Re: NOA vs T4 vs Rest
I've been asked on a number of occasions if a
T4 or
NOA is necessary to apply for Super Visa (SV). My short answer would be
"YES" although IRCC/CIC hasn't specifically mentioned it in their website. In my experience, I've seen LVO's, especially from Asian countries, treat NOA/T4 mandatory as a proof of income for SV. There are few exceptions that were successful by deviating away from this practice only by providing alternate docs (EVL, pay slips etc.)
This is what the income proof portion of the document checklist looks like:
IMM5484 (CIC – Generic):
One of the following documents to prove that your child or grandchild meets the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) minimum:
• Most recent copy of the Notice of Assessment (NOA). If you do not have a paper copy of your NOA on file, you can view (and print) your tax return(s) as well as other personal tax information using the CRA's My Account online service. To register or login, visit My Account for Individuals.
• Most recent copy of the T4 or T1
• Original letter from employer stating title, job description and salary
• Employment insurance pay stubs
• If self-employed, a letter from an accountant confirming their annual income
• Proof of other sources of income (pension statement, investments, etc.)
Now, I will try to elaborate here why I would recommend everyone to apply with an NOA (which is even better than T4). New immigrants may not be familiar with these terms, so, I will start with few definitions first.
T4 = Statement of Remuneration Paid, provided by Employer at the beginning of a year for the previous employment year
NOA = Notice of Assessment, issued by CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) for the previous year after you file your taxes in the current year upon getting T4
EVL = Employment Verification Letter, provided by Employer on a company letterhead, stating job position, starting date and current salary
LVO = Local Visa Office (CIC), country-specific, that deals with any TRV application from countries within its jurisdiction. For example, Singapore-VO deals with all TRV sent from Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.
NOA vs T4 vs EVL
1) A T4 or NOA will show income earned in previous year whereas an EVL will show a projected income of current year (it hasn’t been earned yet and hence bears less importance).
2) An NOA will show all your income sources, but a T4 won't.
3) If you ever received welfare/benefits from the Govt, it will show up only in NOA (in which the VO may be interested in)
4) Consider yourself 1st party, your employer 2nd party and CRA/Accountant 3rd party. For a job, an NOA will be considered
3rd Party Evaluated, but a T4 or EVL is 2nd Party Evaluated. A
3rd Party Evaluation is better as it's not directly involved in both parties' transaction and so can't be biased.
5) Being Govt. entities, CIC will value a document (NOA) more that’s issued by CRA rather some companies.
6) It’s almost impossible to produce a forged NOA or T4. But an EVL can be fraudulent. Besides, NOA is easily verifiable by CRA.
7) If you look at the following document checklists, NOA has been numbered 1 for all cases as it’s most preferred by CIC. On a different note, it’s compulsory to provide NOA/ Option C for parents’ sponsorship (immigration).
In my view, backing up an NOA and/or T4 with EVL, recent pay stubs, bank statements etc. makes a case much stronger, especially if invitees (parents/grand-parents) either were refused TRV before or lack in proving ties, financial capabilities, travel history and so on.
Apart from this, it will be pretty hard for a new immigrant who has only few months of PR status and/or work history to convince the VO that s/he is financially stable enough of bearing all expenses of his/her parents without providing an NOA or T4.
I also want to remind you that you need to provide the required documents demanded by both CIC-Generic and your LVO-Specific. When you select the country (
use this link) from where your parents are applying from, the document checklist along with all other application forms will show up. Read them carefully as some LVO will have a special checklist for Super Visa (like below). Therefore, I picked some LVO for example who are widely known among Asians and have their own document checklist for TRV/SV:
IMM5881 (India – Specific):
Proof of the inviter’s ability to provide promised financial support including but not limited to:
• Notice of Assessment (NOA) for the past three tax years
• Employment letter identifying salary
• Pay stubs, bank statements, etc.
IMM5890 (Singapore – Specific):
One of the following documents to prove that your child or grandchild meets the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) minimum:
• Most recent copy of Notice of Assessment. If your child or grandchild does not have a paper copy of the NOA on file, he or she can view (and print) tax returns as well as other personal tax information using the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Account online service. To register or login, visit My Account
• Most recent copy of T4 or T1
• Original letter from employer stating title, job description, hiring date and salary
IMM5877 (Manila – Specific):
One of the following documents to prove that your child or grandchild meets the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) minimum:
• Most recent copy of the Notice of Assessment
• Most recent copy of the T4 or T1
Note: If your child or grandchild does not have a paper copy of the NOA on file, he or she can view (and print) tax returns as well as other personal tax information using the CRA’s My Account online service. To register or login, visit My Account.
IMM5884 (China/Hong Kong – Specific):
Proof of inviter’s ability to provide promised financial support in the form of independent, third party documentation from a Canadian source which is reliable or easily verifiable. For example, but not limited to: Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessments [NOA], employment letters showing salary, pay stubs, banks statements, Statements of Remuneration Paid or financial statements prepared by a licensed professional.
