To Whom it May Concern,
I am a Canadian citizen of 32 years living and teaching in southern Nova Scotia in the midst of preparing to start my own family. My girlfriend of >5 years lives in Manila, Philippines and, openly and honestly, ultimately wishes to immigrate here as a long-term plan.
However, in the short-term we have been struggling, no, we are now supremely frustrated, with just trying to even simply meet up again, to have a chance at meeting each others’ families, further cement our relationship in person and build some lasting memories participating in events together. She applied for the Temporary Residence Visa (Visitor Visa equivalent) in 2017 after we planned out a three-week itinerary that would see us have a chance to tour around the province of Nova Scotia during the summer, however her visa was denied. We tried again the summer of 2018 but applied for a visa to the USA in an effort to meet up in Boston (site of the Boston Marathon) and New York so that she might still see/tour around similar terrain/woodlands/coastlines/climate, see some sights, meet my family and so we could travel together for two-weeks but again her visa was denied due to a “lack of Strong Ties in Home Country” that would compel her to return after travel to USA. We are concerned that successive entry denials would hurt her ability to eventually immigrate in the future or would encourage future denials for even short stays, hence the application to the USA the second time around. We wish to try again for a Canadian TRV for this summer. We are desperately seeking any advice, support or clarity on just exactly what is needed to have someone visit Canada for a simple one to two-week vacation stay (we would like three weeks ideally, but just to meet at all at this point would be great). She was denied on three criteria, but overall is there anything we can do to prove intent to leave before a visa expires? We have been told many things, but we aren’t travel experts and are shocked at the seeming requirements for such a simple thing as a relatively short tourist trip. Why the hell does Canada not have a separate Visitor Visa for short stays rather than a combined Temporary Residence Visa that goes up to 6 months?
1) The immigration officer that reviewed her file back in 2017, for coming to Canada, cited a lack of travel history as part of her denial, stating there is no precedent that she would leave after the visa expired. She has several upcoming international trips later this year (2019) with already paid round-trip tickets like in the previous years when she applied, but this wasn’t brought-up during either of her visa interviews. It is true that prior to that application she had no travel history abroad. She has since traveled to multiple ASEAN countries to bolster her travel history, but after consulting retired immigration officers, other perspective tourists, a retired travel agent, and others it seems these have little weight and that previous travel to a Schengen country or the USA is more beneficial in terms of proving one’s intent to willfully leave Canada after a brief stay. She has since been to Taiwan, China (Beijing; Hong Kong), Japan, South Korea twice, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. From what we have been told it sounds like the US and Canada both denied her for not having been to the Canada or the US respectively, or some other Schengen country. Yet how can anyone ever hope to acquire the necessary travel experience to meet this requirement if one can never get into one of these Schengen countries as a tourist due to similar requirements in the first place? Would it be any benefit to book with a travel agency on a specific tour? We have been told her brief visits to some of the other ASEAN countries holds less weight as well since she was on an atypical tour of only a few days at some of those locations (she took part in the multi-legged Spartan Obstacle Race event in Malaysia that included a DIY tour to nearby countries) whereas most tourists stay for longer periods. Even her longer trips to Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea without an agency plan, and in major cities with a large open job market holds little weight in standing so we are told. How much experience does one need? Now that she has some travel experience might this suffice? No wonder our tourist market is shrinking in the Atlantic Provinces if people have to have traveled elsewhere, or many other places before coming here for a visit.
I am a Canadian citizen of 32 years living and teaching in southern Nova Scotia in the midst of preparing to start my own family. My girlfriend of >5 years lives in Manila, Philippines and, openly and honestly, ultimately wishes to immigrate here as a long-term plan.
However, in the short-term we have been struggling, no, we are now supremely frustrated, with just trying to even simply meet up again, to have a chance at meeting each others’ families, further cement our relationship in person and build some lasting memories participating in events together. She applied for the Temporary Residence Visa (Visitor Visa equivalent) in 2017 after we planned out a three-week itinerary that would see us have a chance to tour around the province of Nova Scotia during the summer, however her visa was denied. We tried again the summer of 2018 but applied for a visa to the USA in an effort to meet up in Boston (site of the Boston Marathon) and New York so that she might still see/tour around similar terrain/woodlands/coastlines/climate, see some sights, meet my family and so we could travel together for two-weeks but again her visa was denied due to a “lack of Strong Ties in Home Country” that would compel her to return after travel to USA. We are concerned that successive entry denials would hurt her ability to eventually immigrate in the future or would encourage future denials for even short stays, hence the application to the USA the second time around. We wish to try again for a Canadian TRV for this summer. We are desperately seeking any advice, support or clarity on just exactly what is needed to have someone visit Canada for a simple one to two-week vacation stay (we would like three weeks ideally, but just to meet at all at this point would be great). She was denied on three criteria, but overall is there anything we can do to prove intent to leave before a visa expires? We have been told many things, but we aren’t travel experts and are shocked at the seeming requirements for such a simple thing as a relatively short tourist trip. Why the hell does Canada not have a separate Visitor Visa for short stays rather than a combined Temporary Residence Visa that goes up to 6 months?
1) The immigration officer that reviewed her file back in 2017, for coming to Canada, cited a lack of travel history as part of her denial, stating there is no precedent that she would leave after the visa expired. She has several upcoming international trips later this year (2019) with already paid round-trip tickets like in the previous years when she applied, but this wasn’t brought-up during either of her visa interviews. It is true that prior to that application she had no travel history abroad. She has since traveled to multiple ASEAN countries to bolster her travel history, but after consulting retired immigration officers, other perspective tourists, a retired travel agent, and others it seems these have little weight and that previous travel to a Schengen country or the USA is more beneficial in terms of proving one’s intent to willfully leave Canada after a brief stay. She has since been to Taiwan, China (Beijing; Hong Kong), Japan, South Korea twice, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. From what we have been told it sounds like the US and Canada both denied her for not having been to the Canada or the US respectively, or some other Schengen country. Yet how can anyone ever hope to acquire the necessary travel experience to meet this requirement if one can never get into one of these Schengen countries as a tourist due to similar requirements in the first place? Would it be any benefit to book with a travel agency on a specific tour? We have been told her brief visits to some of the other ASEAN countries holds less weight as well since she was on an atypical tour of only a few days at some of those locations (she took part in the multi-legged Spartan Obstacle Race event in Malaysia that included a DIY tour to nearby countries) whereas most tourists stay for longer periods. Even her longer trips to Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea without an agency plan, and in major cities with a large open job market holds little weight in standing so we are told. How much experience does one need? Now that she has some travel experience might this suffice? No wonder our tourist market is shrinking in the Atlantic Provinces if people have to have traveled elsewhere, or many other places before coming here for a visit.
