Visitor's Visa for Colombian Girlfriend

[Pereira2017]

Hi All,

I lived and worked in Colombia in 2017, and have since moved back to Canada (I'm a Canadian citizen). My girlfriend (who is Colombian) would like to come to visit me. She is 22, a recent University graduate with a full time job. She still lives with her parents in Colombia. I have had many Colombian friends get rejected for tourist visas to Canada so want to try to avoid some of the pitfalls. I am 30 year old male, medical professional, employed full time, with a professional medical corporation.

1. Letter of invitation: I am in the process of writing a letter of invitation. In the letter I have outlined all the information they ask for, including clarifying that I will be paying for meals, expenses and return plane tickets. I am being honest and saying that she is my girlfriend and will be coming merely to visit me and see Canada. I was planning on asking for her to come for 3 months, would that amount of time be a red flag? Also, are there any other things I should play down or highlight in the letter?

2. Tax Returns: Along with my letter of invitation, which I will get notarized, I will include with a copy of my passport. I have also heard it is advantageous to include your most recent tax return as well. Would it be an advantage (or disadvantage) to also include my corporate tax returns? Also, do you recommend a letter from my employer or provincial association?

3. Proof of Funds: For my girlfriend's bank account, I have heard that she would need somewhere between $5000 and $8000 Canadian dollars in her account, is that correct? Seeing that Colombian wages are far lower than Canadian wages, I would need to transfer some money to her account to get her to that level. Have red flags been raised before seeing money being transferred into accounts? I could transfer the money to a friend in Colombia who would withdraw it and give it to her to deposit into her account as cash if needed.

4. Colombian documents: For the documents my girlfriends needs to supply, such as a letter from her employer and her letter stating reasons for traveling to Canada, can these be in Spanish, or must they be in English (or is it better to supply a copy in both languages?)

Thanks in advance, any extra pearls would be greatly appreciated!

 

[devilsofnj]

Hi All,

I lived and worked in Colombia in 2017, and have since moved back to Canada (I'm a Canadian citizen). My girlfriend (who is Colombian) would like to come to visit me. She is 22, a recent University graduate with a full time job. She still lives with her parents in Colombia. I have had many Colombian friends get rejected for tourist visas to Canada so want to try to avoid some of the pitfalls. I am 30 year old male, medical professional, employed full time, with a professional medical corporation.

1. Letter of invitation: I am in the process of writing a letter of invitation. In the letter I have outlined all the information they ask for, including clarifying that I will be paying for meals, expenses and return plane tickets. I am being honest and saying that she is my girlfriend and will be coming merely to visit me and see Canada. I was planning on asking for her to come for 3 months, would that amount of time be a red flag? Also, are there any other things I should play down or highlight in the letter?

2. Tax Returns: Along with my letter of invitation, which I will get notarized, I will include with a copy of my passport. I have also heard it is advantageous to include your most recent tax return as well. Would it be an advantage (or disadvantage) to also include my corporate tax returns? Also, do you recommend a letter from my employer or provincial association?

3. Proof of Funds: For my girlfriend's bank account, I have heard that she would need somewhere between $5000 and $8000 Canadian dollars in her account, is that correct? Seeing that Colombian wages are far lower than Canadian wages, I would need to transfer some money to her account to get her to that level. Have red flags been raised before seeing money being transferred into accounts? I could transfer the money to a friend in Colombia who would withdraw it and give it to her to deposit into her account as cash if needed.

Thanks in advance, any extra pearls would be greatly appreciated!

1) Three months might be a long time and they might flag that. Your girlfriend has a full-time job, who can get three months off work? Three weeks to a month is probably more realistic. From my experience, they want to see that the TRV applicant can support themselves. In the case of my then-girlfriend (now my wife), I wrote in my letter that I would pay for everything even though she had enough funds to support herself for two weeks. They denied her anyway.

2) I don't know why you'd include a copy of your passport. You're a Canadian citizen. Just give them your passport number in the letter. As for your tax returns, I have no idea. Again, the application is not about you, but about your girlfriend.

3) I would strongly recommend not transferring money into your gf's account because when she submits her financial history they'll notice large deposits into her account that cannot be explained through pay stubs etc. If you are going to do it, start doing small transfers every two weeks or so for a solid six months to a year.

4) I think you added this part after I replied, but all documents not in English must be translated into English and notarized.

The best thing you can do in your letter, and this is from my experience and what many others on here told me to do, is stress that your girlfriend is going to go back to Colombia.

Not to discourage you, but in my case, my girlfriend was rejected despite having financial means to handle herself for two weeks in Canada. The gave us a list of reasons including financial, even though she had a good paying job, a family to look after/support, and every reason to go home. Also listed was the prospect of her remaining in Canada due to marriage, even though I never wanted to marry her in Canada in the first place and told them that in my supporting letter.

I wish you luck. They say it's very difficult for girlfriend's from countries such as Colombia, Philippines etc., to come to Canada on visitor visas since it's all about proving strong ties to home country and that you won't marry them here in Canada. If your girlfriend is thinking of coming for three months and money isn't particularly an issue for you/her, it might be worth looking at the student visa route. Finding a school that offers a program to international students for 3 months or more might be worth looking at.

Good luck.

 

[scylla]

1) Three months might be a long time and they might flag that. Your girlfriend has a full-time job, who can get three months off work? Three weeks to a month is probably more realistic. From my experience, they want to see that the TRV applicant can support themselves. In the case of my then-girlfriend (now my wife), I wrote in my letter that I would pay for everything even though she had enough funds to support herself for two weeks. They denied her anyway.

100% agreed. Three months is WAY too long a visit and demonstrates she effectively has no ties to her home country. Ask for 2-3 weeks.

 

[Pereira2017]

Thank you both devilsofnj and scylla for your responses, it's a good point about the length of time. Also, an excellent suggestion about finding a school that offers a short program, I think we might look into that route instead, thanks!

 

[Pereira2017]

Just an update from the previous thread, my girlfriend has applied, and been accepted to a 3 month ESL program through an local undergraduate university. Since the program is only 3 months, and she is not technically an undergraduate student (ESL is considered separate), we have been advised to apply for a tourist visa.

Her tuition fees have been paid in full and we have a letter stating that. She has sufficient money in her account to more than cover costs for 6 months ($7,000 CDN). She would be staying with me and I would be covering her expenses while she is here.

Our concern is that her "connection" to her home country is not strong. She just graduated recently with an undergraduate degree, and although she has full time work, it is not a career job and is one she does not plan on returning to after she returns from Canada. She does not have any children, property, or vehicle other than a inexpensive moto. She does have parents, siblings and extended family in her home town.

She plans on stating in her letter of intention that the purpose of coming to Canada is to improve her English in a native environment (which other than visiting me, is the actual purpose now). She has no intentions of defecting to Canada (which I assume is their concern), any suggestions on anything else she can mention in her letter that would strengthen the case that she will return back to Colombia?

As previously mentioned, I was planning on writing her invitation letter and stating that I will be paying for her living expenses while she is here. We want to be 100% honest and I was planning on saying that I am her boyfriend. Do you think that piece of information reduces her chances of being denied? I think it would be more suspicious that a male "friend" would be hosting her in Canada, but thought I would check.

 

[ELD1234]

Just an update from the previous thread, my girlfriend has applied, and been accepted to a 3 month ESL program through an local undergraduate university. Since the program is only 3 months, and she is not technically an undergraduate student (ESL is considered separate), we have been advised to apply for a tourist visa.

Her tuition fees have been paid in full and we have a letter stating that. She has sufficient money in her account to more than cover costs for 6 months ($7,000 CDN). She would be staying with me and I would be covering her expenses while she is here.

Our concern is that her "connection" to her home country is not strong. She just graduated recently with an undergraduate degree, and although she has full time work, it is not a career job and is one she does not plan on returning to after she returns from Canada. She does not have any children, property, or vehicle other than a inexpensive moto. She does have parents, siblings and extended family in her home town.

She plans on stating in her letter of intention that the purpose of coming to Canada is to improve her English in a native environment (which other than visiting me, is the actual purpose now). She has no intentions of defecting to Canada (which I assume is their concern), any suggestions on anything else she can mention in her letter that would strengthen the case that she will return back to Colombia?

As previously mentioned, I was planning on writing her invitation letter and stating that I will be paying for her living expenses while she is here. We want to be 100% honest and I was planning on saying that I am her boyfriend. Do you think that piece of information reduces her chances of being denied? I think it would be more suspicious that a male "friend" would be hosting her in Canada, but thought I would check.

Hi Pereira,

I'm kind of in the same situation as you were in that moment. I have a 26 yo girlfriend that I met in Colombia with not that much of ''strong connection'' to Colombia, and that would like to visit me this year in Canada. Did you follow trough, with that strategy? Did they granted her the visitor visa? And did you finally keep in the letter that you were her boyfriend?

Thank you very much!