The invitation letter is a promise, not a form.
There is no IRCC form for it and no fee. It is a signed statement from you — the person in Canada — that an officer reads for one thing: whether the plan is real and you intend to keep it. It does not guarantee a visa. Check your draft against the official list before anyone signs.
Letter checker
Is your letter complete? Check it before anyone signs.
IRCC lists exactly what the letter must say — about the person you are inviting, and about you. Tick what your draft already covers. The most common failure is not weak wording; it is a missing item an officer expects to find.
Your letter
Nothing is submitted or stored — this checks in your browser.
Guidance only, reviewed August 2026. The letter is your statement, in your words — this tool checks structure, it does not write prose. Confirm requirements on canada.ca and, for parents and grandparents, the super visa instructions. Book a review.
The outline
Write it in your own words. Here is the order.
We deliberately do not generate the letter. Officers read thousands of template letters and recognize them on sight — a letter in your own voice, covering the right things in a sensible order, does more for the application than polished boilerplate ever will.
Your full name, date of birth, address and telephone number in Canada, your job, and your status — citizen, permanent resident or registered Indian. Enclose a photocopy of the document that proves the status.
Their full name, date of birth, address and telephone number, and how you know each other — the exact relationship, in plain words. For a super visa, the relationship must be parent or grandparent through a biological or adopted child.
Why they are coming, when, and for how long. A purpose that fits the length — "my mother is coming for the birth of our first child in November and will stay four months" reads as a plan; a vague long stay does not.
The address they will live at, and who covers travel, living costs and — for the super visa — everything, in writing: the promise of financial support for the length of the authorized stays is mandatory content, not courtesy.
Names and dates of birth of your spouse or partner and dependants. For the super visa, list every person in the family-size count, everyone whose income is relied on, and the income documents attached for each.
That they will leave by the end of the authorized stay, that everything in the letter is true, and your signature and date. You must tell the truth and plan to keep the promises you make — IRCC's words, and the standard an officer reads the letter against.
Three facts
What the letter is — and is not.
IRCC is explicit: a letter of invitation does not guarantee a visa. The applicant is still assessed on ties, funds, purpose and history — the letter is evidence, not permission.
It is an ordinary signed letter. You write it, you send it to the applicant, and they include it with their application. Anyone selling you an "official invitation form" is selling paper.
Not required by default — but IRCC notes a visa office may ask for a notarized letter. Check the local visa office instructions for the applicant's country before sending it.
Since March 31, 2026 the Ministerial Instructions make specific content mandatory: the promise of financial support, the full family-size list with dates of birth, everyone providing income proof, and the documents for each. The income side has its own arithmetic — run your family size and income through the super visa checker before the letter is drafted, because the letter must list the same people the income test counts.
Next steps
The letter is one document. Here is the application around it.
Ties, funds, purpose and history — the four things an officer weighs, and the file that answers them.
Five years per entry — with a host income test and a $100,000 insurance requirement to satisfy first.
A licensed RCIC reads the letter against the application it supports — Brampton, London, or remotely across Canada.
An invitation letter cannot rescue a weak application — but a bad one can sink a strong one.
Send us the draft and the family details. We will tell you what is missing, what reads as a formality, and whether the application it supports is ready. Book a consultation
Reviewed August 2026 — general information only, not legal advice, and no consultant–client relationship is created by reading this page. Requirements change; confirm on canada.ca before filing. IRCC makes all final decisions.
eligibility review
Find out where you actually stand.
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
- Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant — never a bot, never a salesperson
- A written shortlist of the programs you realistically qualify for
- Consultations are fee-based; you get the fee and available times by reply
CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.