I think with multiple application refusal, you need to stoo for now and as what I can see you are pretty serious with your relationship and with all the efforts that you did, why not just get married and start the PR process right away if you really want to be with her. this will cut off frustration and waiting time.
Help with TRV for GF from Philippines please
- Thread starter justinrmc
- Start date
The IRCC call centre staff are not visa officers. They are very poorly trained and give out wrong information more than they give out right information.
I agree with scylla to wait at least a year to apply for a TRV. Get married and apply for sponsorship and it is possible that she will be approved for PR before then.
Make sure you submit a super strong app. At this point, you guys will likely have increased scrutiny on the sponsorship application; 5 refusals in as many months shows something of a desperation to come to Canada, which can be an indicator of a Marriage of Convenience.
I had already decided to stop applying for awhile before I posted in this forum. The only question was for how long to give it before trying again. Our relationship is new this year and the original plan was for her to come visit me and we spend time together to find out if we want to get married over the course of her visa duration and possible extension. Now because of all this hassle with TRV applications it makes things much more complicated. I'm planing on visiting her again soon to try to sort this out. We love each other and she wants to get married already but I'm a bit more practical. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be so difficult for her to just come to visit. It's quite a screwed up system we have when people pour across the border by the thousands to file for refugee status from the USA and we pay for them for months or years while it's decided and I can't get the woman I love to spend any time in my country.
I wish I had known that before but why even have them if they screw up people's lives? So if I had it do over again maybe apply every 3 months or longer? I know some embassies only recommend applications every 6 months and say so, like for her getting a visa to Japan or Korea.
There should be a better system to see the difference between a young couple in love wanting to be together and those trying to scam the system. Maybe the visa officers in the embassy only spend a short amount of time and make a decision and that's why their refusal answers seem to come and go for the same reasons?
The call centre is mostly there for people to check on their applications. There is no set time between TRV apps. The general rule of thumb is to wait until the person's circumstances have changed significantly enough to overcome the refusal reasons, i.e. an unemployed person gets a job and works there for several months.
This has nothing to do with telling the difference between "a couple in love" and scammers. They look at the overstay risk based on the person's circumstances. Refusal reasons can be different because people are different and evaluate things differently; it is likely that many stopped after finding enough refusal reasons and so didn't tick off other possible ones.
Thanks for your advice. They shouldn't answer questions at all if they provide false or misleading information. I posted a summary earlier in this thread for when I did submissions. When she got 10 times the money in her bank and her business license I submitted. When she got her business license I submitted. When she got her job I submitted. I thought these were good enough reasons to resubmit. I did not know there was a waiting period before they would seem legitimate. I think another part of the refusals is probably the military situation in the Philippines this year.
There could be some sort of relationship proof threshold similar to what the sponsorship has if they're worried about scammers. There will always be scammers and this current process prevents legitimate applicants like my girlfriend. Any true applicants wouldn't knowingly risk future sponsorship by overstaying.
Regarding the ticked boxes. That also adds confusion because I'm sure most people would assume that the only issues are the things that are ticked. They mention that the officers go over the applications thoroughly and carefully but perhaps not fully then. I applied under the freedom of information act for the officer notes on the 1-4 applications so maybe that will shed some more insight.
There needs to be something in between TRV and PR. I submitted proof my assets in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to show that I would be able to support her during her stay but according to some responses here it probably doesn't matter since they still look at her assets. If there was a system where I could sign a legal document and/or deposit $10-20K with the government to act as a surety that would make more sense.
I had never applied for a visa before but it seems that other countries such as Korea and Japan make the process much more clear about what they want and what they require and it is a lot simpler process.
I had read immigrants with $300K could be let into the country under a self-employed business visa or something like that. But that is a crazy amount of money just to have someone travel here to visit.
Hindsight is 20/20, but you really should have done due research first, such as this forum. Of all the tourist visas I've had to apply for (am also from the Philippines), I honestly believe the Canadian TRV is the most difficult.
If you're willing to share here some info from the case notes when they arrive, we can help you understand them if you need any more clarity.
I work in IT and I did search for forums and I found other ones which were useless so I suppose I could have searched harder and stumbled across this one but I really didn't think it would be this difficult. It would be similar to researching how to do anything you think should be simple only to find out later the game is rigged.
You have a much different perspective being from the Philippines than I do being from Canada. I can travel to over 160 countries without a visa so it's not something most Canadians have any familiarity with unless they travel to very exotic destinations.
I find it so bizarre because my country lets in hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees each year and why make such a big deal over one person with a boyfriend who says he'll pay for her way. If something happened and I didn't pay they could come after me for the money, that would seem more fair. Their refusals would more sense if she applied on her own without knowing anyone in Canada.
You're comparing apples and oranges - but it's interesting that you make this comparison. Refugees and immigrants are admitted to Canada as permanent residents which allowed them to move permanently and live here. What your girlfriend applied was something completely different - she applied for a temporary resident visa which only allows someone to visit (not move here). It's because CIC was concerned she has immigrant intent that she was refused.
Anyway - you are in the situation you're in - and no amount of forum posts is going to change that unfortunately. With five refusals this year, a TRV isn't going to be approved anytime soon. If this is a serious relationship, I would focus on getting married and then applying to sponsor her for PR as soon as you can. That's the best thing you can focus your energy on now. No point re-hashing what you can't change.
It's not easy being refused 5 times in as many months. That causes a good deal of frustration and stress besides the change in plans.... all along hoping that at least one TRV application would get successful.
Maybe a few months later when you step back from these five TRV applications, you would be able to see why we believe your girlfriend had a weak application for each of the times that she had applied. I had given a one-to-one analysis of why her applications were weak in my first post in this thread.
Perhaps, if you had sought advice from this forum before applying in quick succession, you would not be in the situation that you are currently in. Well, that's hindsight which doesn't help now.
IMO, we've come across TRV applicants from the Philippines whose personal/professional situations were much more challenging than your girlfriend's. With a complete overhaul in their paperwork + understanding how to address the concerns of the visa officer, they were successful in getting TRVs.
Your current situation does not allow for another TRV application for several months. That's the hard truth. Maybe if she establishes strong ties before she applies next summer(?) with stronger evidence, she could be issued a TRV. It is possible. Or else you may want to consider the spousal PR route
I know it's not the same. I was just giving it as an example of how the government seems not to care about one group to favour another. People cross the border illegally from the USA and get treated better than a law abiding, tax paying citizens girlfriend. Sure some people may travel here and stay beyond their visa but to punish all for the actions of the few is unfair.
It seems that travel is more difficult than immigration from the Philippines. It would be nice to have statistics of how many tourist visas are applied for an accepted or refused. The Canadian government charges $100 off each and probably make tens of millions off refused applications. Forum posts can lead to discussion which can lead to dissent and possible changes. Almost everything is open to change by many different avenues. From what I have learned so far it is an unfair rigged system and nothing anyone has said has convinced me otherwise. I know very well I can't change what has happened and I appreciate the advice here but that doesn't make it any less frustrating knowing there are unwritten rules than can affect ones life in major ways.
I fully understand why the application appears weak I just disagree with the screening process. It's a twisted system where people learn the rules from trial and error and pass information along to others to provide what the visa officers want to see.
The last application she had a job letter working since Sept 20th, medical appointment on Dec 22nd, return flight ticket all which are recommended on the immigration site, but obviously those things don't matter. They could say on the site that must have job for 3 months, or a certain income or money, or whatever if they wanted to help people instead of keeping everything vague.
If I had found this site earlier I would have asked for help. I didn't know there was a problem until just recently. If the immigration help line or anyone else had warned me to not apply so often then I would have looked harder for advice and possibly found this site.
Can you provide an example of what you refer to as a more challenging application and how it was resolved? Are you affiliated with Campbell Cohen Law?
Strong ties such as longer established business and /or employment? I had sent screenshots of banking and perhaps they want to see bank certificates like the Japan and Korea visa do?
The government is not favouring anyone. Our refugee/asylum system exists for a reason and that is to help people in desperate need. Yes, some people try to take advantage of that, including some who have been crossing the border illegally from the US; however, that is always a consequence of such a process. Many of those people crossing from the US have genuine cases; those that don't are eventually removed.
The system is not rigged. The simple fact of the matter is that your girlfriend has a very weak case and you guys made many mistakes.
Statistics can be found here http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset?_organization_limit=0&organization=cic&page=1.
They're not making money off application processing - either for permanent or temporary visas. Both cost more to process than the fees collected. (Tax payers cover the difference in operating expenses.)
The rules (however unfair) are in place due to visas abuses of past travelers. Too many past visitors with profiles similar to your girlfriend's used TRVs to try to remain in Canada long term. Your girlfriend is paying the price for what others have done in the past.
The rules (however unfair) are in place due to visas abuses of past travelers. Too many past visitors with profiles similar to your girlfriend's used TRVs to try to remain in Canada long term. Your girlfriend is paying the price for what others have done in the past.