Family Invitation Letter Dilemma!

[NeWLife82]

Hi Friends,

I need your help about invitation letter for my mother-in-law in Turkey. I have read lots of thread at this forum, but could not find any situation same to me.

Me, my wife and and our 3.5 years old daughter are here with PR status. We want to invite my mother-in-law to Canada for 6 months as visitor. I have been here for 2 years and my wife and my daughter have been here for 9 months. Problem is that both I and my wife are unemployed and we are getting Ontario Works (Welfare). We have two options for invitation:


Option1 ) My wife will send an invitation letter to her mother and will indicate that her mother will be responsible for all her expenses. Since we are not working we cannot say that we will responsible for her expenses here. My mother in law has 2 properties in her name and has some funds(about $20.000) in her name in Turkey. She has strong ties with her country. Her husband, two daughters and a son live in Turkey.



Option 2) My father is Canadian citizen and lives very close to us. He is retired. He has his own house and good amount of money in his bank account. He will send invitation letter to my mother in law/ or he will sign the invitation letter as co-inviter.

What do you think about these two options? Please share your advices and experience with me.

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Buletruck]

Asking for 6 months will likely result in a refusal. Better to ask for 2-3 weeks and if approved, see what the immigration officer at the POE gives her for a departure date. She will need to prove she has sufficient finances for the trip and strong ties to her home country, so option 1 should be the choice you make. Invitation letters are secondary to the applicants personal situation, as there is nothing binding for the government to hold the inviter to.

 

[scylla]

It looks like you and your family obtain PR status through a refugee claim. If so, definitely do not ask for more than a 2-3 week visit for your mother-in-law. She will need to show very strong ties to her home country to be approved and requesting a six month visit effectively demonstrates she has no ties at all. The fact you obtained your residency through a refugee claim will make it more difficult for her to be approved as a visitor.

Given both of you are on OW - I'm not sure I would include an invitation letter at all. This may just weaken the application further.

 

[NeWLife82]

It looks like you and your family obtain PR status through a refugee claim. If so, definitely do not ask for more than a 2-3 week visit for your mother-in-law. She will need to show very strong ties to her home country to be approved and requesting a six month visit effectively demonstrates she has no ties at all. The fact you obtained your residency through a refugee claim will make it more difficult for her to be approved as a visitor.

Given both of you are on OW - I'm not sure I would include an invitation letter at all. This may just weaken the application further.

Hi Scylla,

Thank you very much for your reply.
You are right. I got my pr status through refugee claim and than sponsored my wife and daughter.
You are saying that it would be better if we do not send an invitation letter. I never thought about this, but it comes to me reasonable.
It is clear to me that duration for trip would be maximum 1 month. Do you know what is general practice for this? Do immigration officers give longer departure date than requested? If so we can extend her staying after she comes here. My mother in law has really strong ties with her country. All of her family live in Turkey except her daughter.Her son earns really good and has large amount of money on his bank account. Do you think he should write a notarized letter which indicate that he will be responsible for all her expenses?

Lastly, what do you think about our second option: My father is Canadian citizen and lives very close to us. He is retired. He has his own house and good amount of money in his bank account. He will send invitation letter to my mother in law/ or he will sign the invitation letter as co-inviter.

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,

 

[NeWLife82]

Asking for 6 months will likely result in a refusal. Better to ask for 2-3 weeks and if approved, see what the immigration officer at the POE gives her for a departure date. She will need to prove she has sufficient finances for the trip and strong ties to her home country, so option 1 should be the choice you make. Invitation letters are secondary to the applicants personal situation, as there is nothing binding for the government to hold the inviter to.

Hi Buletruck,

Thank you for your reply.
It is clear to me that duration for trip would be maximum 1 month. Do immigration officers give longer departure date than requested? If so we can extend her staying after she comes here.
My mother in law has really strong ties with her country. All of her family live in Turkey except her daughter.Her son earns really good and has large amount of money on his bank account. Do you think he should write a notarized letter which indicate that he will be responsible for all her expenses?

Lastly, what do you think about our second option: My father is Canadian citizen and lives very close to us. He is retired. He has his own house and good amount of money in his bank account. He will send invitation letter to my mother in law/ or he will sign the invitation letter as co-inviter.

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,

 

[scylla]

You should keep the trip to 2-3 weeks. Not 1 month. Yes - you can apply to extend her stay once she's here. Whether the extension is approved is up to CIC.

Her son's job isn't a tie. Apart from family, what other ties does she have to her home country? Hopefully she has more than just family. Yes - her son can sponsor her trip.