I have just received my tourist visa for Canada however I am perplexed as to why it expires on the 5th of April 2017; 21 days before my booked flight arrival to Canada on April 26 2017. I am heartbroken and saddened as to why a visa was even issued that expires before my actual date of arrival. I feel this is a cruel joke someone is playing on me and I will wake from this nightmare. My husband and I live in rural Australia and we drove 500km today to pick up the visa from the collection centre in Sydney only to be shocked by the turn of events. During my application I clearly outlined my proposed dates of travel as per my flight itinerary (26th April 2017 to 10th May 2017) and that seems to have been completely overlooked. I am unsure as to what I can do. Is there an appeals process? or do I simply apply for another travel visa. My concern with the latter option is whether my current travel visa must expire before a new application can be launched (If so, that will only leave 20days between expiry of current travel visa and my date of intended travel and I am worried that there will not be enough time to process a new visa ). My husband and I have prepaid thousands of dollars for flights; he has an eTa as he is an Australian citizen. He will not holiday without me. This would devastate us.Please help with any ideas. I have sent multiple emails to immigration canada without reply.
TOURIST VISA EXPIRES PRIOR TO FLIGHT!!PLEASE HELP
- Thread starter Tourist visa too early
- Start date
Hi,
There's nothing wrong with the validity dates of your visa. Don't get upset. Calm down
TRVs are issued when the application is approved.... and the TRV validity is NOT as per flight tickets. You have applied way ahead of time (read: your intended visit).
There's no appeal process.
Your option is to reschedule your flight tickets. You cannot apply for a new TRV when the existing one is still valid. The earliest you can apply would be about one month before the current one expires. You may want to reconfirm this with the visa office.
BTW with a Canada TRV, you can travel/enter Canada even until the last date when your TRV is valid. You will be assessed by the immigration officer i.e. whether you should be allowed to remain in Canada for 6 months or less as a visitor (and this date can be well after your TRV expires).... that is if you arrive before your TRV expires.
Basically, the TRV allows you to travel to Canada.... but to remain in Canada, you need visitor status which is what you are assessed for by the immigration officer at the port of entry
Cheers
There's nothing wrong with the validity dates of your visa. Don't get upset. Calm down
TRVs are issued when the application is approved.... and the TRV validity is NOT as per flight tickets. You have applied way ahead of time (read: your intended visit).
There's no appeal process.
Your option is to reschedule your flight tickets. You cannot apply for a new TRV when the existing one is still valid. The earliest you can apply would be about one month before the current one expires. You may want to reconfirm this with the visa office.
BTW with a Canada TRV, you can travel/enter Canada even until the last date when your TRV is valid. You will be assessed by the immigration officer i.e. whether you should be allowed to remain in Canada for 6 months or less as a visitor (and this date can be well after your TRV expires).... that is if you arrive before your TRV expires.
Basically, the TRV allows you to travel to Canada.... but to remain in Canada, you need visitor status which is what you are assessed for by the immigration officer at the port of entry
Cheers
@bellaluna - my passport doesn't expire for another 5 years
@Bryanna - there was no mention on the application that I am applying too early; shouldnt they have simply rejected the visa if it was too early; then why do they mandate that you need an itinerary when making an application if they are simply ignoring the dates on the itinerary. The visa provided shows a validity of 8 months from date of issue - which I found absurd ( who gives a visa for 8 months?that sounds ridiculous) Additionally we booked inflexible full paid flights (my biggest mistake ever).
@Bryanna - there was no mention on the application that I am applying too early; shouldnt they have simply rejected the visa if it was too early; then why do they mandate that you need an itinerary when making an application if they are simply ignoring the dates on the itinerary. The visa provided shows a validity of 8 months from date of issue - which I found absurd ( who gives a visa for 8 months?that sounds ridiculous) Additionally we booked inflexible full paid flights (my biggest mistake ever).
Hi,
Generally, one must not apply more than 6 months in advance before the intended date of entry.
TRVs are issued from the date of approval and not as per flight tickets. Also, as you are probably coming to Canada on a one-off visit (I'm guessing that you don't have any immediate relatives in Canada), you were assessed for a short validity TRV of 8 months although your passport is valid for another 5 years.
As for the itinerary, one can include a provisional flight itinerary with a statement that you will confirm/book tickets when a TRV is issued.
It doesn't help now.... it's not a good idea to book tickets before visas are issued especially non-refundable tickets.... this is true when applying for visas of any country, and not just for Canada.
You can send a Case Specific Enquiry (CSE) + an email to the visa office requesting them to reissue the TRV with new validity because you had misunderstood about the itinerary and you booked non-refundable tickets. It's worth trying this approach. You may get lucky or at the very least, the visa office may suggest reapplying for a new TRV
Hope this works for you
Generally, one must not apply more than 6 months in advance before the intended date of entry.
TRVs are issued from the date of approval and not as per flight tickets. Also, as you are probably coming to Canada on a one-off visit (I'm guessing that you don't have any immediate relatives in Canada), you were assessed for a short validity TRV of 8 months although your passport is valid for another 5 years.
As for the itinerary, one can include a provisional flight itinerary with a statement that you will confirm/book tickets when a TRV is issued.
It doesn't help now.... it's not a good idea to book tickets before visas are issued especially non-refundable tickets.... this is true when applying for visas of any country, and not just for Canada.
You can send a Case Specific Enquiry (CSE) + an email to the visa office requesting them to reissue the TRV with new validity because you had misunderstood about the itinerary and you booked non-refundable tickets. It's worth trying this approach. You may get lucky or at the very least, the visa office may suggest reapplying for a new TRV
Hope this works for you
Never book flights until you have an approved visa in hand. Not sure why you did that...Tourist visa too early said:
Nothing you can do now but reapply.
@breanna
thanks for the advise. it is quite disheartening that one cannot simply go into an canadian immigration office in Australia to directly discuss the circumstances. I have sent over 30 emails without a reply. anyways I have my sister in Canada and they had attached supporting documentation to our application (we were only going to visit them for a few days in toronto; the vast majority of out trip was in alberta)
painful lesson learnt.
thanks for the advise. it is quite disheartening that one cannot simply go into an canadian immigration office in Australia to directly discuss the circumstances. I have sent over 30 emails without a reply. anyways I have my sister in Canada and they had attached supporting documentation to our application (we were only going to visit them for a few days in toronto; the vast majority of out trip was in alberta)
painful lesson learnt.
Hi,
In the meanwhile, you can send a Case Specific Enquiry:
https://secure.cic.gc.ca/enquiries-renseignements/case-cas-eng.aspx?mission=sydney
You must send the CSE only once. It could take even up to 30 days to get a reply to your CSE. Hopefully, you'll get a reply from the Sydney visa office before that
Cheers
Please do not send any more emails to the visa office. I'm sure you will get a reply in a couple of days/pretty soon. Sending too many emails will not get an expedited response.
In the meanwhile, you can send a Case Specific Enquiry:
https://secure.cic.gc.ca/enquiries-renseignements/case-cas-eng.aspx?mission=sydney
You must send the CSE only once. It could take even up to 30 days to get a reply to your CSE. Hopefully, you'll get a reply from the Sydney visa office before that
Cheers
@bryanna
After much deliberation - just ended up reapplying for the wifes visa with a very desperate cover letter and thank god that it was accepted. They cancelled the prior tourist visa and issued a new one (with 8 years!!) validity (crazy right; from 8 months validiity to 8 years - i dont understand it but im happy to accept it).
I haven't smiled like that in a long time.
Thanks for the advise everyone.
One shoe doesn't fit everyone. Heartfelt letters can reach out and strike notes with the right people in the right places. Hopefully this helps someone who has missed out on a tourist visa due to their overeagerness.
Cant wait for Canada.
Peace and love
aussie guy
After much deliberation - just ended up reapplying for the wifes visa with a very desperate cover letter and thank god that it was accepted. They cancelled the prior tourist visa and issued a new one (with 8 years!!) validity (crazy right; from 8 months validiity to 8 years - i dont understand it but im happy to accept it).
I haven't smiled like that in a long time.
Thanks for the advise everyone.
One shoe doesn't fit everyone. Heartfelt letters can reach out and strike notes with the right people in the right places. Hopefully this helps someone who has missed out on a tourist visa due to their overeagerness.
Cant wait for Canada.
Peace and love
aussie guy
oh and i reapplied for a new TRV only 2 months after the prior one was issued. old one cancelled. new one issued.
Super! So happy for you.Tourist visa too early said:oh and i reapplied for a new TRV only 2 months after the prior one was issued. old one cancelled. new one issued.
Glad it's sorted with no change in your travel plans.... congrats on getting a longer TRV validity too