Sarah’s parents are here on a visitor’s visa, which is good for six months. They have been enjoying their visit to Vancouver a lot and I’ve been having a great time showing them the sites and sounds of the best city in the world to live in. However, what they most enjoy is their new granddaughter. They have been a tremendous help to Sarah and me when it comes to our daughter. It was always my intention to extend their visit here for a year. Customs and Immigration Canada allows visitors to request an extension on their visas.

I mailed off the visa extension request over 40 days ago because the documentation said they needed to receive it at least 30 days before the visas expires. However, upon checking the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website, I noticed that the average request time was taking 50 days. If that was really the case, then the visitor visas will expire before we get an answer. Not good at all!

A couple of weeks ago I call the Citizenship and Immigration Canada office to see if there were any updates on the application. The parent’s visas would expire at the end of November and we were getting worry. Our worst fears were confirmed when the immigration officer told us that they would not be able to give us answer before the visas expires. However, she informed me that the parents could stay until we receive their answer - even if the visas expires. That was a relief!

Waiting for Immigration Canada to get back to us was still a bit nerve racking. I was 99% sure they would approve for the extension but there is always that 1% chance they won’t. Well today, 4 days after their visas expired, I got this in the mail.

Canada has granted Sarah’s parents an extension on their visitor’s visas. That’s one less thing to worry about now. I have a feeling this really will be a good Christmas.