URGENT VISITING VISA FOR MY PARTNER

[MaliaWard]

Hello there,

I am Canadian and my common law partner is Jamaican. We have been together for 5 years and met in the Cayman Islands. I have been there from Oct/10 working on a permit. I am now 7 months pregnant and thought everything was somehow going to go smoothly. We had both decided that it would be best for me to come back to Canada for the birth of our first child instead of spending an arm and a leg in Cayman. We had sent away for a multiple entry visiting visa to Canada on March 29th and he had received it back yesterday. I flew home back to Canada on Tuesday evening as that was the latest day I could fly. I was so anxious and nervous about the package as we had worked so hard to get everything completed and spent enough money on everything.
In the package we had a doctors letter, ultrasound pictures, invitation letter from myself and my mother, job letter from his work, bank statement, pictures of us from 2006. We had also gotten a lawyer to sign the common law union paper. The visa was denied! I don't know what to do or what to think. I can't even express the pain and emotion I am feeling inside as he is my life. All he wants is to be with his family and be there for the birth of our daughter. I have emailed the Canadian Consulate in Jamaica twice where the visa was sent- still no reply. I just really need some answers and re-assuring that there can be some hope and something can happen. :'(

Thank you.

 

[job_seeker]

Considering he applied for a Temporary Resident Visa, you gave enough reason to the officer processing his application to deny it. You and your daughter would be enough reason for him NOT to want to go back after he arrives in Canada.

Hello there,

I am Canadian and my common law partner is Jamaican. We have been together for 5 years and met in the Cayman Islands. I have been there from Oct/10 working on a permit. I am now 7 months pregnant and thought everything was somehow going to go smoothly. We had both decided that it would be best for me to come back to Canada for the birth of our first child instead of spending an arm and a leg in Cayman. We had sent away for a multiple entry visiting visa to Canada on March 29th and he had received it back yesterday. I flew home back to Canada on Tuesday evening as that was the latest day I could fly. I was so anxious and nervous about the package as we had worked so hard to get everything completed and spent enough money on everything.
In the package we had a doctors letter, ultrasound pictures, invitation letter from myself and my mother, job letter from his work, bank statement, pictures of us from 2006. We had also gotten a lawyer to sign the common law union paper. The visa was denied! I don't know what to do or what to think. I can't even express the pain and emotion I am feeling inside as he is my life. All he wants is to be with his family and be there for the birth of our daughter. I have emailed the Canadian Consulate in Jamaica twice where the visa was sent- still no reply. I just really need some answers and re-assuring that there can be some hope and something can happen. :'(

Thank you.

 

[scylla]

As job_seeker said, your husband strongly fits the profile of someone who is interested in remaining in Canada long term and that's why he was refused. You can certainly try to re-apply. However you should be prepared for another refusal. What's happened to you is not unusual or out of the norm - but expected given his situation and relationship to you.

If you do re-apply, focus your evidence on things that tie him to Jamaica - not to you or Canada.

 

[MaliaWard]

Well i wanted them to know the situation, and since he just wants the opportunity he wouldn't be stupid enough to stay over his time in Canada. We plan on re applying right away but I just really want to know what I should do differently? How would I make more ties to Jamaica when he's been working in the Cayman Islands since 2006.

 

[scylla]

Sorry for the confusion - I should have said "show strong ties to Cayman Islands" (not Jamaica).

Are you returning to Cayman right after the birth of your daughter? If so, perhaps you could show proof that you plan to re-establish yourself there and don't plan to stay in Canada (and therefore your husband doesn't plan to stay in Canada either)?

I hate to say this, but I think this is going to be an uphill battle for you. It's typically difficult for spouses to be approved for TRVs.

 

[MaliaWard]

I understand but the only strong ties we can really show are bank statements and a job letter. Which we did.
I had left Cayman in the first place because it's about $3,000 to have a child down there, and if you don't make over a certain amount of money a month you cannot have a child as a dependent on your work permit. So if I go back to Cayman it can only be to visit, we want to get married now because that's really the next step but that's a huge process. We just feel so lost and confused about how someone could possibly do this. I don't know what to say, just new on this forum because I thought it would help me out a bit.

 

[scylla]

If the plan is to live in Canada long term - you should really start looking into sponsoring your husband as a permanent resident. (Although this doesn't solve the issue of him coming here for the birth of your daughter.) You don't necessarily have to be married to sponsor him. If you have lived together for at least one year (and can prove it), then you can sponsor him as a common law spouse.

I don't have a solution for your current problem. There's absolutely no harm in re-applying for a TRV (if he's rejected again, this won't in any way harm a future PR application). But I think a second rejection is likely unless you can come up with new evidence to prove his ties to his homeland.

On a separate note - I'm not sure how long you have been away from Canada. But you should double check that you still qualify for health coverage. Some (all?) provinces will withdraw health coverage if you have been away from the country for a certain period of time. You must then live in Canada for a few months (often three) without health care coverage to get your coverage reinstated.

 

[job_seeker]

Attach a cover letter (from you and from your partner), indicating that you would sponsor him at a later date, and he wouldn't want to jeopardize the sponsorship later, by him overstaying the visit.

I understand but the only strong ties we can really show are bank statements and a job letter. Which we did.
I had left Cayman in the first place because it's about $3,000 to have a child down there, and if you don't make over a certain amount of money a month you cannot have a child as a dependent on your work permit. So if I go back to Cayman it can only be to visit, we want to get married now because that's really the next step but that's a huge process. We just feel so lost and confused about how someone could possibly do this. I don't know what to say, just new on this forum because I thought it would help me out a bit.

 

[MaliaWard]

Thank you all for your help.
I will try the next step and see what happens!

 

[MaliaWard]

Well we've been together for 5 years so I come and go. Worked there in 2008 for about a year and decided to go back but ended up getting pregnant so only worked at the job from nov-april. If i tried sponsoring for him how would I prove we've lived together before? Letter from the landlord?? The cover letter's sound like a really good idea, never thought about that before.

 

[scylla]

A letter from the landlord is good - but you'll probably need more to prove you lived in the same location. For example: joint tenant agreement, joint bank account from which the rent was paid, letters or other mailings that each of you received which show the joint address (e.g. bank statements, magazines), joint utilities bill. Letters from parents/friends that indicate you lived together would be good too.

 

[MaliaWard]

This really sucks. It seems like it's going to be a pretty long process when I need something to happen now! I am going to try and call canadian immigration tomorrow and see if something can happen.

 

[MaliaWard]

So I have received the fax from the visa application. The officer said there was nothing wrong with all the documents we had sent. The reason they stated on the permit was "Your status in Grand Cayman is under Appeal. I therefore do not consider you established in the Cayman Islands." In the package we had a job letter saying he's been with the company since 2006. He is working under the Operation Of Law and they can only stamp his permit up to six months everytime. Does anyone know anything we can do ??

 

[ashokcan]

Hello there,

I am Canadian and my common law partner is Jamaican. We have been together for 5 years and met in the Cayman Islands. I have been there from Oct/10 working on a permit. I am now 7 months pregnant and thought everything was somehow going to go smoothly. We had both decided that it would be best for me to come back to Canada for the birth of our first child instead of spending an arm and a leg in Cayman. We had sent away for a multiple entry visiting visa to Canada on March 29th and he had received it back yesterday. I flew home back to Canada on Tuesday evening as that was the latest day I could fly. I was so anxious and nervous about the package as we had worked so hard to get everything completed and spent enough money on everything.
In the package we had a doctors letter, ultrasound pictures, invitation letter from myself and my mother, job letter from his work, bank statement, pictures of us from 2006. We had also gotten a lawyer to sign the common law union paper. The visa was denied! I don't know what to do or what to think. I can't even express the pain and emotion I am feeling inside as he is my life. All he wants is to be with his family and be there for the birth of our daughter. I have emailed the Canadian Consulate in Jamaica twice where the visa was sent- still no reply. I just really need some answers and re-assuring that there can be some hope and something can happen. :'(

Thank you.

Something fishy happened .