How difficult/easy it is to immigrate parent to Canada?

[the_flying_flash]

I am a software developer by profession from India. I am evaluating possibilities of immigrating to Canada using express entry program for skilled employees. Here is one concern which is bugging me.

My mother is the single parent after the demise of my father a few years ago. It is not possible for me to let her leave alone in India. So I am looking for the ways to bring her Canada as soon as possible after I move there. As per my analysis, the fastest and immediate option is of Super Visa which will be valid for 10 years and she can spend 2 years continuously and then she needs to re-entry (please correct me if I am wrong).

Here are some questions I am having related to Super Visa:

1) How long does it take to bring my parent Canada on Super Visa once I move there?
2) The health insurance needs to be taken care by me. How costly can the insurance get? Are there any insurances available which cover all medical conditions immediately? For the worst cases is it at all feasible to bear medical treatment cost in Canada without health insurance cover?
3) Re-entry after completion of 2 years is approved easily? So, basically, will it be possible to keep my parent in Canada for 10 years using back to back re-entries?

Again as per my analysis, the long-term and permanent solution is sponsoring the parent. However, I have come to know from the official site that currently parent sponsorship applications from 2014 is being processed. This indicates that processing of parents sponsorship applications is comparatively slow.

Here are some questions related to same:

1) Will it be safe to assume that if I apply for parent sponsorship now or within a year then within 5-6 years the application will get processed?

2) Are the parent's sponsorship applications processed on first come first serve basis or based on some lucky draw?

Thank you for reading this long post until the end. I will really appreciate any help/suggestions which can clear my doubts.

Regards.

 

[Buletruck]

Supervisa

1. Once you are employed and can show your earnings meet LICO, you can apply for a SV. Unlike a TRV, the onus is in you to prove you can support her.
2. Costs vary by the amount of coverage. I don’t know of any that will cover pre-existing conditions. Paying for health care in Canada can be prohibitively expensive. It would be easy to run into hundreds of thousands of dollars very quickly. (An Australian couple with a premature birth recently ran up a million dollar hospital bill in Vancouver).
3. A SV is essentially just a tourist visa. Any entry to Canada is determined by CBSA at the POE for duration. There is never a guarantee. If they suspect your mother is staying too long or living in Canada, expect them to limit or refuse her entry. Keeping her here 10 years continuously is highly unlikely.

Sponsorship (PGP

1. You need to meet LICO for the three years prior to sponsoring your parents and maintain it until they land. Income must be from Canadian sources. Realistically, it would be the 4th year before you could consider sponsoring. Best case scenario would be 5-6 years (realistically). If you have a complicated application, it could be much longer. Also keep in mind that if your mother fails the medical, she will likely be refused on medical inadmissibility.
2. They accept 10,000 applications annually in January and it’s based on a draw. If you are lucky, you get drawn fairly soon after being eligible. If you aren’t lucky, you never get chosen.

Keep in mind these are the current requirements and can change with successive governments.

 

[scylla]

You should also note there is no guarantee the super visa will be approved. If your mother cannot demonstrate sufficiently strong ties to her home country - this can be a reason for the super visa to be refused. If she has medical issues - this can be a cause for refusal as well.

 

[Rob_TO]

3) Re-entry after completion of 2 years is approved easily? So, basically, will it be possible to keep my parent in Canada for 10 years using back to back re-entries?

Based on others reported experiences with supervisa, CBSA does not always allow a 2-year entry on any given visit. Often they will give much less (like 6 months or so), meaning you may need to try and extend status or return home before attempting to come back again, more often than you think.

At some point, supervisa may no longer be a feasible option if insurance costs become too high or CBSA/IRCC thinks she intends to stay in Canada forever.

2) Are the parent's sponsorship applications processed on first come first serve basis or based on some lucky draw?

Right now it's a lucky draw, which you can only even enter after 3 years of income tax returns meeting minimum income amount.

So in 4 years or so time when you are eligible, there is no telling what the situation will be at that time. In-between now and then many things about the program will change, may have more strict requirements, less lottery spots available making odds very low, etc etc. So you have to prepare for a possible scenario where you will never be able to sponsor your parents for PR.