Please Advise: Parents Visitor Visa

[yahoo7]

Hello Friends,

I am planning to apply for visitor visa for my parents to travel from India to Canada and really in need of good advice on some items.

My wife and I are Permanent Residents of Canada for more than 1.5 years now and my wife is pregnant now. We are planning to bring my parents to help us during the pregnancy time and they are planning to stay for 4-5 months.

My father retired as a private employee and mother is a home maker. Father has around 10 lacs in fixed deposits but does not get any pension or does not have any fixed assets in India.

I would like suggestion from experts in this forum to advice on what kind of documents should I submit in order to make a strong case in order to increase the chances of VISA approval?

My only fear is that since he is not pension drawer or have any fixed assets, it might increase the chances of rejection.

Please advise.

 

[Bryanna]

Hi,

We can suggest ways to show *strong ties* based on your answers to:
Do your parents have financial assets such as shares/mutual funds/ recurring deposits/ jewelry/ cash-in-hand/ foreign currency?

Does your dad have EPF and PPF accounts, or LIC?

Do your parents live in rented accommodation? Lease Agreement? In a joint family?

Do you have other siblings, grandparents, other relatives who live with your parents or in the same city?

Have your parents traveled abroad?

Are your parents active in social work/volunteer for a cause?



Apart from the above:
For FDs: You must mention that the FDs are not locked-in and can be liquidated (if it is so) + submit the latest FD interest certificates issued by the banks

If it appears that your parents are visiting for 4-5 months to "help you during the pregnancy time" then there is a possibility of refusal.... because this may be viewed as working illegally on a TRV


Cheers

 

[yahoo7]

Hi,

We can suggest ways to show *strong ties* based on your answers to:
Do your parents have financial assets such as shares/mutual funds/ recurring deposits/ jewelry/ cash-in-hand/ foreign currency?
- My parents have jewellery but no shares/mutual funds/recurring deposits/not a lot of cash in hand/foreign currency.

Does your dad have EPF and PPF accounts, or LIC?
- Yes, my father has LIC,not my mother[/font][/font][/font].

Do your parents live in rented accommodation? Lease Agreement? In a joint family?
- they are in a own house I bought for them. They dont pay rent to me.

Do you have other siblings, grandparents, other relatives who live with your parents or in the same city?
-My elder brother lives in a different city in India and has recently got his PR visa but did not do complete his landing yet. Has PR visa vlaid tillNov 2015.

Have your parents traveled abroad?
-Never traveled abroad.

Are your parents active in social work/volunteer for a cause?
-No



Apart from the above:
For FDs: You must mention that the FDs are not locked-in and can be liquidated (if it is so) + submit the latest FD interest certificates issued by the banks
-the FDs are locked in for a year but I am sure it is easy to break a FD these days in india

If it appears that your parents are visiting for 4-5 months to "help you during the pregnancy time" then there is a possibility of refusal.... because this may be viewed as working illegally on a TRV

- They are really not working. just coming for lending a helping hand...


Cheers

 

[yahoo7]

I have some additional questions about applying visa for my mother. My mother is a home maker and has never worked in her life. She is completely dependant on my father. I am going to apply for her visitor visa too when applying for my father. Is it going to be a problem granting a visa to my mother?

 

[Bryanna]

Hi,

In my opinion, it's going to be a challenge.... based on what you've written, it seems your parents do not have adequate finances/assets nor strong ties.


Firstly, I would suggest you do not request for 4-5 months..... nor to use words like "lending a helping hand" in the Invitation/Cover Letters.

As your dad has retired/mom is a homemaker + your brother likely to land before November, mentioning a visit of 4-5 months may seem like your parents can extend/overstay their visit..... plus, "lending a helping hand" still looks like working illegally


Now for proving their ties to India:
House/property:
Does your dad have a POA for this house? Is he a joint owner with yourself?
If it is in a housing society, does your dad represent you at Society AGMs? Is he a member of the Managing Committee?


Finances
Your mom and dad must be able to show approx. CAD 1000 per week per person + airfare

You do NOT have to "break" the FDs..... FDs are not locked-in as such.... for example, PPF is locked-in because you cannot access the funds (well, there are time-bound access rules).

You can get letters from banks where the FDs are held that state the FDs are not locked-in + no loans taken against the FDs.... the letter can also state that up to 90% of the FD amount can be withdrawn as loan, if required. You may/may not have to take loans depending on your dad's bank balance.

Also attach FD Interest Certificates that shows interest is credited to your dad's bank account on a periodic basis (I'm assuming these are not cumulative interest FDs).


Do they have other relatives who live in the same city? For eg: their siblings and families

Can your parents provide a reason to return by XX date, such as a family event?

Any other reasons that you can think to convince the visa officer that your parents will return? Do they have any other commitments or responsibilities?


There's no issue with applying for your mom as a homemaker even if she has not traveled abroad.... your mom must provide evidence that she is financially dependent on your dad.... and your dad must prove that he has adequate finances for their visit


Cheers

 

[yahoo7]

Hi,

In my opinion, it's going to be a challenge.... based on what you've written, it seems your parents do not have adequate finances/assets nor strong ties.


Firstly, I would suggest you do not request for 4-5 months..... nor to use words like "lending a helping hand" in the Invitation/Cover Letters.
- OK, so I will not say that they are coming her to lend a helping hand but instead will say that they are coming here to spend some time with us and visit some places in Canada. It is true that they are going to visit some places for sure.

As your dad has retired/mom is a homemaker + your brother likely to land before November, mentioning a visit of 4-5 months may seem like your parents can extend/overstay their visit..... plus, "lending a helping hand" still looks like working illegally


Now for proving their ties to India:
House/property:
Does your dad have a POA for this house? Is he a joint owner with yourself?
- My dad does not have a POA for this house. It is registers in my brother's name. I can ask my brother to get a POA done, would this be helpful? My brother and I were also thinking to transfer the property to my fathers name but since its expensive to do that because of the amount we have to pay against the registration fee, we thought of trying for visa without re-registration first...

[/color]If it is in a housing society, does your dad represent you at Society AGMs? Is he a member of the Managing Committee?
-My father could not be registered as the secretary of the association since the property is not on his name. Only property owners can be registered with the association.


Finances
Your mom and dad must be able to show approx. CAD 1000 per week per person + airfare
- Are you saying that she needs to have these funds in her bank account? Is it not sufficient to say that she is dependent on my dad and he shows all the required funds. He has around $20,000 in Fixed Deposits.

You do NOT have to "break" the FDs..... FDs are not locked-in as such.... for example, PPF is locked-in because you cannot access the funds (well, there are time-bound access rules).

You can get letters from banks where the FDs are held that state the FDs are not locked-in + no loans taken against the FDs.... the letter can also state that up to 90% of the FD amount can be withdrawn as loan, if required. You may/may not have to take loans depending on your dad's bank balance.

Also attach FD Interest Certificates that shows interest is credited to your dad's bank account on a periodic basis (I'm assuming these are not cumulative interest FDs).
- These are not cumulative interest FDs.

Do they have other relatives who live in the same city? For eg: their siblings and families
- My fathers elder brothers and some family members are present in the other city.

Can your parents provide a reason to return by XX date, such as a family event?
- There are no special events except that my father has to attend my grand mothers death ceremony every year but his presence is not mandatory. But I am planning to ask them to provide some sort of an affidavit to say that they are going to return by this date and have no intention to over stay for any reason.Do you think this will work?

Any other reasons that you can think to convince the visa officer that your parents will return? Do they have any other commitments or responsibilities?
- Unfortunately no strong commitments or responsibilities but fur sure they would not like to over stay in Canada

There's no issue with applying for your mom as a homemaker even if she has not traveled abroad.... your mom must provide evidence that she is financially dependent on your dad.... and your dad must prove that he has adequate finances for their visit


Cheers

 

[Bryanna]

An aside:
If your property is in Maharashtra then due to a recent change..... the prevalent stamp duty of up to 5% has been waived off for the transfer of property and land to heirs or family members.

Last year, Punjab and Haryana also waived off the stamp duty for registration of properties to heirs and blood relatives

The above may help you if you want to transfer your property to your dad

 

[Bryanna]

My dad does not have a POA for this house. It is registers in my brother's name. I can ask my brother to get a POA done, would this be helpful? My brother and I were also thinking to transfer the property to my fathers name but since its expensive to do that because of the amount we have to pay against the registration fee, we thought of trying for visa without re-registration first...

If the POA is for managing the property/paying taxes and maintenance fees, etc then the POA will be helpful as it will give administrative rights to your dad. If you make a POA in favor of your dad shortly before you apply for the TRV then it will be obvious why it has been done.

My father could not be registered as the secretary of the association since the property is not on his name. Only property owners can be registered with the association.

True. However, even non-owners/non-members can hold Associate Membership and attend AGMs on behalf of members

Are you saying that she needs to have these funds in her bank account? Is it not sufficient to say that she is dependent on my dad and he shows all the required funds. He has around $20,000 in Fixed Deposits.

While the overall financial situation is evaluated, some amount of liquid cash is required in the bank accounts to prove that your parents have the finances to support their visit.

Fixed Deposits are not available as cash in the bank account.... unless loans are taken against it/credited to the bank account + backed by an explanation that the funds have not been borrowed for the visit

But I am planning to ask them to provide some sort of an affidavit to say that they are going to return by this date and have no intention to over stay for any reason.Do you think this will work?

Any assurances/affidavits can help marginally, it will not be considered as a surety.... proven reasons to return to India matter more


IMO it's going to be a challenge to convince the visa officer under the present circumstances.

Perhaps, you may want to consider only inviting your mom while your dad remains in India as her *family tie*.... so she must return to India.... again, applying only for your mom will also be challenging vis-a-vis proving she has the finances, etc

You can then apply in the future for your dad after you transfer the property/make a POA



Hope this helps

 

[yahoo7]

An aside:
If your property is in Maharashtra then due to a recent change..... the prevalent stamp duty of up to 5% has been waived off for the transfer of property and land to heirs or family members.

Last year, Punjab and Haryana also waived off the stamp duty for registration of properties to heirs and blood relatives

The above may help you if you want to transfer your property to your dad

-The property transfer is going to cost me around 1 lac rupees..

 

[yahoo7]

If the POA is for managing the property/paying taxes and maintenance fees, etc then the POA will be helpful as it will give administrative rights to your dad. If you make a POA in favor of your dad shortly before you apply for the TRV then it will be obvious why it has been done.

I guess, i dont have a choice now.

True. However, even non-owners/non-members can hold Associate Membership and attend AGMs on behalf of members

While the overall financial situation is evaluated, some amount of liquid cash is required in the bank accounts to prove that your parents have the finances to support their visit.

Fixed Deposits are not available as cash in the bank account.... unless loans are taken against it/credited to the bank account + backed by an explanation that the funds have not been borrowed for the visit

well, I am going to sponsor the whole trip including the flight tickets.

Any assurances/affidavits can help marginally, it will not be considered as a surety.... proven reasons to return to India matter more

- I am going to try as many documents as possible.


IMO it's going to be a challenge to convince the visa officer under the present circumstances.

Perhaps, you may want to consider only inviting your mom while your dad remains in India as her *family tie*.... so she must return to India.... again, applying only for your mom will also be challenging vis-a-vis proving she has the finances, etc

You can then apply in the future for your dad after you transfer the property/make a POA



Hope this helps