TRV for my sister and her son - Please advice

[DilshadCAN]

Hello Members,

I am planning to invite my sister and her son to visit us in Canada this summer for 2-3 weeks. I am a Canadian citizen, married and have one child. I have good income, own house and own business in Canada. I will be a sponsor and will provide an invitation letter.
My sister is employed as an accountant since 2015 in a private company in India and earning around 3 lacs/annum. She is divorced and has one child, a boy who is 10 yrs old. She has the sole custody of the child and they are currently living with our parents in India. My parents are retired govt employees.
My sister has savings of around 8 lacs (CAD 16k) in her bank account and a FD of 2 lacs (CAD 4k). Other than that she owns a car, has gold (CAD 20k) and some property of around 25 lacs (CAD 50k) on her name. She can provide ITR of last 2/3 years.
As a volunteer, she is an active member of a Non profit Religious Welfare Society and looking after the accounts and finance of a project of budget around CAD 500k. The society is building a new gurudwara (sikh temple) and she is responsible for the bookkeeping, managing account and paying contractors etc. This is purely on volunteer basis and she is not getting anything paid for it. The project is under progress and set to be completed in early 2020.

They will stay with us for couple of weeks and we are planning to visit places like Niagara Falls, CN Tower, Ottawa and the Parliament. After that they will return to India.

I'd like to know how best we can apply for her so that she has higher chances of approval. Looking for some advice from the senior members of this forum..

Thanks in advance

 

[Bryanna]

Hello Members,

I am planning to invite my sister and her son to visit us in Canada this summer for 2-3 weeks. I am a Canadian citizen, married and have one child. I have good income, own house and own business in Canada. I will be a sponsor and will provide an invitation letter.

Although you will support her visit, she must be able to prove she can afford the trip without being dependent on you for her airfare, etc.

My sister is employed as an accountant since 2015 in a private company in India and earning around 3 lacs/annum.

Her salary is too low to be a financial incentive for her to return to India.

She is divorced and has one child, a boy who is 10 yrs old. She has the sole custody of the child and they are currently living with our parents in India. My parents are retired govt employees.

She may want to consider applying without her son to improve her chances of a TRV approval.

My sister has savings of around 8 lacs (CAD 16k) in her bank account and a FD of 2 lacs (CAD 4k).

IMO, these financial investments don't match her stated income even if it was earned since the last 3.5+ years from 2015

Other than that she owns a car, has gold (CAD 20k) and some property of around 25 lacs (CAD 50k) on her name.

I'm guessing the property was gifted to her as again it does not match her income. If this is the case then when?

She can provide ITR of last 2/3 years.

Okay

As a volunteer, she is an active member of a Non profit Religious Welfare Society and looking after the accounts and finance of a project of budget around CAD 500k. The society is building a new gurudwara (sikh temple) and she is responsible for the bookkeeping, managing account and paying contractors etc. This is purely on volunteer basis and she is not getting anything paid for it. The project is under progress and set to be completed in early 2020.

She needs to include evidence for this. That said, a project of this size/budget would also have other volunteers and/or committee members to look into the expenses, right?

 

[DilshadCAN]

Thanks for your response Bryanna..

Although you will support her visit, she must be able to prove she can afford the trip without being dependent on you for her airfare, etc. -
How do we prove that? Do you suggest buying return air tickets from her savings and attach it with the application.


Her salary is too low to be a financial incentive for her to return to India. -
I guess we can not do much about it.


She may want to consider applying without her son to improve her chances of a TRV approval. -
Then visa officer might question, why is she leaving her son behind. Why there is such a need to travel?
The whole purpose is to invite them for tourism and show things around. Her son will be getting a letter from his school and will travel during his summer vacation around June-July



IMO, these financial investments don't match her stated income even if it was earned since the last 3.5+ years from 2015
A big chunk of these savings are from the time of her marriage, around 12 years ago. They have grown since then


I'm guessing the property was gifted to her as again it does not match her income. If this is the case then when?
Land is an inherited property which she had well before her marriage. Gold was gifted to her during her marriage, 12 years ago.


Okay


She needs to include evidence for this. That said, a project of this size/budget would also have other volunteers and/or committee members to look into the expenses, right?[/QUOTE]
Yes, there are other volunteers and members but they are not so educated or skilled to manage and keep record of the finances. Most of them are in their 50's and not even graduated. Therefore they really rely on her accounting skills. We can get a notarized letter from the Director of the Committee

I forgot to mention, she has traveled to Dubai last year in December holidays for tourism. Would that make any difference?

Thanks

 

[Bryanna]

Although you will support her visit, she must be able to prove she can afford the trip without being dependent on you for her airfare, etc. -
How do we prove that? Do you suggest buying return air tickets from her savings and attach it with the application.

Don't buy tickets before visas are issued. Tickets do not guarantee an approval.

Her salary is too low to be a financial incentive for her to return to India. -
I guess we can not do much about it.

Fair enough.

She may want to consider applying without her son to improve her chances of a TRV approval. -
Then visa officer might question, why is she leaving her son behind. Why there is such a need to travel?
The whole purpose is to invite them for tourism and show things around. Her son will be getting a letter from his school and will travel during his summer vacation around June-July

IMO, she has better chances of a TRV approval if she applies without her son.

1. When did get divorced?

2. Her son is quite young to show any compelling study ties to return to.

3. No questions will be asked if she leaves her son behind although she may not want to travel without him.

IMO, these financial investments don't match her stated income even if it was earned since the last 3.5+ years from 2015
A big chunk of these savings are from the time of her marriage, around 12 years ago. They have grown since then

Nope. The math does not add up unless I'm wrong in my approx. calculations.

1. Savings of INR 800,000 versus FD of INR 200,000 = Skewed investments = Why would she keep INR 800,000 in her bank account for years instead of investing it sensibly?

2. Assuming a large part of her bank balance traces it origin to her marriage, the math + the bank balance does not add up. Savings accounts earn barely 4-5% interest. Basically, the INR 800,000 could not be from accumulated savings bank interest... even if it was deposited 12 years or so ago.

3. Also, some portion of her income and/or investments must be used for her expenses, right? But, the investments and savings account don't seem to reflect this.

I'm guessing the property was gifted to her as again it does not match her income. If this is the case then when?
Land is an inherited property which she had well before her marriage. Gold was gifted to her during her marriage, 12 years ago.

Okay. Is it agricultural land? Does she earn an income from it? If yes, does she file Form J?

Yes, there are other volunteers and members but they are not so educated or skilled to manage and keep record of the finances. Most of them are in their 50's and not even graduated. Therefore they really rely on her accounting skills. We can get a notarized letter from the Director of the Committee

Okay.

I forgot to mention, she has traveled to Dubai last year in December holidays for tourism. Would that make any difference?

No. Dubai is very liberal in issuing visas

 

[DilshadCAN]

For Financials...

She does not have much expenses since she lives with our parents and my parents are getting pension too from the govt. They get enough money to take care of the daily routine expenses. On top of that I support my parents financialy as well so that they can live comfortably.
Therefore , majority of her salary end up getting accumulated in the bank. It didn't grow much with the interest.

The piece of land is vacant lot in the residential area. She has no income from it.

She got divorced in 2013.

Do you suggest showing less funds? Just to avoid complication and keep it simple.

Is travel itinerary is required in visiting cases?

All of her extended family and friends are in India. Do you think if her son will accompany her the visa office might feel that they are not coming back?

 

[Bryanna]

For Financials...

She does not have much expenses since she lives with our parents and my parents are getting pension too from the govt. They get enough money to take care of the daily routine expenses. On top of that I support my parents financialy as well so that they can live comfortably.
Therefore , majority of her salary end up getting accumulated in the bank. It didn't grow much with the interest.

Maybe the visa officer will be able to make sense of her financials. I cannot because whether as wedding gifts or as salary.... the math does not add up.... plus, the financial priorities don't make sense. So, good luck to the visa officer

The piece of land is vacant lot in the residential area. She has no income from it.

Okay = Not a tie to return to.

Nonetheless, she can include the property ownership papers + valuation from a CA + any property tax receipts (if applicable).

She got divorced in 2013.

Does she get any alimony or child support from her ex-husband?
Does her son need to meet his dad regularly?

Do you suggest showing less funds? Just to avoid complication and keep it simple.

No, don't withdraw/spend the funds. She must explain the source of her bank balance and FD with evidence.

Is travel itinerary is required in visiting cases?

A detailed day-by-day visit plan with expense estimates for sightseeing, activities, etc.

All of her extended family and friends are in India. Do you think if her son will accompany her the visa office might feel that they are not coming back?

Yes. She has two ties: Her employment (which is not a strong tie) + her son (stronger reason to return to India because of the son)


1. Did she take a loan to purchase the car?
2. Any credit cards?
3. Does she pay taxes on the bank balance + her FD? Or does she only declare her salary = Below the taxable limit?

 

[DilshadCAN]

No support from the husband. Dad has never tried to meet his son. He has no visitation rights now. My sister has the sole custody of the child and can travel outside India with her.

No loan on the car
Yes she has credit card
Her net income is less than INR 3 Lacs, which is below taxable limit for women.

Do you think we can try visa for both of them first and if they refuse it with a reason of not having strong ties and will not return back then in the second try we can apply for only my sister not with her son?

Thanks

 

[Bryanna]

No support from the husband. Dad has never tried to meet his son. He has no visitation rights now. My sister has the sole custody of the child and can travel outside India with her.

No loan on the car
Yes she has credit card
Her net income is less than INR 3 Lacs, which is below taxable limit for women.

Do you think we can try visa for both of them first and if they refuse it with a reason of not having strong ties and will not return back then in the second try we can apply for only my sister not with her son?

Thanks

Like I've mentioned earlier, your sister would need to prove that her bank balance + FD + assets are genuinely hers because they are not proportionate to her income nor do the interest calculations add up if these finances are considered as wedding gifts.


In short:
1. She has weak employment ties

2. She has inadequate finances nor the financial incentive to return to India

3. Your parents are not dependent on her = Not family ties to return to

4. The gurudwara project will continue even if you sister decides to overstay

5. Her property is not an active tie to return to. Also, it was gifted at her wedding 12+ years ago but she hasn't constructed anything.... there's no chance of constructing anything now as she won't be eligible for a construction loan nor does she have the independent finances to construct.

6. No previous travel history

7. Not a tax payer = Weak economic situation

8. As her income is low, her credit card spending limit is low. I'm guessing not more than INR 50,000

9. No strong purpose of visit


The only strong tie she has is her son. IMO, she could attempt a TRV if she applies without her son.... not the way that you have suggested


BTW do your parents have TRVs or super visas?