Please assess my profile and let me know of my chances of getting a TRV

[fortunezim]

Dear All,

I have just been going through the forum and need you guys to assess my profile. I am a Zimbabwean citizen and i have been residing in my country since birth. I want to apply for a visitor visa online to visit my long time friend of 16 years. He is also Zimbabwean but he has Canadian PR card. Im 28 years old turning 29 in December, single and have no children. My profile is as follows:
1. Passport: I have traveled to Swaziland, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Botswana in the last 4 years. Passport expires in 2017.
2. I plan to visit for about 2 and half weeks
3. I'm employed and i have a letter from my employer indicating that my vacation leave have been authorized in advance and confirming my employment
4. My annual salary is USD35k
5. I have a running bank balance of USD10 000+ for the last year
6. I have no family members in Canada
7. I have never been to canada
8. I have no land or property but I have power of attorney over my parent's assets and affairs since they travel a lot. So in essence I run their affairs and manage their property whenever they are away. I have the official document proving this that was notarized by a public notary
9. I'm studying my MBA at a local university and im set to complete it in 2016. I have an official letter from my uni.
10. I will also attach my payslips for the last 6 months
11. I have been employed by my current employer for about 8 months now. Before that i was employed by another local company from january 2009 to january 2014. I also have a letter to that effect.

What are my chances? Anything that u think I should improve on?

Thanks

 

[Chram]

well, as I can see, you have high chances of getting the visa. Still it depends to the officers mood upon checking your papers! wishing you best of luck!

 

[Jalex23]

Dear All,

I have just been going through the forum and need you guys to assess my profile. I am a Zimbabwean citizen and i have been residing in my country since birth. I want to apply for a visitor visa online to visit my long time friend of 16 years. He is also Zimbabwean but he has Canadian PR card. Im 28 years old turning 29 in December, single and have no children. My profile is as follows:
1. Passport: I have traveled to Swaziland, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Botswana in the last 4 years. Passport expires in 2017.
2. I plan to visit for about 2 and half weeks
3. I'm employed and i have a letter from my employer indicating that my vacation leave have been authorized in advance and confirming my employment
4. My annual salary is USD35k
5. I have a running bank balance of USD10 000+ for the last year
6. I have no family members in Canada
7. I have never been to canada
8. I have no land or property but I have power of attorney over my parent's assets and affairs since they travel a lot. So in essence I run their affairs and manage their property whenever they are away. I have the official document proving this that was notarized by a public notary
9. I'm studying my MBA at a local university and im set to complete it in 2016. I have an official letter from my uni.
10. I will also attach my payslips for the last 6 months
11. I have been employed by my current employer for about 8 months now. Before that i was employed by another local company from january 2009 to january 2014. I also have a letter to that effect.

What are my chances? Anything that u think I should improve on?

Thanks

You are lacking a letter of invitation. This letter is extremely important.

 

[fortunezim]

Thank you Jalex 23 and Chram.

I will definately be including the letter of invitation from my friend and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[nainanaina]

Thank you Jalex 23 and Chram.

I will definately be including the letter of invitation from my friend and I'll let you know how it goes.

i think u should also attached the letter with details of your purpose of visit with ur 2weeks plan in canada.

and air tickets and some hotel reservation, if ur have some planning to visit different cities of canada.

 

[fortunezim]

Thanks,

So have included all attachments include purpose of visit and travel itinerary. I submitted my application online. Its been saying processing submission for the last 24 hours. what does this mean?

 

[fortunezim]

never mind guys, i managed to re-submit. now the wait begins.....

 

[Jalex23]

Thanks,

So have included all attachments include purpose of visit and travel itinerary. I submitted my application online. Its been saying processing submission for the last 24 hours. what does this mean?

That you submission is being processed.

 

[fortunezim]

Still no news from the embassy.... Was wondering if the processing listed on the cic website is calendar days or business days?

 

[Msafiri]

Dear All,

I have just been going through the forum and need you guys to assess my profile. I am a Zimbabwean citizen and i have been residing in my country since birth. I want to apply for a visitor visa online to visit my long time friend of 16 years. He is also Zimbabwean but he has Canadian PR card. Im 28 years old turning 29 in December, single and have no children. My profile is as follows:
1. Passport: I have traveled to Swaziland, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Botswana in the last 4 years. Passport expires in 2017.
2. I plan to visit for about 2 and half weeks
3. I'm employed and i have a letter from my employer indicating that my vacation leave have been authorized in advance and confirming my employment
4. My annual salary is USD35k
5. I have a running bank balance of USD10 000+ for the last year
6. I have no family members in Canada
7. I have never been to canada
8. I have no land or property but I have power of attorney over my parent's assets and affairs since they travel a lot. So in essence I run their affairs and manage their property whenever they are away. I have the official document proving this that was notarized by a public notary
9. I'm studying my MBA at a local university and im set to complete it in 2016. I have an official letter from my uni.
10. I will also attach my payslips for the last 6 months
11. I have been employed by my current employer for about 8 months now. Before that i was employed by another local company from january 2009 to january 2014. I also have a letter to that effect.

What are my chances? Anything that u think I should improve on?

Thanks

My 2 cents though you've submitted your application:

1. Travel is to visitor visa exempt countries in 'less developed' African countries (exception RSA) so carries little weight. Travel to G7 countries where you were examined under a visa regime consistent to that of Canada's with approval, you travelling there and more importantly you returning home is the real deal.
2. Good timeline consistent with a genuine visitor pattern - forum replete with those asking for 3 months visits..this is not the normal vacation time in North America.
3. Good. Is letter from someone senior in the HR department on company letterhead? Should state your start date, remuneration, type (full time etc) and duration (till retirement etc) of employment.
4. IMHO maybe your coup de grace - given the average wage in Zimbabwe fact is that an income of 35K USD puts you in the top echelons of employment in private industry e.g conglomerate multinationals, oil and gas, mining etc. The visa post will check this out in great detail. You should have submitted bank statements in addition to your pay stubs collaborating this by way of showing salary deposits. Further you should have submitted documentation from the tax authorities to validate this as genuine declared income.
5. A bonus too - again visa post need to see several month statements for this. For all they know a friend may have deposited the 10K a week before your visa application.
6. Good - means one less tie to keep you in Canada.
7. Not as good - had you gone and returned then at least there is a comparative history to review.
8. Not good - power of attorney means you are a 'caretaker'. Just as it was assigned to you so can it be removed. If assets are not in your name visa post can disregard (plenty of federal court case law on this).
9. An ok but not super strong tie - you can always quit school.
10. 8 months is a short time but long term employment back to 2009 in your favor.


As advised by others invitation letter required from your friend in Canada.....CIC will want proof his status. I don't want to assume as to your gender but if you are female visa post may also have a concern that you may get married to him and be sponsored inland. Last the big elephant in the room - Zimbabweans have been one of the leading African country source of refugee claims in Canada for several years primarily in the last decade. For reasons only known to CIC despite the surge in asylum applications a visitor visa free regime was maintained for Zimbabwe long after many other countries including the UK imposed a visa regime. Guess where most Zimbabwe nationals fled to? So visa post will review in some detail if you are an asylum risk.

 

[fortunezim]

Thank you so much Msafari,

I wish I had seen your post before I submitted. Right now I'm just waiting for the result, which I feel is long overdue by now. I'll let you know as soon as I get it then you can help me out on my second application if the first one is refused.

Unfortunately I can't change anything about my nationality or my travel history. So fingers crossed :'(

 

[kingwil]

Invitation letter is overrated in my opinion i made application from Caribbean with no invitation letter an approve . I did put i was going to visit a brother. But the Caribbean is low risk compare to India and some Africans countries.

 

[Msafiri]

Invitation letter is overrated in my opinion i made application from Caribbean with no invitation letter an approve . I did put i was going to visit a brother. But the Caribbean is low risk compare to India and some Africans countries.

Invitation letter adds an 'authenticity factor' to the purported trip but in the grand scheme of things won't overcome deficiencies in your socio-economic ties which is what it really comes down to. As a side issue Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis are significantly over represented in Canadian asylum claims relative to their population. In the end Canada had to impose a visa regime on these countries.

 

[fortunezim]

UPDATE:

Just got a response. TRV refused because of travel history and purpose of visit. I plan to reapply again. I cant do much about my travel history. But I plan to include a stronger cover letter explaining my purpose visit. Any advice is welcome.