Visitor visa refused – Help for reapplying

[rs350]

Hello everyone,

I am new here and am looking for some advice.
My husband is in Canada as a PR and I am in India. We got married in Dec 2015. Right after our marriage, I applied for visitor's visa to visit my husband. The duration of visit was mentioned as 2 months and purpose of visit was that we want to spend some time together after our marriage. The visa got refused. I run my own business in India. Only my business partner and I are working in it currently (there are no employees). I also have short travel history for visiting couple of countries in Europe for a week.
Below is a list of documents from my side that I submitted:

1. Our Marriage Certificate
2. Our wedding photographs
3. My bank account statement for 6 months (having ~ 10K CAD)
4. Cheques of transactions of my business
5. Papers of the land owned by me in regional language
6. Notarized English translation of the land owned by me along with Affidavit for accuracy of translation
7. Partnership deed of my current business
8. Pan Card copy of my current business
9. Proof of applying for registry of my business
10. Letter of support from my business partner, mentioning that during my wife's visit, she will manage the business on her own (this letter was not notarized)
11. My Pan Card copy
12. My IT Returns for last two years
13. Confirmed return ticket

Visa refused with the following reason:
1. Family ties to home country and to Canada
2. My current employment status
3. Purpose of visit
4. Duration of stay

After the refusal, we applied for my PR (spousal sponsorship) and we should be receiving the SA soon, after which I plan to apply for visitor visa again. I would be keeping my visit for 3 weeks this time. In addition to the above documents, I am planning to also attach the following documents:
1. Evaluation of the land owned by me
2. Evaluation of the jewelry owned by me
3. Day by day plan for the places we'll visit when I am in Canada
4. Hotel bookings for the places we'll visit.
5. SA approval (of PR application)
6. Letter of support from my husband's local MP in Canada

Could you please suggest what else can I add to show more ties to my home country. Do I also need to put a rough estimate per day for the places we'll visit during my visit? My husband also visited me in India last month. Should I also mention this in the application and add the proof of his visit? How can I address my employment status point?
Please suggest what else can I do to improve the chance for getting the approval of the visitor's visa this time.
Also, should I apply right after my husband receives SA or should we wait for a couple of months?

I very much appreciate your help.

 

[scylla]

Since your husband is sponsoring you for PR, I honestly wouldn't bother reapplying. Visas are typically refused in these situations since CIC knows you have plans on remaining in Canada long term.

If you really want to reapply, ask for a 2 week trip. Two months is far too long and demonstrates you have no real ties to your home country. But again, chances are very high it's just going to be refused again.

 

[rs350]

Since your husband is sponsoring you for PR, I honestly wouldn't bother reapplying. Visas are typically refused in these situations since CIC knows you have plans on remaining in Canada long term.

If you really want to reapply, ask for a 2 week trip. Two months is far too long and demonstrates you have no real ties to your home country. But again, chances are very high it's just going to be refused again.

Thanks scylla for your response.

I do understand that chances are less for approval but I would really like to reapply unless it has an effect on the PR. Do you think another visitor refusal can have any effect on the PR?
Also, would you like to suggest anything which could show better home ties and my employment status?

Much appreciate your time.

 

[scylla]

Applying for a visitor visa again should not impact your PR application. Make sure you declare your first refusal in the new application. Also, assuming you are refused again, do not apply a third time (that could start impacting your PR application).

 

[rs350]

Applying for a visitor visa again should not impact your PR application. Make sure you declare your first refusal in the new application. Also, assuming you are refused again, do not apply a third time (that could start impacting your PR application).

Thanks for your response scylla. I appreciate it.
I have two more questions:
1. I have seen some people submitting notarized letters from themselves and from their parents stating that they will return to their home country after the end of their allowed time of TRV. Do those letters add value to your application?

2. My husband’s birthday would be in a few months. Would it be a good idea to add that to my purpose of visit? So should I mention the purpose as visiting my husband and to celebrate his birthday? Does having events like this work as positive or negative for your application?

 

[BrianDell]

The odds of getting a TRV are extremely low if one has a romantic interest, never mind a spouse, in Canada. It's considered an irresistible magnetic force such that it's very difficult to convince a visa officer you'll leave the person of interest before your visit visa expires. The visa officer isn't going to look at your documents further having established you have a spouse in Canada such that there's little to be gained by spending time on finessing them.

You need to apply for permanent residency or apply for a US visa and meet there (or some other country).

 

[rs350]

The odds of getting a TRV are extremely low if one has a romantic interest, never mind a spouse, in Canada. It's considered an irresistible magnetic force such that it's very difficult to convince a visa officer you'll leave the person of interest before your visit visa expires. The visa officer isn't going to look at your documents further having established you have a spouse in Canada such that there's little to be gained by spending time on finessing them.

You need to apply for permanent residency or apply for a US visa and meet there (or some other country).

Thanks for your response BrianDell.
I do understand that the chances of getting a TRV are really low but I still want to give it another shot. I've already applied for PR and it'll take its sweet long time.

For the TRV, I've the following two questions, if someone can give some inputs:
1. I have seen some people submitting notarized letters from themselves and from their parents stating that they will return to their home country after the end of their allowed time of TRV. Do those letters add value to your application?

2. My husband’s birthday would be in a few months. Would it be a good idea to add that to my purpose of visit? So should I mention the purpose as visiting my husband and to celebrate his birthday? Does having events like this work as positive or negative for your application?

 

[Bryanna]

1. I have seen some people submitting notarized letters from themselves and from their parents stating that they will return to their home country after the end of their allowed time of TRV. Do those letters add value to your application?

No, notarized letters from parents/family/friends do not add value to a TRV application. These are mere assurances.... CIC needs to see solid ties and not assurances.

2. My husband’s birthday would be in a few months. Would it be a good idea to add that to my purpose of visit? So should I mention the purpose as visiting my husband and to celebrate his birthday?

It will not help.... what could help is preparing an itinerary like a typical tourist (sightseeing, meeting your husband, etc)

Saying *you want to spend time together after your marriage* will not help too.... because this could be perceived as wanting to overstay especially when you have a PR application.

Visa refused with the following reason:
2. My current employment status

Based on the documents that you submitted, there is no real evidence of your employment/business ties.... or that your business is actively trading.... VAT Returns/ Service Tax Returns/ company bank statements for 6+ months/purchase orders/ payments received/ ITRs, etc.

Also, if your business partner mentions that she can manage your responsibilities in your absence, this means you have weak employment ties

 

[rs350]

Thanks Bryanna for your inputs.

It will not help.... what could help is preparing an itinerary like a typical tourist (sightseeing, meeting your husband, etc)

I'll prepare a day by day itinerary for sightseeing during my visit, including where will we stay and hotel bookings. I'll prepare this itinerary in an excl sheet. Will this be ok? Should I also add the estimated cost for sightseeing trips mentioned in the itinerary?

Saying *you want to spend time together after your marriage* will not help too.... because this could be perceived as wanting to overstay especially when you have a PR application.

I'll mention my visit as a tourist only. Can I add celebrating my husband's birthday in addition to sightseeing? Will this harm my application in any way?

Based on the documents that you submitted, there is no real evidence of your employment/business ties.... or that your business is actively trading.... VAT Returns/ Service Tax Returns/ company bank statements for 6+ months/purchase orders/ payments received/ ITRs, etc.

Actually my business is only a year old and I am not making much money from it yet. I'll try and see what more can I add out of these.

Also, if your business partner mentions that she can manage your responsibilities in your absence, this means you have weak employment ties

I added the letter from my business partner to show something similar to a bonafide letter or leave letter from an employer. Do you think I should rephrase this letter or should I remove it completely?


My husband visited me in March. Shall I mention this in the application and add the proof of his visit?
Apart from the list I mentioned above, please suggest if I could add anything else to make my case stronger?
Much appreciate you help.

 

[Bryanna]

I'll prepare this itinerary in an excl sheet. Will this be ok? Should I also add the estimated cost for sightseeing trips mentioned in the itinerary?

Yes and Yes.

Also, evidence to show you can pay for the itinerary with your own finances.

I'll mention my visit as a tourist only. Can I add celebrating my husband's birthday in addition to sightseeing? Will this harm my application in any way?

Yes, you can add his birthday as a reason to visit. It is not a strong reason to visit though

Do be very careful about the choice of words throughout your TRV application: nothing like *I miss my husband*, *we have not spent time together after our wedding*, etc

I added the letter from my business partner to show something similar to a bonafide letter or leave letter from an employer. Do you think I should rephrase this letter or should I remove it completely

Again, do be careful that a revised letter must not be dramatically different from the previous one.... this could be perceived as misrepresentation/ fraudulent.

If your business partner manages specific responsibilities which are very different from yours then she can say she will manage temporarily.... if she is handling the same responsibilities as yourself then your employment ties are weak because she can manage the business for any length of time without you.

My husband visited me in March. Shall I mention this in the application and add the proof of his visit?

No. His visit is very recent and it means you need not visit Canada so soon


Based on what you've mentioned, the only strong ties you can show are your employment/business.... and even these ties are weak presently. My advice is for you to build stronger evidence for your business.... more purchase orders/more payments from clients, stronger finances, etc

Are your parents/immediate family dependent on you?

Which countries did you visit in Europe and when? Do you have any valid visas for any other country?

 

[rs350]

Thanks again Bryanna.
I'll be applying for the visitor visa in May first/second week mentioning my visit to Canada in July 2016 with the duration of 3 weeks.

Also, evidence to show you can pay for the itinerary with your own finances.

So the evidence is only my bank statement of my Indian account with ~10K CAD. Will this be ok?

Do be very careful about the choice of words throughout your TRV application: nothing like *I miss my husband*, *we have not spent time together after our wedding*, etc

I'll take care of this.

No. His visit is very recent and it means you need not visit Canada so soon

There are two reasons why I want to show my husband's March visit:
1. As I mentioned our PR application is in progress. If at a later stage, visa office wants records of continuous contact or visits after marriage as extra proof, then I'll mention his March 2016 visit. During that time, will it not raise a question why I did not mention his March visit when I applied for visitor visa in May 2016?
2. I want to show that my husband went to Canada in Dec 2015 after our marriage, then visited me in March 2016 and now I am visiting him in July 2016. To show more like I am also visiting like he did in March.
What are your views on these?

Are your parents/immediate family dependent on you?

No. My father is deceased and my mother lives with my brother in another city. No one from my family is dependent on me.

Which countries did you visit in Europe and when? Do you have any valid visas for any other country?

I visited Spain and France for a total of 8-9 days in Aug 2015. My husband (then fiancé) was there at that time. This trip was a visit to him.
Currently I don't have valid visa for any other country.

I have a question for the cover letter. I was thinking of adding the following line in order to address the dual intent. Do you think this is ok or should I rephrase/remove it?
"As mentioned above, we have already applied for my PR application. Once my PR is approved I do have the intention of moving permanently to Canada to live with my husband but the purpose of applying for this visitor visa is only to visit my husband, celebrate his birthday and have a holiday in Canada for 3 weeks."

 

[Bryanna]

IMHO, you must NOT apply for a TRV again as you have high chances of another refusal. It's your choice though. Let your PR application run its course instead.


I will answer your queries though:

I'll be applying for the visitor visa in May first/second week mentioning my visit to Canada in July 2016 with the duration of 3 weeks.

Wait until June before you apply.... hopefully your business situation will be much better by then.

So the evidence is only my bank statement of my Indian account with ~10K CAD. Will this be ok?

6 months bank statements..... no last minute deposits.... your bank balance must match your known/declared sources of income.

There are two reasons why I want to show my husband's March visit:
1. As I mentioned our PR application is in progress. If at a later stage, visa office wants records of continuous contact or visits after marriage as extra proof, then I'll mention his March 2016 visit. During that time, will it not raise a question why I did not mention his March visit when I applied for visitor visa in May 2016?
2. I want to show that my husband went to Canada in Dec 2015 after our marriage, then visited me in March 2016 and now I am visiting him in July 2016. To show more like I am also visiting like he did in March.
What are your views on these?

TRV and PR are two different applications per se..... sometimes half-truths are better than disclosing full truths which can backfire.

I do not imagine that other PR applicants (spousal PR) are visiting each other often to demonstrate a history of continuous contact/visits after marriage to CIC.

For PR, you must prove you are in a genuine marriage based on your interactions before you were married. And, there are plenty of ways to prove this without visiting often after the marriage. Anyways. It's your decision.

I have a question for the cover letter. I was thinking of adding the following line in order to address the dual intent. Do you think this is ok or should I rephrase/remove it?
"As mentioned above, we have already applied for my PR application. Once my PR is approved I do have the intention of moving permanently to Canada to live with my husband but the purpose of applying for this visitor visa is only to visit my husband, celebrate his birthday and have a holiday in Canada for 3 weeks."

It sounds okay


All the best

 

[rs350]

Thanks for your suggestions Bryanna. Much appreciate it.