For a freelancer, would 3 employee reference letters suffice?

[Geladen1]

Hi everyone!

I'm about to apply for a TRV for the first time. I've only traveled to Hong Kong last year for a 3-day vacation. I'm a freelance event coordinator. I'm supposed to leave for Canada for a 6-week stay to tour some provinces and visit my boyfriend who will be giving me a notarized invitation letter with our travel itinerary, his passport and birth cert attached. I have no significant amount of money in the bank but my aunt will be helping me funding me in my trip. I will be staying with my boyfriend who shares a house with his parents. I will be submitting 3 employment reference letters from 3 of my clients stating that i'll be coming back.

In my letter of explanation, i have stated that i'm visiting my boyfriend and touring some parts of Canada with him. He'll be spending for some of the travel expenses while I will also use the funds that my aunt will be sponsoring me with. I also stated that I am a freelance event coordinator, I attached my resume with a list of projects I've worked on.

I know my chances of getting the TRV is really low, however, i'd still like to try.

I have a couple of questions:

-I know I have low chances of getting the visa, I advised my boyfriend to not book the flights yet. But we have prepared an itinerary of places we would go to every weekend for all the 6 weeks i'm staying(weekends because my boyfriend works on weekdays). Would the travel itinerary be sufficient?

-Since I don't have much in my bank account, it's basically useless. I also don't have pay stubs since I work per project. My aunt will be giving me pocket money for my trip, will that be enough? She'll be giving me her affidavit of support and bank statements.

-I wanna convince the embassy that i'll really return since I have projects later this year til next year with my 3 clients. I'll be asking 3 separate employee reference letters stating that i work with them each on a per project basis and that we have incoming projects and that they are expecting my return after the trip. Will those be enough?

-If my trip is being sponsored, would "Lack Personal assets and financial status" still be a reason for me being rejected?


Please let me know how I can make my chances higher. I would really appreciate it. Thank you!


PS. I am 24 years old from Manila, Philippines

PPS. I'd like to clarify that my boyfriend and I have indeed been together physically and that this is not some shady "online scam romance" thing. If that should be the reason why people haven't been replying. It's pretty frustrating to have that stamped across every Filipina with a boyfriend who's not Filipino.

 

[scylla]

Re: First time for Canadian TRV application, few important questions.

Unfortunately I think there's definitely a big possibility you will be refused for lack of assets. CIC wants to see that you have your own money which unfortunately you can't show. It would also be much (much) better if you were employed full time by a company rather than working freelance (this would be a much stronger tie). But there's obviously nothing you can do about this point either. I think you should be prepared for the fact that there's a very good chance you'll be refused. But certainly give it a shot - you may get lucky.

 

[Geladen1]

Unfortunately I think there's definitely a big possibility you will be refused for lack of assets. CIC wants to see that you have your own money which unfortunately you can't show. It would also be much (much) better if you were employed full time by a company rather than working freelance (this would be a much stronger tie). But there's obviously nothing you can do about this point either. I think you should be prepared for the fact that there's a very good chance you'll be refused. But certainly give it a shot - you may get lucky.

It was mentioned under the Proof of Income that I could show a COE that states a salary. Would it be accepted if I had one of my clients put how much they pay me per project we do since we have projects almost every month?