A blog reader asked me of travel insurance is required in visitor visa application. For the benefit of those who may be wondering too whether travel insurance is required, I thought of posting my answer here.
First. let's define what is a travel insurance.
Here's a travel insurance definition from MSN Encarta:
insurance for problems while traveling: insurance to cover the eventualities of a period of travel away from home such as flight delay, loss of baggage, theft of money or belongings, or medical costs
And another travel insurance definition from Wikipedia:
Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses and financial (such as money invested in nonrefundable pre-payments) and other losses incurred while traveling, either within one's own country, or internationally.
Now that we have a clear information on what a travel insurance is, the next thing to do is refer to the application kit for Tourist Visa Application. You will find there the list of requirements. Reading Canadian Tourist Visa Application guide will give you more information about visitor visa application.
Travel Insurance is technically not required. It is not included in the checklist of documents. Remember, however, that in visitor visa application, you must be able to convince the visa officer that you have a valid purpose and that you have the means to support your travel. Having a travel insurance will not only help your case, but it will also be of big help in case something happen to you while you're traveling. That is what insurance is for.
