Hi Funkie,
Saw your PM. Answering here so others could benefit too.
This is a tricky situation i must say, so answers here are probably opinions only based upon limited individual knowledge.
1. Bank letter alone probably won't be enough and a bank statement showing more recent deposit might be questionable, as far as trying to prove that you have these funds.
If your church issues you a letter saying they would afford you, there must be SOME proof of them having done this until now. Your rent and other expense paid by them already
and its proof would help combined with letter.
2. Generally submitting bank statement is not a requirement of work permit or SOWP IF YOU HAVE A GUARANTEED JOB and source of income. Me and none of my friends who applied with spouses and kids barely had may be 1k CAD in their accounts when any of us applied. Proof of available funds was our annual salary as in offer letter. Bank statement was only additional proof of OUR INCOME IN HOME COUNTRY since it showed pays regularly being transferred back there (along with pay stubs from back home) and served as STRONG TIES to home country because we could and were earning good money there.
But say if spouse of a student in Canada is applying for a SOWP, the general criteria is living expense for a year, the same as that for a student in addition to fee for his studies. However, for a single student it is like 10-11k for a year. When it is a couple, it is more like an additional 6k i.e. around 17K CAD for two people in total.
3. If you can prove you have funds and show you were doing well in home country as well, property is not needed. A lot of people don't own any thing and get visas. It is just an additional support specially when you don't have good other means of showing ties. A good job in home country and proof of income with bank statement is a substitute and very good proof of ties to home country.
4. The most common process is that people who are in Canada and need another trv apply inside of Canada. It will be a complex package when / if you apply from home, since your SOWP application will need a visa and work permit, where as you would only need a trv. May be you could apply together, but you probably should attach a SHORT Letter explaining your situation. Also you will need PROOF of being NOC A, in order to justify eligibility for SOWP. If i were in your shoes, i will probably NOT travel before getting another trv for myself and would stay here WHILE my SOWP is being processed. It might still be approved that way, but going home and applying from there along with your spouse complicates situation, even when you don't apply together.
Besides you should probably reconfirm this from CIC. I on a work permit (though my visa is valid until some time 2016) and i landed from US about 4 days ago. I asked the CBSA officer about the 6 month validity thing i.e. i asked. "If i am on a business trip to US and coming back to Canada with less than six months left on my visa, will entry be a problem?" and she said "you can enter Canada even one day before your work permit and visa expiry - because you could leave again the next day". I am a bit surprised about this but i reconfirmed and that's what she said.
So may be if this holds, you could still enter Canada on the same visa (as long as you come in before Feb 2015) assuming you had a multiple entry visa.
If that is the case, he is the one to apply for SOWP alone though he should apply now while you were here.
5. Showing that he is working and paystubs always serve as a good tie to home country. It is less significant in case of a spouse compared to that of a principal applicant. But still it has weight age. I would definitely do that.
6. Apply for his SOWP right now while you are here and confirm from CIC whether you could land before Feb 2015 with the same visa. That greatly simplifies things.
All the best
funkie4cristo said:
Please I would appreciate advice on this ASAP.
I just got a Visitor Record with authorization to work in Canada as a Clergy for 2 years (NOC 4154 skill level A), a VR because the job is work permit exempt.
Now I want to go home to see my husband (Nigeria) as the employer has given me permission to go home and come back to start work in February (the employment is not with salary, but they are to take care of living expenses and welfare for me and my family). But my husband wont agree to us living separately, so we want to apply immediately for his SOWP.
The problem is that we dont have much funds in our account right now, although my brother here said he can put $20,000 in my account and we can get a letter stating available funds from my bank and he has to take the money back immediately to use it for a project, so he cant leave it in my account for 3 months.
My Question is
1. Will a bank letter stating available funds be sufficient? Since the church that employed me is willing to give me a letter stating that they will take care of living expenses for me and my family. I don't have any payslips.
2. If we are to submit a bank statement, how much is the minimum we need to have to be acceptable?
3. Do we still have to show ties like property documents in this situation?
4. When I go home next week, my entry visa expires February 2015, so i need to apply for another entry visa, do you think we should apply together or better apply separately?
5.Does he have to submit employment letter and payslips to show that he is working?
6.What would you advice? I dont want to waste this opportunity i got.
Thanks in advance for a prompt response.
FSA.
