Invitation Letter - Critique SVP

[gillespiedc]

Hi iarblue,

This is precicely the way we are going to proceed, within the letter of immigration law. And we are revising all of our documents and letters to communicate that clearly.

You may have missed it in previous posts, but since we live in Guangdong province, and Hellens ID is Zhuhai issued, we cannot go through the Beijing office for PR. This was made clear when I spoke to them on the phone, and verified on the CIC website. Hong Kong is our PR office, and quite frankly, I don't get all bubbly, feel-good inside when a) I see their turn-around times, and b) can only get a recorded message with no option to talk to a real person in the office.

Despite all the 'horror stories' in regard to inland PR apps, given the big picture I believe this is the best course of action for our particular situation. Either way we will let you all know how it goes.

Thank you again for your responses.

Doug

 

[canadianwoman]

Yes, if you manage to get TRVs with that letter and evidence, please tell us. It will be a great help for others on the forum. Many of us with a spouse from a 'difficult' country have abandoned hope of them getting a TRV. Any evidence that it is in fact possible will be welcome.

 

[steaky]

I still think if you have a second home, say somewhere in Nanjing, you can still go through the Beijing office for PR since it is more faster to process (regardless where your wife's id, hukou ben is issued) than in HK.

 

[gillespiedc]

Thanks for your continued interest CW, and yes, if this is successful I will publish the final invitation and other support documents we have attained from work and school. We are taking the bus to Guangzhou in the morning tomorrow to submit the apps, and if it goes like last year, should have a desision in less than 2 weeks... God, I hope so! We are going to lose a lot of sleep as we wait!! Overall, we do feel good about doing things this way, but we are still scared that we might have to be apart if they don't believe us to have legitimate dual intent. Hopefully the officer reviewing our case will get a good feeling when reading our file.

Steaky, I was telling Hellen that if we get denied and have to apply for PR outland, she should go stay with her cousins (just north of Beijing) and apply from there. That's when she brought up that her ID is from here. I will call the BJ office again and see if PRC ID issue location, or physical residence is the deciding factor for the office. Should we be denied TRV it would be a good thing to know if we can use the (much more favourable) Beijing office.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

 

[lands]

Good luck with the process. Keep us posted with how you make out.

 

[gillespiedc]

Thank you lands, we are still pouring over every word in every document tonight. Keep wondering if I am doing the right thing, or even doing the wrong thing the right way! It's going to be a long couple of weeks! I guess we will call it a night, have a glass of wine and hit the pillow.... tomorrow is another day.

 

[gillespiedc]

Hello to all,

First, I would like to say that in no small way everyone who replied to this thread up until we submitted our application played a part in our success, we have our TRVs! I also have my brothers to thank. Particularly my older brother who got a midnight call from Hellen and me as we were caught in a snag for documents at the visa office... long live scanners and the internet!!

I like to think that I am a fairly systematic person when it comes to filling out applications of any kind, but I must confess this time I allowed my emotions to get the better of me, and it nearly derailed our plan. There were 2 critical errors on my part. One, I was looking at the process from MY point of view as opposed to my wife and daughters. THEY were the ones looking for visas, not me! Second, I was treating this part of our plan like a game of chess, trying to think 5 moves ahead to the point where they had permanent residency. Bad, bad, bad!

After taking in all what was written on the thread I knew I had more work to do as things were just not sitting right. Around 2am (my time) my younger brother skyped me from his hotel room (on holiday). We started talking and he couldn't believe I was still up... I told him about my dillema and we started talking about his long time partner from the US who also wanted to come to Canada. I sent them the link to this forum and we were both going through various people's experiences, difficulties, and victories... he then found a thread from a person who was going through the same thing I was but about his father... he wanted to get his father here on a TRV and apply for permanent residency, and one of the respondents basically said "How do you know your father will even want to stay here when he comes? How can you assume what will happen beyond the limit of the TRV?"

This hit me like a ton of bricks. Rather than focusing on the here and now, I was trying to do it all with one letter. Anyway, thanks to the forum, and my younger brother, I avoided sending the original (inappropriate) letter, and instead sent the following FACTUAL letter.

It is also important to know that we had letters from Kellys school and Hellens employer supporting us, as well as letters of invitation from my siblings stating we could stay with them.

Anyway, here is the letter I ended up sending. I hope this lesson learned can help another one day!

Doug





"To: Hou Yan (aka. Hellen – DOB: ) My wife
Kong Yi Yi (aka. Kelly – DOB: ) My step-daughter
Apt. 1803, Bldg. 2, Part 2 – 105 Funing Lu, Ninxi District, Xiangzhou, Zhuhai, Guangdong, CN



Dear Hou Yan,

Last year we visited Canada, my family, and friends for a few weeks, and it was very good, but very short. This year I would like you and Kelly to come to Canada for as close to the full duration of the visitor visa as we can arrange so that you, Kelly, and I can spend more quality time with family and friends, and see more of my home province.

Please make the necessary arrangements with your employer and Kelly’s school in regard to this extended absence. Our expected date of departure will be July 6, 2010 and expect to return after about six months, sometime in December 2010.

Same as last year, when we arrive in Canada we have been invited to live with my brother, Jim , for as long as we wish. My other brother, Rick , and sister, Joanne , have also extended invitations for us to visit and stay with them, and they are all happy that we will be able to have more time with them this trip. We will finance our stay using our own funds.




Douglas Charles Gillespie

(DOB: )
Dated: May 25, 2010"

(personal information was deleted)

 

[canadianwoman]

Congratulations, Douglas! You've given hope to everyone here who is trying to get a spouse to Canada. It seems all we ever do is hit roadblocks, and here your application letter was short - and I guess perfect - and everything was processed quickly!
Have a great time in Canada!

 

[sjcdn01]

i am new to this or any other forum on TRV and spousal sponserships. So, please bear with me.

This thread is possibly outdated, posted around 2011. I have not been able to find a forum or posts that are more recent or helpful, or is it that the questions below that i have is no longer valid/clarified or generally agreed upon, I would appreciate any comments or recommendations especially from those that have recently gone through what i am thinking of doing.

As everyone's situation is different in some ways, so is mine. I am a Canadian citizen ( I actually have dual nationality, ie Canadian and Dutch, and have the 2 passports to show for it). I have been a non-resident Canadian, at least for income tax purposes, ie having lived and worked in UK and Netherlands, and now retired and living in Netherlands. In fact, i have not been back to Canada for the last 10+ years but have continued to renew my Canadian passport (which is now good for 10 years instead of previously 5 years).

I have been married (and have a Dutch marriage certificate) to a China national and we have lived together in Netherlands for the past 6+ years. My wife is a housewife, ie she does not have gainful or monetary employment (whatever the politically correct terminology is nowadays). She has the equivalent of a PR in Netherlands, ie she can stay and work in Netherlands, if she renews it when due, and therfore she can return to Netherlands (or China) if our attempts at Canada immigration fails.

What we are thinking of doing is:
1. For my wife to make a first visit to Canada, with a TRV, as that takes only 8 weeks according to Canada Immigration website. The objective is so that we can then decide if we want to apply, outland, for PR which takes 12 MONTHS and probably requies monitoring of progress through the system, providing additional info, etc .. all of which implies that if we apply for a PR, we better be sure that we want to put in the effort for it to succeed.

2. Is the 2 step approach above the one that can be most acceptable to Canada Immigration? If not, any sugestions of what is? If yes, how do we ensure that we express our real intent honestly and correctly to Canada Immigration?

3. I have read conflicting reports/threads about Canada Immigration being very wary of spouses of Canadian citizens applying for a TRV ie with the dual intent of getting a TRV first and then applying for PR inland. Can our 2 step approach help us to convince Canada Immigration that while we do have dual intent, we will be happy with just a TRV first, and then return to Netherlands to decide on the nex step.

4. If we apply for a TRV first, then:
a) In the TRV application, by the non-Canadian spouse (ie the applicant), how/where does the applicant state that the spouse is a Canadian citizen: in the covering letter of the applicant?

b) can a non-resident canadian spouse be the 'sponsor' and/or author of a letter of invitation to his live-in spouse?, ie promising finanacial support, lodgings, etc etc, for which the non-resident Canadian has been doing so for the past 6+ years and will continue to do so?
b) To whom should the letter of invitation be addressed to? the applicant for a TRV), or the Visa Officer?

its early morning where i am right now, and will continue later, especially if there are any questions, etc,