Will it be a frosty Friday?

[tamaraw]

Edited to show an admirable economy of language. Not sure why scylla bothered to quote it in full, below. Seems like a waste of bandwidth and might slow down some readers.

 

[scylla]

Hi all. Newbie here.

I have read a fair bit on this forum and my present interest relates to a TRV application.

I have searched for postings by those who are similarly situated. No two TRV applications are alike, but there are some parallels on occasion, yet the results appear to be singularly disparate. Some applications that appear hopeless succeed, while others, that would appear to be assured of success, fail miserably. That said, a common denominator in many of the posts is a lack of sufficient detail that would allow one to draw meaningful comparisons as to the merits.

By way of background, I was living in the Philippines when I met the woman who is now my wife. We married and I sponsored her application for permanent residence and she has been in Canada for more than 15 years, as a citizen for most of those years. We have made a couple of visits back to the PI in the years since. Our child is now age 14.

My wife's parents were not married and have been apart for some years. My wife has a mother, father and brother in the Phils, but has maintained a relationship with only her father. We want to bring him here on a TRV for maybe a month next summer 0i.e., in 2019).

The fly in the ointment is that I think dad can fairly be described as a pauper. Sure, he works enough as a carpenter to support himself, but that's about it. At present, he holds no passport, has probably never traveled more than 100 miles from home, has limited assets (I believe he owns a small plot of land, but of modest value). No long employment record. He's about 55 yr. old.

So, the simple question (disarmingly simple to state, at least) is should we even bother to try on an application? A pre-requisite, I suppose, would be getting him a passport. But I do not want to go through that exercise only to follow up with a futile TRV application. I suspect the passport application will present its own set of obstacles. My wife's certainly did. She was born in a nipa hut to unmarried parents. The record of her birth was a matter of some doubt. No school or other records of which to speak. We made endless trips to the DFA in Manila to get through all the hoops to get her passport. But persistence finally was rewarded.

As for us, we used to live in Vancouver, but now live more remotely. A place where tourists come in summer. I am of an age where some have retired. I am somewhat in that mode myself. I am old enough to draw on CPP and OAP but I am deferring to age 70, to get the enhanced benefits (about 6% per year increase) from waiting. I do not need that income (it will be about $1,800/mo.) now. But my Line 150 income was only about $35,000 for the 2017 tax year. For 2018 it will go up to about $100,000 (as in most past years) and go up from there. My wife works from time to time, but in 2017 her earnings were only about $1,000, compared to $8,000 in 2016. Our home is worth about $1.5 million and our net worth is about CAD3.75 million.

I mention our own financial picture because some posts here seem to suggest that it's taken into consideration on a relative's TRV application, while other posts suggest that if the applicant cannot show sufficient financial clout on their own merit to get here and bear their own costs, it matters not a whit that the close relative they are coming to visit has deep pockets and will be paying the tab.

He Majesty's government for some reason will not accept, but I would happily post $100,000 in cash as security for my father-in-law's promise to get back on the damn plane at the end of his trip and return to the RP. Should be fail to show, the $ would be forfeit. Here in Canada we let those accused of serious crimes out on bail on much less onerous conditions. Putting up some serious coin would certainly motivate many to see their visitors leave. Not to be. Too sensible, I suppose. Just an aside.

So, what is the view here? Forget about it? We'll probably go back next year and let dad meet his grandchild. But it would be fun to bring dad back to Canada with us for a month. It would be quite the experience for him. I have no worries about him jumping ship. Without my support, he'd be a fish out of water.

Does my income situation matter? Should we wait a year to apply, after I have reported net income of about $100,000 for 2018? Should we embark on another route, one that to me seems quite silly and obvious - transfer a whole bunch of income and assets into the name of out intended visitor, but on some clever plan to have it occur over a long period and at regular intervals so as to hide the true source of the wealth? To me, if the elves at CIC fall for even the most sophisticated plan of that ilk they should be fired. But I see that scheme apparently resorted to on a regular basis and some claim it has worked.

A last comment. I think the focus on income (if there be such focus) of either the applicant or any supporting relative, is entirely misplaced, certainly unless a substantial income stream can be verified over long years. Income can be quite fleeting - here this year, gone next. A more reliable indicator, in my view, is net worth. It tends to be less transient.

Thoughts? Would it be a frosty Friday before a TRV such as that contemplated for dear old dad would be greeted with other than derision and peals of laughter?

Recommend you be a great deal crisper in your posts in the future. You've provided a lot of info that's not relevant and it was quite a bit of work to try to pick out the stuff that is. I'll answer what I can - but may have missed key facts.

- No process exists where you can post a bond / security to guarantee a visitor will return home after their trip.
- Yes, he needs to start by obtaining a passport.
- Yes, his lack of employment / ties to his home country / previous travel will make the TRV process more challenging.
- Yes, if possible, I would wait until you can report higher income before applying.
- I would not recommend transferring funds to him. Without employment proof, it's quite possible IRCC will question the sources of those funds and then it will be obvious they were transferred to him for the sole purpose of strengthening his application.
- See what you can do to show ties. If he owns land, obtain and include proof of ownership.
- See what you can do to show he's in a common law relationship with your wife's mother (if they are still together) and also has other family (children, grandchildren?) back home. Since they aren't coming with him, they can be used as ties.

 

[tamaraw]

Pruned for even greater economy.

 

[Bryanna]

Well, thank you scylla for the quick and considered reply. The admonition about crispness is noted as well.

No admonition here. None of us on this forum (or even someone off the forum. Read: Visa officers) have the luxury of time. Superfluous details take away from the crux of the matter + make the reader to lose interest even if someone has attempted to go through a long-winding post.

It is really generous and kind of @scylla to have read through your entire post and for her to have given her views.

Why am I saying this? The same yardstick applies to your TRV application as well. Visa officers are constrained for time. If you want your application to have any chances of success:
1. Keep the language to simple, every day. You'll probably get a Band 9 in IELTS, but that's not required in your communication to IRCC
2. State your facts in a point-format/bullet format. Short and crisp.
3. State what is relevant to your TRV application.... more specifically, facts that would help the visa officer to assess your situation + make a decision.


PS:
I did not go through your posts. I skipped reading your posts after the first two lines

 

[tamaraw]

PS:
I did not go through your posts. I skipped reading your posts after the first two lines

And just how, pray tell, was my initial post about a TRV for a relative any more verbose and larded with irrelevant material than was your post a few years back entitled: "Visitor Visas for Parents and Myself - Need advice"? A fine parsing of what you then wrote would reveal more than a few words that could have been omitted.

Anyway, I get the idea that this forum is for the intently-focussed and businesslike types who have no time for personal introductions, background or pleasantries. Fine. To me, the idea of providing some detail and background helps readers to see how closely their situation compares with those of another. It should eliminate the need for some questions and lead to increased efficiency, which seems to be key here. However, it appears that such inane banter derogates seriously from the unbridled haste that is apparently a hallmark of this forum.

And on the topic you raise of visa officers having no time for any application that has not been stripped to its essentials, how do you reconcile that with what you wrote of your own TRV application:

The look on the VFS guy's face when we submitted our paper-based applications was not to be missed..... he simply could not believe that the huge pile of neatly sequenced explanations + a separate pile of well-numbered Evidence..... Sponsor documents.... was just one application.... Mine..... I was the Principal Applicant.

Can you fairly say that every piece and every word of that "huge pile" was a sine qua non to the success of the application? I would doubt it.

Anyway, I appreciate the warm welcome and I would ask that you strike my membership here. It was ill-considered. I have not found a way to do it, but perhaps you are endowed with the means.

Regards,
t

 

[Bryanna]

And on the topic you raise of visa officers having no time for any application that has not been stripped to its essentials, how do you reconcile that with what you wrote of your own TRV application:

The look on the VFS guy's face when we submitted our paper-based applications was not to be missed..... he simply could not believe that the huge pile of neatly sequenced explanations + a separate pile of well-numbered Evidence..... Sponsor documents.... was just one application.... Mine..... I was the Principal Applicant.

None of my papers were extraneous/irrelevant. You don't know the facts of my case. So, stay out!

In any case, I do not need to prove anything to you. Nor do I have the time to read your voluminous posts. Also, I'm not the one seeking advice on this forum.

BTW did I not say that some people have too much free time on their hands than the rest of us busy folks? You most certainly do by digging up old posts!


Good luck!