Loading page
About this tool
Draft an IMM 5257 visitor visa letter of explanation with itinerary, funding, fee totals and a super visa insurance check.
The Canada Visa Cover Letter Builder produces the letter of explanation that accompanies an IMM 5257 temporary resident visa or a super visa application, and totals the government fees at the same time. It applies the published IRCC amounts — CAD 100 per person for the visitor visa with a CAD 500 family maximum from five applicants, CAD 85 per person for biometrics with a CAD 170 family maximum — and checks the trip against the six months a visitor is normally authorised from the day of entry. For super visa applicants it also tests the CAD 100,000 emergency medical insurance requirement.
Open Canada Visa Cover Letter Builder on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Paste or type the text you're working with.
Choose how it should be transformed or analyzed.
Copy the finished text into your document or post.
Applies the per-person amounts and both family caps, so the total in your letter matches what you will actually pay.
Shows the date a standard six-month admission would end and warns when your plan runs past it.
Checks the CAD 100,000 insurance minimum and reminds you that the host must meet the minimum necessary income.
CAD 100 per person for the visitor visa, with a maximum of CAD 500 for a family of five or more applying at the same time, plus biometrics at CAD 85 per person to a maximum of CAD 170 per family of two or more. Biometrics are reused for ten years, so you may not have to pay that part again.
Normally six months from the day you enter, unless the border services officer writes a different date in your passport or issues a visitor record. If no date is stamped, the six months runs from the entry date. To stay longer you apply for a visitor record from inside Canada before that date passes.
It is the optional cover letter you upload with an IMM 5257 application to explain, in your own words, why you are travelling, how long for, who is paying, and why you will return home. It is not a form, but visa officers read it, and it is the natural place to explain anything unusual in your file — a gap in employment, a change of name, or a previous refusal.
Emergency medical insurance of at least CAD 100,000, from a Canadian insurer or an approved non-Canadian insurer, valid for at least one year from the date you enter Canada, and paid for in full. Your inviting child or grandchild must also show income at or above the minimum necessary income for their household size — that table is updated each year, so check the current figure on canada.ca before you file.