties in India need to be shown even more clearly.
Money that fits neither the trip nor your income
IRCC says the money you need depends on how long you stay and whether you stay in a hotel or with family. New Delhi asks for six months of bank history and two years of ITRs because the pattern matters. A large deposit just before filing turns a funds question into a credibility question.
A purpose the officer does not believe
A vague plan, an open-ended stay or an invitation that does not match your application makes the officer doubt you will leave at the end. State the reason, the dates and the return plan, and make every document tell the same story.
An incomplete application
IRCC checks that every listed document is there, and says an incomplete file may be refused. Upload everything on your personalised checklist plus the New Delhi items, and answer any request within its deadline.
False or fake documents
IRCC's India page is blunt: lying or sending fake or altered documents leads to refusal and a possible ban of at least 5 years. You are responsible for everything in your application, even if someone else filled it in.
Can you hope to settle in Canada and still get a visitor visa?
Yes. Dual intent is recognised in section 22(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: you may hope to become a permanent resident one day and still visit temporarily now. The officer only needs to be satisfied that you will leave at the end of this visit. Applicants who deny an obvious long-term plan, with a sponsorship on file or close family settled in Canada, damage their credibility for nothing.
There is no formal appeal against a visitor-visa refusal. IRCC says you should reapply only if your situation has changed significantly or you have new information that answers the refusal; judicial review in the Federal Court exists for decisions that are unreasonable or wrong in law, with a deadline commonly of 60 days when the decision was made outside Canada. Our list of Canada refusal reasons explained decodes each ticked box.
Tips for a stronger file
- Bank statements. Six months, from the accounts your income actually flows into. Explain any big credit with a document: sale deed, FD maturity, loan sanction.
- ITRs. Two years of acknowledgements, matching the income in your employer letter or business records.
- Leave letter. Job title, salary, date of joining, approved leave dates and an HR contact, on letterhead.
- Purpose letter. One page: why you are going, the dates, where you will stay, who pays, and why you will come back.
- Itinerary and bookings. A day plan and reservations that match the dates on the form. Do not pay for non-refundable tickets before the decision.
- Travel history. Upload old passport pages with US, UK, Schengen, Australian or other visas you used properly.
- Host papers. For a family visit, the invitation plus the host's status proof and family details, exactly as IRCC lists them.
- Same facts everywhere. Dates, job titles and relationships should read the same in the form, the letters and the invitation.
Should parents apply for a visitor visa or a super visa?
It depends on how long they want to stay. The super visa is for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and registered Indians. It lets them stay up to 5 years at a time and gives multiple entries for up to 10 years. IRCC itself says that if you want to stay 6 months or less, you should apply for a visitor visa.
The super visa asks for more: the child or grandchild's income above a set threshold, a signed invitation, an immigration medical exam, and medical insurance from a qualifying insurer covering at least one year. It also takes longer: IRCC's processing time from India was 74 days on 7 October 2026, against 30 days for a visitor visa. For a summer visit or a wedding, the visitor visa is the simpler route. For long stays with grandchildren, compare the two in our super visa vs visitor visa guide, and check the income rule with our super visa income calculator.
How do you find out the real reason for a refusal?
From the officer's notes, not the letter. A Canadian refusal letter ticks broad categories such as travel history, purpose of visit, personal assets or family ties. The officer's actual reasoning sits in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) notes. Since 29 July 2025 IRCC has been sending decision notes with most temporary-resident refusals; where they are missing, a request under the Privacy Act retrieves your file.
Read the notes before you decide anything. IRCC's India page warns that applying again with the same information will not change the decision. The full file also shows exactly what was submitted in your name, which matters if someone else prepared the last application. Our CAIPS and GCMS notes service and the guide to GCMS notes and the real reason for a refusal explain the process. For other Canadian routes, start at the Canada country page.
Official sources
- Visitor visa (temporary resident visa), IRCC
- Who needs a visitor visa, IRCC
- Citizenship and immigration application fees: fee list, IRCC
- Who can apply for a visitor visa, IRCC
- How to apply for a visitor visa, IRCC
- After you apply for a visitor visa, IRCC
- Prepare for your arrival, IRCC
- Who needs to give biometrics, IRCC
- How to give your biometrics, IRCC
- Find a visa application centre, IRCC
- Check processing times, IRCC
- Where to give your biometrics, IRCC
- Letter of invitation for visitors to Canada, IRCC
- Super visa for parents and grandparents, IRCC
- Know the rules before you apply from India, IRCC
- Help if your temporary residence application is refused, IRCC Help Centre
- VFS Global Canada India
