Hi There,

I will really appreciate if someone can guide us on what to do (below is our story).

My mother-in-law applied for Super Visa through VFS Ahemdabad. She finished her medical exam and got a stamp till 2018 on her passport. She has ONE YEAR medical Insurance from Canadian Insurance Company. She traveled today (Feb 18th 2012) to Canada. She landed at Toronto Airport.

At the Airport Immigration Office only gave her SIX month Visa to Stay in Canada. In response to her request for a longer stay the officer told her that her MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION is not available to them so they won't provide her longer stay.

I am fuming in anger and dissatisfaction because of this incident. My wife is pregnant and she is distressed by this too. We also made several decisions such as purchasing only one way ticket for mother-in-law based on the expectation that she would be granted 2 years visa as per promise by Canadian Government.

We feel cheated and feel extremely helpless. Please let us know if there is any way to get 2 years visa without spending any more money.

Thanks,
JP

You should contact CIC to discuss your case. Refer to link
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

I guess this shows there is no guarantee that even if one is granted a super visa that they will be allowed to stay for the maximum 2 years per visit.

Thanks for your reply and time Kulb.

The frustrating thing is that because of CIC's internal process issue they were not able to see the medical information of my mother-in-law and now we have to go through all these hassel and disappointment.

No legal reasons were given for short stay. We did call Local Airport Immigration Officer and their advice was to call Inland Immigration.

We just hope that we can resolve this so that my pregnant wife can spend more time with her mom.

Very unprofessional behaviour by Canadian Border Agency Officer at the port of entry. The Senior officer just refused to listen and only gave 5 second - yelling NO NO NO - Only six months and rushed out of the booth.

Hi JP,
Thanks for sharing the story, your frustration is understandable.
Clearly, You will have to go through additional hassle of applying for visa extension in 3-4 months time. I am not sure what other solution can be. It is totally illogical that while they force you to take ONE YEAR mandatory medical insurance for the visitor while applying, but the bsos are still given power to reduce the visa validity for super visa. ridiculous!.

For our education, can you please inform how much time prior to start of travel the medical was completed by aunty ? May be one of the lesson here is to wait for enough time for all databases to get updated before flying.

Thanks again for the info share.

Here are some additional details..

Visa Application Centre: VFS Canada in Ahmedabad
Visa Application Date: 12-Dec-11
Medical Exam Date: 22-Dec-11
Medical Centre: Apollo Hospital in Ahmedabad, India
Passport Resubmission Date: 28-Dec-11
Date of Super Visa (PG-1) Issuance by Delhi High Commission: 04-Jan-2012
Super Visa Expiry Date: 11-Aug-2018.
Date of Arrival in Canada: 18-Feb-2012
Port of Entry in Canada: Toronto
Stay Granted: Six Months (up to 17-Aug-2012)


My understanding is that without verifying the medical records, they could not have granted Super Visa. So to me it seems there is been a gross oversight on the officer's end.

If nothing else works(i.e. appealing), then you can apply for the visa extension in her 4th month of stay within Canada. They are very easy on the extensions. I recently applied my parents' visitor visa extension for 6 months and they extended it to 2 years. I submitted the medical insurance only for 6 months. You will get the response within a month after you apply.

So, don't lose heart. There are alternatives.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience Febpreet. Just quick follow-up question. Can you please let me know what forms you completed and what fees you had to pay? I am assuming that no medical examination was requested, please clarify that too.

Many thanks to all of you for your support and help.