proving intent to return to home country

[toby]

There have been many posts complaining about being refused a temporary visa (TRV). This despite the applicant's having many ties to the home country. Many of you have said that it is the luck of the draw, whether you happen to get a sympathetic or inflexible Visa Officer looking at the application.

So, if having a house in the home country, a large bank account, lots of family, and even a job back home is not enough for some Visa Officers, what is compelling proof? An easy proof would be to post a bond in the home country -- something like bail -- which you would forfeit if you did not return home before the expiry date of your visa. But I am not aware that these exist, and it would take serious discussion to get CIC to accept such proof. Governments move to accept new ideas more slowly than molasses in January (and in the Canadian winter that is very slow!!).

But there is a lot of brain power in this forum, and so let's all contribute ideas. Maybe we'll come up with something so brilliant, so easily done, that we'll wonder why we hadn't thought of it before.

 

[Baloo]

I don't want to sound negative, but I think we all know that the current system is geared towards discretionary judgements. Expecting CIC or the government to relinquish this "tool" is not that likely.

That said, the bond idea does initially sound good, however, doesn't that discriminate on monetary grounds?
If the bond was posted with the Canadian government - How much would the bond need to be, C$50,000 - C$200,000? If someone becomes "illegal" and does not leave Canada, what would it cost to track them down and remove them?
Lets be extreme here, don't criminals have more access to money than "joe public"?
Wouldn't it mean that more criminals would be let into Canada as visitors?

 

[toby]

Good points. I was thinking of posting a bond in the home country, but then there are other problems: how does Canada monitor that the
bond has really been purchased, and how to make sure it is forfeited if the tourist doesn't return home.

So, we need other ideas. Come on folks!! This might be good.

 

[toby]

AN idea I had a while ago, and still seems worth trying, is this: mention to CIC (when applying for a TRV) that the applicant would surely respect the visa's expiry date, and return home, because failure to so so would presumably jeopardize the PR application -- a much more important issue.

I think I mentioned this to me former consultant, but he dismissed the idea (can't recall why).

 

[Baloo]

Of course there is the issue of - how does Canada know you have actually left the country?

When I leave to go to the UK, there will be no physical check of my details, but I hope that someone at the airline will send the details to confirm I have left..... or do they?

 

[job_seeker]

Of course there is the issue of - how does Canada know you have actually left the country?

When I leave to go to the UK, there will be no physical check of my details, but I hope that someone at the airline will send the details to confirm I have left..... or do they?

Save your boarding pass in case you need to prove you left the country. Canada does not stamp passports when you leave and I read somewhere before that UK does not stamp passports of arriving citizens.

 

[toby]

Boarding passes are coming to be the primary proof of exits/entries. Passport pages are an incomplete record. Canada does not stamp entries by Canadians. The USA stamps my passport when I enter (transiting through), but not when I leave. So, on a trip from (say) COsta RIca via the USA to Canada, my passport says I am still in the USA!

Going from Canada to China is a different story. I enter Hong Kong (entry stamp), go to mainland China (exit stamp from Hong Kong, entry stamp to China) plus stamps on the way back, so that trip is well documented in te passport.

But it is not always so, so save boarding passes.

How to organize them easily is still a puzzle to me. Any ideas?

 

[sogwap]

What is it that you want to do, that they would refuse you entry?

 

[toby]

Canada won't refuse me entry; I'm a citizen. But my wife is Chinese, and waiting for a residency visa. Meanwhile we want to visit Canada to see my family.

Hence the original question, how to prove she will leave Canada when her temporary visa expires? I have read of refusals where the applicant has a house, job, family good bank account, etc. in the home country, yet was refused a temp visa to Canada because the visa officer thought there was not enough proof the applicant would return to the home country. Apart from pledging a first-born child I could not see what other proof an applicant could provide.

So, I asked for inventive ideas. Not getting any, though. :'(

Then Baloo asked how to prove time spent inside or outside Canada, since passport stamps tell an incomplete story. Proving time spent IN Canada will be important for PRs wanting to renew, and having to prove they spent 730+ days in Canada.

I think saving boarding passes is the most convincing way, but this is space-consuming and difficult to organize. Maybe others have better ideas.

 

[Baloo]

I think boarding passes are about the only easy way to prove "exit" from Canada, but like you said difficult to organise.


Of course the other issue with travel and PR applications is the CIC request for you to provide details of all your travel over the last ten years.
I travel a lot, and until very recently I never saved my boarding passes. At best, all I have is a stamp in my passport.
But as we know, the actual start and end dates of a visit are not easy to work out from just one date, in some cases I have no stamp in my passport !

How do you go about working that out, can I ask CIC what dates they have for my time in Canada?
Then all I need then is the same from about twenty other countries

All I can provide is a guess, but there are likely to be implications if I get the dates wrong.

 

[toby]

I don't have any magic answers. Sorry.

WHen you mention CIC asking about travels over the previous ten years, you are referring to the initial PR application, right? Once you are a PR, you don't need to do it again at renewal time, do you?

If one is trying to prove time spent IN Canada, I am now wondering whether boarding passes are sufficient for this purpose. if one slyly slipped out to the USA for a few years, and threw away the boarding passes, that doesn't prove time in Canada.

If I were working in Canada, I would be making CPP contributions, and I could print out the history of those contributions, The ONLY way to make a CPP constribution is if I am working IN Canada. So there's a proof of time in Canada, and better than boarding passes..

 

[jeans22]

How about a cover letter stating a genuine intention of leaving Canada once the extent of the visit has expired? It's probably a long shot but how about adding that the applicant is willing to undergo through an interview process, or even to the extent of a lie detector test to prove the the IO that indeed the applicant is true and honest with his/her application and has nothing to hide?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[steaky]

Some boarding pass is really a problem if you need to show/convince CIC as a proof. My wife (PR) and I frequently travel by air within mainland China. However, those domestic boarding pass shows only the day and month! It's really increasingly a headache of how to organise. So, boarding pass is not so convincing afterall. Maybe others have better ideas.

 

[wilder1047]

AN idea I had a while ago, and still seems worth trying, is this: mention to CIC (when applying for a TRV) that the applicant would surely respect the visa's expiry date, and return home, because failure to so so would presumably jeopardize the PR application -- a much more important issue.

I think I mentioned this to me former consultant, but he dismissed the idea (can't recall why).

I'm curious about this. I have talked to the Embassy in the country in which my wife resides. They told me once I am approved as a Sponsor, I can take that paper over and get her into Canada on a TRV, while we wait for her PR to be processed. But, I thought won't that cause problems if she stays in Canada past her visa's departure date. The only time she would depart Canada would be to goto the interview, if there is one. Man oh man... I'm the kind of guy that likes things as definitive as 2+2=4... This immigration thing is far too confusing.

 

[toby]

Wilder:

I AM in that situation: already approved as a sponsor, living with my wife in China. She applied for a temp visa so we could visit my family in Canada while we waited, and she was denied because of too few ties to China showing that she would return before the expiry date of her visa.

So, what embassy told you you could get a TRV? Not the Beijing embassy, surely?