Newbie seeking TRV for Filipino girlfriend - how are my chances?

[Slcurtis]

Hello all! As a Canadian citizen I have to say I'm humbled, gratified and outrage by the passionate stories in this forum of success and failure in running the gauntlet of my country's bureaucracy. I have new-found respect for the immigrant experience and new-found appreciation for the blessings of having been born in Canada, and the responsibility to live up to that privilege and not take it for granted. To the users of this forum who are working so diligently and honorably to come to Canada legally and responsibly, I wish you the best of luck. My (and hopefully your soon to be) country will be better off for your efforts.

For the more seasoned posters on this forum, I present my current situation. Any and all advice, criticism, suggestion, or even wishes of support would be gratefully received. Here are the particulars:

1. I met my Filipino girlfriend in Malaysia in February 2014. I was working and she was on vacation. We are NOT married.

2. She is a Philippines-born citizen and resident living and working in Metro Manila, and I am a Canadian-born citizen and resident working in shipping overseas, currently in Malaysia. (As far as the government is concerned I am a full-time Canadian resident)

3. We are hoping that she can acquire a visa to come to Canada to meet my family and friends in May 2015 (approx.) for a period of at least three weeks. She has a Philippines passport valid until February 2016.

4. She is from a wealthy family (by Filipino standards) and is a university-educated professional working in advertising. She does NOT have a full-time job, she is a freelance contractor. Her work is conducted under the table so she can not provide Philippines income tax records. Her proof of finances and income is limited to receipts for contract payment and bank statements only. She earns good money but not on a full-time basis.

5. Her passport holds entry stamps to Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which were countries visited for the purpose of tourism.

5. She has no family or financial ties to Canada. She does not have any major financial assets in the Philippines except for her bank accounts and credit card. She lives with her parents, who own the house, and drives their car. She owns no vehicle or property.

6. I am willing and able to provide a letter of invitation and a notarized promise of financial support. I have more than sufficient income and savings (CAD$90,000/year salary) to take care of her travel and accommodation costs and can show supporting documents such as bank statements and my previous-year tax return. I understand a ballpark figure of CAD$1,000/week is acceptable as a cost-of-living standard for TRV applicants, which I can provide

7. As I am currently in Malaysia and she in the Philippines, the idea would be for us to fly to Canada together from the Philippines in May when my current work visa expires.

8. We have not yet contacted CIC or any VAC in any way nor initiated any kind of application process.

That's about all I can think of right now. Please do give me any advice, criticism, play devil's advocate, whatever you'd like. We want to abide by the law and do this right, but we also want to make this happen for us and our families. I gratefully await any responses you may have.
Thank you very much for reading this, and best of luck to you all with your own battles.
Cheers,
S

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately none of us can tell you what the chances are that she will be approved. However if I were to guess, the odds are likely against you. Not having a full time job will work against her. As will the fact that her travel history is limited (no North American or European countries). CIC may very well have concerns she plans to remain in Canada long term given she is single and visiting someone in Canada. She should provide very strong proof of her ties to her home country. Good luck - I hope the application is successful.

 

[Slcurtis]

Thanks for the reply. In reading the other stories in the forums there definitely seems to be a trend... that the applicant needs to stress their ties, commitments and assets in their home country to the best of their ability. I suppose we're no different. Wish us luck and I'll update with any developments
Cheers

 

[nayra]

I would like you to know that we have a similar situation...My boyfriend is from Canada, i am a from the Philippines. I understand where you are coming from. I really hope things will be in your favor.


First, Canada does not offer fiance visa at all. Canada provide family sponsorship for spousal, common law or conjugal BUT NOT FIANCE. The idea is to prove to CIC that she will return back to the Philippines, that she has to provide substantial amount of evidence of her ties to her country.


Once the immigration officer found out the she has a Canadian bf, they might be skeptical about this thinking that both of you will get married in Canada and she will never go back in the Philippines or she might run away from you. Try to think a worst case scenario in CIC's shoes. Its very sad but its an immediate red flag. That is why you need to establish your relationship as a couple even you are applying for TRV.

READ THIS - cic.gc.ca/english/visit/letter.asp

Writing a letter of invitation does not mean you are legally responsible for the visitor once he or she gets to Canada. You should still write the letter in good faith. You must tell the truth and plan to keep the promises you make in the letter.

Send your letter (notarized, if the visa office asks for that) to the person you are inviting to Canada. The person must then send this letter to the Canadian embassy or consulate outside of Canada when he or she applies for a temporary resident visa.

You must include this information about the person you are inviting:
complete name,
date of birth,
address and telephone number,
your relationship to the person,
the purpose of the trip,
how long the person plans to stay in Canada,
where the person will stay, and how he or she will pay for things, and
when the person plans to leave Canada.



You must include this information about yourself:
complete name,
date of birth,
address and telephone number in Canada,
job title,
whether you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident,
a photocopy of a document proving your status in Canada, such as
a Canadian birth certificate, if you were born in Canada,
a Canadian citizenship card, if you are a naturalized citizen, or
a copy of your PR card or your IMM 1000 proof of landing, if you are a permanent resident,
details of your family, such as names and dates of birth of your spouse and dependants (this is mandatory for the parent and grandparent super visa), and
the total number of people living in your household, including people you sponsored whose sponsorship is still in effect (this is mandatory for the parent and grandparent super visa).


BOTTOM LINE IS SHE IS MANDATED TO GATHER AS MANY EVIDENCE AS POSSIBLE TO SHOW HER TIES.


HOWEVER, my recommendations are the following

-a sworn affidavit coming from her parents that they are aware about the travel and willing to provide any financial help if needed.
-an affidavit from your parents that they are eager to meet your gf
-a brief letter focusing the itinerary. In 3 weeks time what are the places you would like to visit? will you propose? etc, be honest all the time.


NEVER LIE. and try to gather evidence as possible. ok? thanks and Good luck to us.


cheers

 

[mikeymyke]

My wife got approved a multiple entry visa for life of her passport from Vietnam. I'll share you what my thoughts are. I would say your chances are slightly on the low side for the reasons:

-you're inviting your girlfriend, not friend, to visit Canada. This might seem innocent, but it's a bit of a red flag because they might assume she will come to Canada to get married, then she will be able to remain in Canada indefinitely by being sponsored inland. This is technically allowed, but it's something frowned upon by officers, mostly for people from non visa exempt countries, because the supposedly temporary visitor visa suddenly becomes a permanent stay visa, and they will assume they're unlikely to return home
-she does not have full time job, but works freelance, she might be refused due to "limited employment prospects". But I just want to let you know, my wife also worked as a freelance artist. To overcome this "red flag", we sent in multiple pics of her artwork, reviews from her clients, the $ she earned (she earned 10x the average Vietnamese salary), a signed PDF letter from the CEO of the website showing she worked as a freelance artist for a year, her total earnings, her total hours worked, etc. My wife was able to overcome her weak point, which was employment prospects. For your wife to do the same, she should be making pretty decent coin at her job, not just a few dollars here and there, and should be doing it on a daily basis.
-her travel history is limited to mostly SE Asia, CIC is looking for travel to countries that are difficult to enter such as USA, Australia, Europe, etc.
-she doesn't own assets other than her bank. Again my wife had this "red flag" too, but to overcome that, we sent in documents showing her family owned the house they are currently living in. We sent in a copy of the household registry, which showed that her entire family, parents, siblings, and herself, all lived in the same house for their entire life.

You should also show where you guys plan to stay, what you will do every single day, where you will go, how much will cost, etc. Be detailed in your plans. Also one other thing, make sure you note on the letter to CIC that you do not intend to marry in Canada and that she will leave Canada before her visa expires. Also she should mention she will not work in Canada, as freelancers have the ability to work anywhere in the world. You did a lot of things right by asking for only 3 weeks stay, showing your income tax return from last year, and this is beyond your control, but the fact she has no family in Canada will help her chances too.

 

[Slcurtis]

Thank you mikeymyke and nayra, those are both very helpful responses and I especially appreciated the advice of providing affidavits from her parents and mine, and providing examples of her work portfolio as proof of employment. Neither of these ideas had occurred to me.
I understand that we're trying to convince the CIC to the best of our ability that she is planning to return to the Philippines (which she absolutely is) and we'll try to stress that as much as possible.
Thanks again the both of you, I'll let you know how it goes!
A

 

[BCKev]

A good suggestion by Mikey to have a detailed itinerary. You said you plan on arriving in Canada together, and if you are also planning on leaving together, be sure to mention this. If there are any specific reasons your girlfriend must return home, be sure to mention it. If you can honestly present this trip as a vacation for yourself and your girlfriend for a defined time period, and both of you returning to Philipines/Malaysia, it would look a lot better than trip with no plan, no duration, etc.

Good Luck.

 

[nayra]

Thank you mikeymyke and nayra, those are both very helpful responses and I especially appreciated the advice of providing affidavits from her parents and mine, and providing examples of her work portfolio as proof of employment. Neither of these ideas had occurred to me.
I understand that we're trying to convince the CIC to the best of our ability that she is planning to return to the Philippines (which she absolutely is) and we'll try to stress that as much as possible.
Thanks again the both of you, I'll let you know how it goes!
A

I wish you both the best of luck. It is a good thing that you should include in the letter that you are not going to get married and promise that she will return home. You should stress that you want to do the legal things. God bless.