TRV denied - Unjust?

[Dulcey]

Hello all,

I have recently sent a letter of invitation to a family member of mine who lives in Lebanon requesting that she visit me to attend my wedding. Her application was denied
I have questions, as I feel the decision rendered might have been an unfair one?

Facts :

I am Canadian
I sent her an invitation letter with a copy of my birth certificate and passport stamped by officials
In the letter of invitation, I stated that she would be staying with me

She is Lebanese
She has traveled in the past to Canada (I invited her then as well)
She will be staying +/- 14 days
She gave proof of assets (including home and land)
She gave proof of income and job
She gave proof of plane ticket reservations (Not paid yet as to not lose her money should she be rejected)
Her direct family lives in Lebanon


Reason of rejection

You have not satisfied me that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident. In reaching this decision, I considered several factors, including:

-Your personal assets and financial status

I am not satisfied that you have sufficient funds, including income or assets, to carry out your stated purpose in going to Canada or to maintain yourself while in Canada and to effect your departure.



These are the reasons, does anyone think that this is fair considering she will be living with me, as stated in my invitation letter. She does have money in her account, unfortunately I do not know exactly how much (but I am guessing at least 5K)

Also, she came a few years ago and her application was approved (she mentioned this to officials)

Should I talk with an immigration lawyer? I really want her to be present at my wedding.

Should I send a new invitation letter, stating that I will take care of all expenses? She will not be paying rent or for food.

Her brother (who lives in Lebanon) is also wealthy, he can also confirm that he will financially support her during her stay here.



I appreciate all the help I can get. I did not expect her to be denied as the last time she applied, she has no problem to get approved.

If she needs more money in her account (for a 14day trip, no hotel no food??) please let me know how much. As well if I need to draft a new invitation (or an affadavit) what I should include (bank statements?)

Many thanks!

 

[mikeymyke]

Is the personal assets thing the only reason for refusal?

The TRV refusal seems to be justified because her family ties, employment, purpose of visit, all seem to be valid, except for the personal funds, funds that even you admit don't even know how much she has. And because you don't know how much she has, its likely its not enough. Also you should order GCMS notes to see why exactly she was refused, maybe they did some calculations and felt her funds are not enough.

 

[Dulcey]

Hi mikeymyke!

Yes this is the only reason of refusal, I am asking her how much she has in her account and will wait for her answer.

I am just surprised, because she will be staying and eating for free....

I am just puzzled and wondering what next step I should take. Either a new invite with me backing her personally or her brother backing her.

 

[torontosm]

Hi mikeymyke!

Yes this is the only reason of refusal, I am asking her how much she has in her account and will wait for her answer.

I am just surprised, because she will be staying and eating for free....

I am just puzzled and wondering what next step I should take. Either a new invite with me backing her personally or her brother backing her.

If she reapplies, I would recommend sending some financial information for yourself demonstrating that you have sufficient funds and means to support her during her visit.

 

[Regina]

Yes, she should apply again.
Let her write a letter to VO explaining the situation with her previous trips to Canada and following the rules.
Sometimes it helps for application just to get to another officer .

 

[Jalex23]

If she reapplies, I would recommend sending some financial information for yourself demonstrating that you have sufficient funds and means to support her during her visit.

I would think that as well.

Like, you sent an invitation letter specifying she would stay with you (therefore saving money?) but no bank statements?

I think the refusal was rather obvious. You are inviting her so you need to prove CIC that you have the needed funds to help her during her stay.

Reapply again and send bank statements, specify that you will take care of her expenses and if you can buy the plane tickets in advance much better.

 

[Pippin]

Actually you have to prove the visitor has funds. This is important as it shows that she is well established in her
Home country. Showing that the Canadian is well established almost increases the ties to Canada so be careful.

 

[Dulcey]

Hmm so do you think it would be best if she shows more money in her account? Her brother can also have a letter drafted with his bank statements explaining that he will financially support her during her trip.

Should I write another letter CLEARLY stating that she will be housed and fed free of charge? I would think this would be obvious to the officier evaluating the file, but maybe I should put more emphasis on that...

If I do write her a letter, I supposed I'll also have to send statement of my own?

Ideally I wouldn't want to create more confusion, so I'd like to go with the best option!

Many thanks for all the help and advice

 

[mikeymyke]

You should do that because based on your first post, it seemed like you were inviting her to stay at your place so she pays no living expenses, but you didnt mention anything about personal spending on food, entertainment, etc. It sounded like you were leaving that responsibility to her.

She should have at least $1000/week to be safe for funds.

 

[Regina]

$1000/week to be safe for funds.

No, this is TOO much for "at least".

 

[mikeymyke]

No, this is TOO much for "at least".

i did say "safe", better to be safe than sorry

I've seen people here who had like $10,000K + just stay a couple months, but still be refused on insufficient funds, even not staying at a hotel and all expenses covered.

 

[Regina]

Everything has to make sense. Too much money for a short visit is as bad as little money for a long one.

 

[mikeymyke]

Honestly I don't think $1000/wk is too extreme. If you imagine in the worst case scenario, where the person has to take care of all expenses himself.

Hotel: $70/day
Food (3x meals at $7 each) = $21/day
Entertainment expense = $20/day
Transportation = $20/day (we know this is way higher considering taxis are expensive)

Total = $131/day = $917/week, which is close to $1000/week already.

Seeing as how the OP will cover the costs, the cost /week should be lower, but you can see how quickly $1000/week is easily a reality.

 

[Dulcey]

You should do that because based on your first post, it seemed like you were inviting her to stay at your place so she pays no living expenses, but you didnt mention anything about personal spending on food, entertainment, etc. It sounded like you were leaving that responsibility to her.

She should have at least $1000/week to be safe for funds.

Well for food, I thought it would be understood that it would be provided since she will be living with me (I don't expect her to pay for anything)

I did state that she would be financially autonomous during her stay, but I meant that regarding her personal shopping (clothes, souvenirs...)

I'm thinking she can either reapply (with all the same documents) showing more money in her account (I'll suggest she show at least 5K? For a little over 2 weeks and plane ticket) AND to have her brother guarantee her financially?

It would save time of me sending her a new invitation letter and my personal statements (which to be honest, I find personal so I'm not extremely keen on sharing)

Otherwise I'll draft a new letter if need be, but I wouldn't want officials to think something is wrong, as initially she would be 'autonomous'


This is so confusing ???

Many thanks again for the invaluable help!!

 

[Jalex23]

Actually you have to prove the visitor has funds. This is important as it shows that she is well established in her
Home country. Showing that the Canadian is well established almost increases the ties to Canada so be careful.

Not really. If you are saying that you are taking care of the visitor (which is the case) then you have to show you are capable of doing that. If what you were saying was needed only rich people could travel to Canada, which is not the case.

Hmm so do you think it would be best if she shows more money in her account? Her brother can also have a letter drafted with his bank statements explaining that he will financially support her during her trip.

Should I write another letter CLEARLY stating that she will be housed and fed free of charge? I would think this would be obvious to the officier evaluating the file, but maybe I should put more emphasis on that...

If I do write her a letter, I supposed I'll also have to send statement of my own?

Ideally I wouldn't want to create more confusion, so I'd like to go with the best option!

Many thanks for all the help and advice

It helps if she shows money and you show money. Best scenario of course. Now, if you say "I will be fully responsible for her expenses during her visit" then you don't need to say "I will feed her". Keep it elegant, but clear.

No, her brother is of no use. It is not her money and not for her to use at her own need (will). This would raise even more questions, like "how would her brother give her money in an emergency?, is he his brother?, is the relationship good?, etc."

Honestly I don't think $1000/wk is too extreme.

Me neither. In fact my first TRV (more than 10 years ago) I showed like 2000 US for 2 weeks besides an "all included" trip schedule... (and I spent them as I went wild shopping around )