"Has your sponsor visited you" question

[waikiki]

Question 24: "Has your sponsor visited you during the period of your relationship"?

I would click "No", since we didn´t "visit" each other. We were living in the same town and saw each other regularly. So clicking" No" is correct, isn´t it?

[chelley]

no... saying no *might* imply you hadn't met in person before the wedding or at all...

say yes

where you can specify or describe your relationship, do so...

[chelley]

i will just add, the goal of the immigration forms is not to answer the questions as literally as possible, it's to provide the right evidence and responses that will ensure the immigration officer who is reviewing it understands, and accepts your relationship as genuine and ongoing.

answer questions accordingly and in a manner that will ensure your application is as strong as your relationship.

hope that helps

[valy79]

I am not sure if I agree with you chelley.
In my eyes waikiki is right about saying "no". If two people live at the same place, why would they visit each other? I am sure CIC is smart enough to figure out that 2 people always living at the same spot don't need to visit each other. This question is tailored for people living in different countries in my opinion (eg arranged marriages where one part lives eg in India, the other one in Canada). In those cases it is important to show evidence that the two visited each other for a number of times, to prove that their relationship is genuine.

waikiki - you can just make a small remark in the box below - say that there was no need to visit since you live in the same town/city.
That's what we did.

[chelley]

i don't know... visiting doesn't necessarily mean travel... when you go to someone's house, you go to visit them, regardless of where they live (across the street or across the world)... saying no here could possibly needlessly put you in a pile of applicaitons that need to be screened for further detail rather in the "faster" track pile... they ask these segmenting quesitons for a reason, if they just wanted to know your relationship story, they'd ask that alone...

i'd never answer no to a question that could otherwise be read "have you ever seen each other"

but that's just me...

[valy79]

 I see your point chelley. I think we just disagree on why Immigration put that specific question there. Whereas I think it applies primarily to couples having long-distance relationships, you think that it is a general question.

I doubt that an application is put on a different stack just because somebody says they didn't visit each other because they lived at the same place/location (ours didn't). There is even no way to prove that you visited each other's house let's say 3 times/week. Visits from one country to the other can be proven though (plane tickets etc).

Anyway, it's just a matter of interpretation/guessing why the question is asked. At the end everybody needs to make their own decisions about how to answer them.

[Heckler]

I answered no but then explained the reason why (in our case it was because my wife had 2 young children to look after making it prohibitively expensive for her to visit, it was more convenient for me to visit her) & the numbers & frequencies at which I'd visited her.
I had trouble with a lot of the questions in that was as they seem to be aimed at all the meetings being OUTSIDE of Canada, were as all my wife & I's meetings had been within Canada.
Answer the question truthfully but then turn it around & provide evidence thats similar to what they ask for but fits your situation more.
It worked for me at least

[waikiki]

Thanks everyone. I  thought about each of your opinions and read again the question and explanation. I think I will say "No" and explain that we come from the same town. Also, if I put" Yes", they ask for "number, dates and length of visits and if we stayed at the same location". In my eyes, that implies that the person visiting me "traveled", also, I wouldn´t be able to truthfully answer that, since i don´t have exact numbers and dates of when we saw each other.

[canadianwoman]

As long as you explain your situation clearly, 'no' should be fine. Just 'no' might raise red flags, but 'no' plus adding the explanation that you live in the same city and saw each other every day or whatever, should be fine.

[toby]

Thanks everyone. I  thought about each of your opinions and read again the question and explanation. I think I will say "No" and explain that we come from the same town. Also, if I put" Yes", they ask for "number, dates and length of visits and if we stayed at the same location". In my eyes, that implies that the person visiting me "traveled", also, I wouldn´t be able to truthfully answer that, since i don´t have exact numbers and dates of when we saw each other.

Saying "no" could lead to an unfortunate misunderstanding. I advise you to say "yes", then explain that you live in the same town etc etc.  CIC is concerned about marriages of convenience in which the partners don't even meet much, if at all  -- they just get married and apply for the visa.  So if you say you did not visit, that might lead a hurried VO to red-flag your application.  The VOs don't have a lot of time for each application, and so assuming they will take the time to figure out that your special "no" is not a real "no" could backfire.

It is safer to say "yes", then explain.  That way the VO knows the truth, and even if he/she could quibble and say you should techncally have answered "no", it won't matter: they will know the truth.

[fprince]

Question 24: "Has your sponsor visited you during the period of your relationship"?

I would click "No", since we didn´t "visit" each other. We were living in the same town and saw each other regularly. So clicking" No" is correct, isn´t it?

Sorry, is this inland or outland?

when are where did you first meet?

[waikiki]

outland, 10 years ago.

[fprince]

outland, 10 years ago.

So..10 years ago your sponsor should have visted to meet you in your home country ? right
or was he a canadian citizen living in your country?

[waikiki]

none of us had to travel in order to see each other, we are a "normal" couple who met each other like most people do.

[fprince]

none of us had to travel in order to see each other, we are a "normal" couple who met each other like most people do.

There are so many people who travel to meet their partner when it is an arranged marriage...and from your comment i guess you term them as "abnormal"?