I used the new portal. My mother had a visit visa rejection in the past with not a strong documentation done by a paid representative and it was back in 2019. I have ordered a GCMS note this yesterday. I am not sure if they should worried about sibling's medical expense as I had taken medical insurances already and she don't have any medication so far.
As per the GCMS notes in the first application only for my mother, the reason was "considering the economic conditions and employment prospects in home country, and taking into the account factors including travel history, economic establishment and family ties. I am not satisfied that the applicant would respect the terms of admission as a temporary resident in Canada". I completely agree to their points of travel history, economic establishment and family ties in the previous statement as my lawyer didn't submitted those documents with the first application and I was nots aware about the critical role of these info. My mother is a government employee in a clerical role of panchayat, so didn't understand the statement related to employment prospects in home country . This time I made sure these gaps are filled, except her travel history. Still the same rejection.
Hmm, yeah financial documents are very critical and you should give them as much as possible. I also feel invitation letter has to be very brief, and advocate why parents need to go back to India. If you mother employment is a pensioned one, you have to make a very strong yet subtle point in letter about that. Something like, "parents would be staying with us for brief 3 weeks, as mother's government employment has limited vacation and continued employment is vital for their retirement benefits". I tried to do on the fly, but can make it more reasonable.
In my case, I showed parent's saving of around 12k CAD and father's pension slips. It doesn't need to be a lot but anything they have also shows their independence. Sometimes they consider your household income too and number of family members (including parents) which shouldn't be issue assuming both you and your spouse are working.
What I personally feel (and I may be wrong) is if possible, getting some visas and travel history can boost their case. Like if they get a Dubai or Singapore visa, make a visit. If not visit, maybe having some valid visa (like US visa) can boost their case. Like you are planning a vacation in Hawaii and parents are also planning to come and get together winters (Canadian winters are not pretty is a good reason
). US B1/B2 process was quite straightforward, as it's interview, you pass or you fail but due to COVID that also has wait times I think. Because that would bring some change to their profile from last two times. Every trip to a developed country you make and return, adds to your benefit.
I am not an immigration expert, but this is my personal takeaway.