Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

[CdnandTrini]

Reply: re: Port of Spain TRV Refusals

Thank you so much for sharing your story. I feel even more confident we will not be approved!!! Oh well... Always worth a try as you said! Was your husband in Canada or did you meet in Trinidad?

You are most welcome Behopeful; however, I did not want to discourage anyone with my story (just venting and telling our truth). With a name like "Behopeful" you must live up to it ;D!

I met my husband when I travelled to Trinidad May 1st 2008. He had never been out of Trinidad/Tobago and never in a million years did I think I would be married to him almost 6 years later. God works in mysterious ways when it comes to love and immigration (apparently).

 

[samavril]

Hello everyone thanks for the warm welcome, my timeline is as follows

application submitted to CPC mississauga february 18th,2013
approved as a sponsor March 12th,2013
the application has been fowarded off to trinidad am yet to receive an AOR from them
do you guys think i should contact them to confirm or i should wait?


@ fromadistance am so sorry to hear what happened,it is indeed stressful being away from the one you love for so long,you all are in my prayers.

 

[fromadistance]

Hello everyone thanks for the warm welcome, my timeline is as follows

application submitted to CPC mississauga february 18th,2013
approved as a sponsor March 12th,2013
the application has been fowarded off to trinidad am yet to receive an AOR from them
do you guys think i should contact them to confirm or i should wait?


@ fromadistance am so sorry to hear what happened,it is indeed stressful being away from the one you love for so long,you all are in my prayers.

Hi there,

Rarely do POS send out AOR's. I would wait to confirm if I were you. Have you tried logging on to ECAS to see what your status shows?

 

[CdnandTrini]

Reply: Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

Hello everyone thanks for the warm welcome, my timeline is as follows

application submitted to CPC mississauga february 18th,2013
approved as a sponsor March 12th,2013
the application has been fowarded off to trinidad am yet to receive an AOR from them
do you guys think i should contact them to confirm or i should wait?


@ fromadistance am so sorry to hear what happened,it is indeed stressful being away from the one you love for so long,you all are in my prayers.

Welcome Samavril, our timelines are similiar, but you were approved as sponsor even faster than I was! From everything I have read on all of the Port of Spain (POS) threads it appears that many people either do not receive AORs from that office even though files are received and they do process them....OR.......the AOR comes 60-90 days (or even longer) after they have received the file. Others have also said that they only get an AOR after contacting the office so it is a bit of hit and miss. So the forum consensus might be to wait a bit as they also do not always respond to enquiries. Having said all that, your file, your decision. There is a spreadsheet that is available from a member named Miss Dominica and you can get added to that and view/compare all of the milestones for those of us having to go through POS. I will try to find the link and send it to you. Blessings ...here is the link to the spreadsheet http://goo.gl/QQw3i but I think Miss Dominica is the only one that can update it and add you.

 

[samavril]

hey
@ fromadistance i didi check my Ecas and not much of an update as of yet,it just says "decision made(approved as a sponsor),nothing in regards to AOR by POS,@cndandtrini i will wait,thanks so much guys.

 

[Behopeful]

Re: Reply: re: Port of Spain TRV Refusals

You are most welcome Behopeful; however, I did not want to discourage anyone with my story (just venting and telling our truth). With a name like "Behopeful" you must live up to it ;D!

I met my husband when I travelled to Trinidad May 1st 2008. He had never been out of Trinidad/Tobago and never in a million years did I think I would be married to him almost 6 years later. God works in mysterious ways when it comes to love and immigration (apparently).

I do not feel deterred in the least. I kinda know we will be denied but I want to try once. My husband overstayed his original work permit without renewing but left when asked so I figure that is a big, huge X against us already!

 

[Behopeful]

hey
@ fromadistance i didi check my Ecas and not much of an update as of yet,it just says "decision made(approved as a sponsor),nothing in regards to AOR by POS, @ cndandtrini i will wait,thanks so much guys.

Our application was sent to POS in early January and I have not received any AOR from them yet. I may email them in next couple of weeks. I'm not stressing it. We already know my husbands UCI number because he has had a previous work permit. We logged in and it says the usual.

 

[MissDominica]

hey
@ fromadistance i didi check my Ecas and not much of an update as of yet,it just says "decision made(approved as a sponsor),nothing in regards to AOR by POS, @ cndandtrini i will wait,thanks so much guys.

Welcome! I've added you to the spreadsheet. The link is at the bottom of each one of my posts.

I would wait 3 months for an AOR.. if you don't get one by then, try emailing them... You won't see any info on your file's process in POS until you get your AOR, which contains a new UCI (Unique Client Identifier number) for the applicant. The info you are using to sign in now is for sponsor only. If the applicant has ever had an immigration file before, he/she will have the same UCI number now for this process, so you could sign into the applicant part of e-cas using the UCI (from any past immigration cases) and the APPLICANT'S info. However, if you don't have a UCI currently, you'll need to wait for AOR to get the new UCI.

 

[Dadzin]

Re: Reply: Port of Spain TRV Refusals

Here is a summary of our tale of woe! Each time POS office gave different reasons and each time we got the refusal checklist we corrected the reason, re-submitted and then got another reason for refusal. Really frustrating. 1st time - my husband had no travel history. He loves T&T, he has a large family, close to his mother and his kids there, he had no desire to travel until we met. So then he took 6 trips within the Caribbean.

We applied 2nd time and this time they said he did not have strong enough ties to his country for them to believe he would return, in spite of owning his own business, 2 properties, letters of support from my MP, his lawyer, proof of child support payments etc., etc.

3rd time, he actually saw the receptionist remove a document from his application (to this day we still do not know what happened) as he was leaving the office and we were refused again and WE KICKED UP A HUGE FUSS with both our governments (too long to tell here) basically accusing the office of improper ethics.

So then we applied again #4 and they interviewed him and asked him personal and extremely invasive questions about his sexual history which he refused to answer - not relevant at all to the process - and we were refused AGAIN - because I am sure by now they hated us . Reason given this time in an e-mail was that we were "trying too hard" and on the checklist, they did not believe he had enough money even though he had $$$ in his bank account, I own my home, letter from my employer, bank joint account and family hosting etc.

#5 We got engaged on one of my trips there and knew we were going to get married and submit PR so we thought ok one final try and refusal again. I cannot even remember the reasons they claimed but by this time we know it is all bogus anyway and my husband gets really devastated by this cycle. I get more mad and determined and feel like OK we'll apply every month until it gets so ridiculous that someone will have to eventually say yes. However, I have to be sensitive to my husband's state of mind and because I am born Canadian I am always an advocate and he feels (in his words) because he is born Trini, that everything is corrupt and what's the point? Soooooo....now that we are married we may try one more time depending on how long it seems our application will take. We were together for 6 weeks between Nov. 2012 & Jan. 2013 and prior to that had been apart 18 months!! So stressful. I pray immigration starts improving their processes because as you all know this is emotionally and physically brutal to have to go through. I am grateful that we are not going through this with young children, extra prayers for those of you that do. Sorry for the long winded answer but you asked Blessings to all.

Dear Friend,

I've been where you are. Before I sponsored my wife I sent her for a TRV and she was refused on the basis of ties. Despite being granted a work permit the year before. Understanding the applicable laws and how Visa Officer's process application is crucial. You could be the richest man on earth but as long as the VO feels you wouldn't return then your application will be denied. Demonstrating ties are only guidelines and the VO has final discretion on approval. For example, I took a friend to the embassy in Port of Slow and she didn't have a bank statement, but good job, married etc and she was granted a multiple TRV. Please do not try and annoy the VO by applying frequently when nothing has changed. This demonstrates a level of desperation to enter Canada and could be viewed on PR file negatively. The Immigrant Visa Officer reviews the complete file including TRV requests etc. I know the wait is long but don't keep applying. Once you're a spouse in Canada, this demonstrates extremely strong ties and its often very difficult for the VO to feel comfortable the applicant will return to home country when the visit is over or if the PR is declined.

I took my wife again about 6 months later with additional documents. The supervising officer called my wife in and then came back out and (a very nice white old man) called me in. This was a surprise because they usually interview the applicant and not the spouse. Being a student of Law, I used the opportunity to demonstrate without a doubt that my wife and daughter would return. I was excited because I felt like I was in a court room trying to prove my client innocent. "Your honor my client has demonstrated that she's a responsible citizen that obeys the immigration laws of Canada"...lol..He grilled me about a lot "where do you work?" etc, I told him "my wife has no intentions of remaining in Canada illegally, if we wanted to abuse the system we would've done so when she was in Canada on a work permit last year. But we didn't, she returned home and we filed the necessary documents. We followed your process". I quickly rebutted all his suggestions that she wouldn't return with the right answers- and it was the truth. Finally after a long while he said "Ok I'm going to issue the visas for your wife and daughter". 5 yr multiple entry visas. So they could go and come as much as possible while their PR is processed. This was a major relief. We've kept our word and don't intend to break it. My wife goes back now and then which renews the 6 month period.

So hang in their, It won't be forever. We're still waiting on PR. I have to pay for any health care related stuff.

 

[CdnandTrini]

Reply: Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

Hello @ Dadzin and thanks for the words of wisdom. I do think that we "annoyed" the VO in POS already; however, now that we are married and have been together as a couple for 6 years, I think we are going to sit tight and wait on the PR approval. I can't see any reason why they would refuse that. The irony in all of this to me is that the system itself creates the "desperation" they refer to.

It is adversarial and certainly in POS we (or anyone else for that matter) could have "Purchased" a single or multiple entry visa several times over with what we have spent on the process so far. It is just so discouraging when people do all the rights things legally and fairly according to the process and they are treated as guilty anyway. My rant of the day

 

[Dadzin]

Re: Reply: Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

Hello @ Dadzin and thanks for the words of wisdom. I do think that we "annoyed" the VO in POS already; however, now that we are married and have been together as a couple for 6 years, I think we are going to sit tight and wait on the PR approval. I can't see any reason why they would refuse that. The irony in all of this to me is that the system itself creates the "desperation" they refer to.

It is adversarial and certainly in POS we (or anyone else for that matter) could have "Purchased" a single or multiple entry visa several times over with what we have spent on the proces so far. It is just so discouraging when people do all the rights things legally and fairly according to the process and they are treated as guilty anyway. My rant of the day

Great that you'll wait for PR. Yes it's very unfortunate that we follow the rules and end up worst off. You know, things wasn't always this way. A lot of abuse in the system caused these unfortunate processes and delays. All those people that had fake marriages, overstayed their time etc. that's why I always encourage immigrants to follow the rules so that the ones behind don't face consequences for their actions.

Well hang in there, it may indeed be a long ride but until a denied TRV application, you have several judicial steps of recourse if denied. So doh hut yuh head!

 

[CdnandTrini]

Reply: Port of Spain Office, Trinidad and Tobago

Great that you'll wait for PR. Yes it's very unfortunate that we follow the rules and end up worst off. You know, things wasn't always this way. A lot of abuse in the system caused these unfortunate processes and delays. All those people that had fake marriages, overstayed their time etc. that's why I always encourage immigrants to follow the rules so that the ones behind don't face consequences for their actions.

Well hang in there, it may indeed be a long ride but until a denied TRV application, you have several judicial steps of recourse if denied. So doh hut yuh head!

Lol.....my husband says that to me all the time - doh hut yuh head girl!!! Blessings to you and your family.

 

[millslu]

good to see yourll guys making use of the forum, keep it up there is so much love in here.

@missd be patient its coming you way.

@dadzin whats going on with you application?

in a few weeks time i have my interview in POS. i have the list of questions already,anybody familiar with travel arrangment, hotels or guest house, my wife told me i should go the day before, stay at a guest house and be fresh in the morning. any more post interview advice or interview advice to share will be gratefull.

 

[Dadzin]

good to see yourll guys making use of the forum, keep it up there is so much love in here.

@ missd be patient its coming you way.

@ dadzin whats going on with you application?

in a few weeks time i have my interview in POS. i have the list of questions already,anybody familiar with travel arrangment, hotels or guest house, my wife told me i should go the day before, stay at a guest house and be fresh in the morning. any more post interview advice or interview advice to share will be gratefull.

Just relax for interview. Don't try to over prepare. You have nothing to hide, be truthful, sincere and straightforward. Do not, inadvertently, create any doubt in the officers' mind.

Still no additional word with my app. I sent another caips, so we will see if anything was done since January. The great thing is that my family is with me in Canada

 

[millslu]

Just relax for interview. Don't try to over prepare. You have nothing to hide, be truthful, sincere and straightforward. Do not, inadvertently, create any doubt in the officers' mind.

Still no additional word with my app. I sent another caips, so we will see if anything was done since January. The great thing is that my family is with me in Canada

@dadz thanks so much for that info i will forward it to my wife ahaha she is so stressed. i see you have nothing to worry about your loved ones are with you, hahaha that is sooo great, well let them take their time. and again thanks, i keep telling my wife am married to her and i have spent so much time with her that i know her every move, it doesnt have to take a vo to ask me and i wont know. my wife is coming in a few hours and am going and pick her up now, cant wait.