International Centre

Temporary Resident Visas

Depending on their country of citizenship, your family members they may need to apply for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV, or “entry visa”) that allows them to travel to Canada. If your family members will accompany you to Canada, they can either apply at the same time as you or join you after you have arrived.

To ensure that your family members travelling without you are admitted to Canada as visitors for the length of your study permit, be sure to send them copies of your study permit, Temporary Resident Visa (if you have one) and passport for them to present to the authorities at the Canadian port of entry (airport or border crossing).

Online application for You and Family Members
If you and your family members TRV expires, you need to apply for new TRVs in order to re-enter Canada at the same time. You can apply for a new TRV in your home country or at the Case Processing Pilot Office in Ottawa (CPP-O).You can now apply for a TRV online. Do not send your passports until you are asked to do so by IRCC.

HOW TO APPLY

Step 1: Log into my IRCC through GCKey or Sign-in partner

If you are a new user, you must register for MyCIC through GCKey or Sign-in Partner. Your Client ID from your Study Permit is required to complete the registration.

Step 2: Click on ‘Apply for visitor visa or study/work permit'

You will be prompted to enter a personal checklist code. If you do not already have a code, click on "Determine your eligibility". Answer all the questions that follow.

You can find a guide to completing the questionaire here.

Step 3: Fill in the online application form and gather supporting documentation for you and your dependents

1. Complete the IMM 5257 Application form(s) for you and family members. Validate and save the form(s) as an unsigned copy. You can find the guide to completing IMM5257 here.

2. Other forms may need to be completed here also.

3. Gather the following supporting documents:

digital photo (420x540 pixels)
passport pages (only pages with stamps, visas, photos) of each dependent
study permit or post-graduate work permit (if applicable)
recent transcript (go to DalOnline)
proof of next term's enrolment: you can get Confirmation of Enrolment from DalOnline or the Registrar's Office for undergraduate students, or from the Faculty of Graduate Studies for graduate students
proof of means of financial support (balance statement from bank)

Once you have all the documents ready, save them electronically, then upload the IMM 5257 form and supporting documents.

Step 4: Pay the application fee

Pay theTRV renewal fee of $100 CAD online per TRV application with a credit card (VISA, MasterCard, American Express). Do not forget to print a receipt.

Step 5: Submit application and wait for IRCC response

Save or print your confirmation of successful transmission for your records.

Once your application has been processed, IRCC will send you an email and direct you to your "MyCIC" account to check your messages (under "My Messages").

In your "My Messages", print the IRCC letter, then purchase two prepaid (32 x 24 cm and 26 x 16.5 cm) Xpresspost—National envelopes at any Canada Post retail outlet.

Enclose one envelope in the other envelope along with your passports and IRCC letter. This second envelope will be used to return your passports and new TRVs to you and your family members

Please mail your passport and letter to the following address:

CPP – Ottawa
P. O. Box 9640
Ottawa, ON, K1G 6T2

Write your Client ID, Application Number (found in your letter) and “TRV Application” on your envelope (white area above the mailing label).
Client ID: ######
Application: V######

NEED HELP?

Please review our Contact Us page that lists who to
contact for different types of advising and support.

Dalhousie University