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Russian girl wants Canadian Visa

epcortek

Full Member
Jul 2, 2010
21
0
123
edmonton
Category........
Visa Office......
moscow
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-26-2011
File Transfer...
05-24-2011
Well here is my story,

In April 2010 i went to Russia on a vacation. While i was there i met a girl while in Saint petersburg. I ended up spending nearly a month with her and convinced her to take 3 weeks off work to travel the rest of Russia with me. We went to moscow, Siberia, lake Baikal and into the mountains.This girl is really awesome. She is 19 and I'm 27 years old. On the 28th of may i had to leave her in Russia and fly back to Canada. We have been talking ever since i have left Russia. I asked her if she wanted to come visit me here and she would really like to. But now after looking into visa's for her I'm not to sure if it will be possible. That is why I'm here now. I want to get your opinions on the best course of action i can take to meet this lovely girl here in Canada . Here is some information about her and some information about me.
Me
I am 27
I am from Alberta, Canada
I work construction and make between 55,000 and 110,000 year(it varies on where i work and what i do)
I own a new house in Alberta
I have currently 25,000 in my bank.

Her
She is 19 years old
She is from saint petersburg , Russia
She works as a secretary
Her income is $1200 Canadian dollars/month
She speaks moderate English 5/10 maybe 6/10
She has only traveled outside of Russia once, to the Ukraine
She rents an apartment in Saint petersburg. She does not own property.
She does not have any formal education like university/college
She has 4500 dollars saved in her bank account
She has Family living near Saint Petersburg(Mother, Father, and 2 brothers)


So what do you think is the best option for her to get a visa. What type of visa should she apply for ? I have heard that i can also write a letter of invitation. Does this sometimes help and does anyone have a format of a letter that i can follow? Of course i will make my own, i just would like to see a letter that has been approved so i don't totally mess things up.

If anyone is interested add me as a friend to you Vkontakte page 88696812
 

jeans22

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2010
258
6
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Hi,

I would suggest that you get her a Temporary Resident Visa. To get this, your friend from Russia needs to prove to an Immigration Officer that she will come back to Russia once allowed to enter Canada. Sounds simple enough but this is not an easy task. From the information you provided about her, she will need to get a letter of employment from her boss and an approved leave of absence letter as well. She'll also need a 6 month statement from her saving account and copies of payments made for her rent.

As for the invitation letter, it can help but in my opinion is not a big factor when an IO decides whether to grant or refuse a visa. Here's a guideline on how to write an invitation letter

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/letter.asp

Once again, it is imperative that she prove to an IO that she'll return to Russia once her visit is over. Most applications are refused because of lack of ties to country of residence.

Try to read other posts with regards to a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV). I'm sure you can find a lot of useful information in those threads.

Good Luck!!
 

epcortek

Full Member
Jul 2, 2010
21
0
123
edmonton
Category........
Visa Office......
moscow
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-26-2011
File Transfer...
05-24-2011
You figure it is 6 months of bank statements and rent reciepts. It sounds like you have been through the process before. What is your opinion of me writing a letter of invitation. I want to be honest and would like to exlpain to them that i would like to get to know this individual better and show her canadian culture and the country. I would also like to explain i would be taking care of the costs associated with living expenses (food and accomidation) as she would be staying at my house for the month. Would i be making the situation more complicated increasing her chances of getting denied the visa if i write this in a letter ?

Thankyou jeans22 for you reply.
 

jeans22

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2010
258
6
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
epcortek said:
You figure it is 6 months of bank statements and rent reciepts. It sounds like you have been through the process before. What is your opinion of me writing a letter of invitation. I want to be honest and would like to exlpain to them that i would like to get to know this individual better and show her canadian culture and the country. I would also like to explain i would be taking care of the costs associated with living expenses (food and accomidation) as she would be staying at my house for the month. Would i be making the situation more complicated increasing her chances of getting denied the visa if i write this in a letter ?

Thankyou jeans22 for you reply.
I have, actually! I have visited my Canadian girlfriend twice last year. But before I was able to, I had to apply for a TRV. The burden of proof mainly falls on the applicant (which is her) and not much on the sponsor (that's you). You can state in your invitation letter that she'll be staying with you in your residence and that you will support her while she is in Canada. Attach your employment letter and bank statements to prove that you can support her visit. Also, sometimes being honest may hurt the application more than help it. If you give any hint to the IO that your relationship may get very serious (which may end up with you two getting married) like you mentioning that you want to get to know her better, the IO may think that this girl will want to stay in Canada permanently. So I suggest not adding anything like this in your invitation letter. Try to make it as "emotionless" as possible. After writing an invitation letter, there is not much you can do.

Like I said the burden of proof falls mainly on her. Try to prove as many ties to her country of residence as possible, like a stable job, bank accounts, rent payments, etc.

Good Luck!!!
 

epcortek

Full Member
Jul 2, 2010
21
0
123
edmonton
Category........
Visa Office......
moscow
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-26-2011
File Transfer...
05-24-2011
Thanks again. You have been ever so helpful jeans22. Just one more question, what country are you from ?
 

jeans22

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2010
258
6
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
epcortek said:
Thanks again. You have been ever so helpful jeans22. Just one more question, what country are you from ?
I'm from Manila, Philippines. Glad to have helped. :)
 

frolic

Hero Member
Jul 21, 2008
218
5
Hey Epcortek

I had the same experience as you previously. Met someone while in Saint Petersburg and hit it off.

She tried to get a Temp visa to visit with me inviting her. Unfortunately she was denied on the basis they thought she wouldn't return to Russia at the end. Was basically a form letter saying that her previous travel history (none) and her employement and ties to Russia were not enough to convince them.

Of course that is just our experience...I have also heard of others who did manage to get the visitor visa.

I recommend that you try to address their concerns in your letter. If you can mention specific plans and arrangements the better. Don't buy the ticket before you get the visa.

See this link, page 13, for the chart of what they consider in processing...

http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGLIsh/resources/manuals/op/op11-eng.pdf

If she is approved, great. If not...you can consider going back (What I did) or meeting in other places you both can go easier. Good luck.
 

barcode

Newbie
Jul 28, 2010
7
0
Be careful of who you end up sponsoring and writing letters of recommendation for. Just my two cents. I have known of things getting extremely awry.
 

epcortek

Full Member
Jul 2, 2010
21
0
123
edmonton
Category........
Visa Office......
moscow
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-26-2011
File Transfer...
05-24-2011
Just to update this thread. I am now married to this russian girl and her PR application has been in moscow for one month now. We just came back from cuba. im in the middle
 

toby

Champion Member
Sep 29, 2009
1,671
104
Category........
Visa Office......
Hong Kong
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
November 2009
Med's Done....
October 2009 and 15 April 2011
Interview........
4 April 2011
Passport Req..
4 April 2011
VISA ISSUED...
7 July 2011
LANDED..........
15 July 2011
epcortek said:
Just to update this thread. I am now married to this russian girl and her PR application has been in moscow for one month now. We just came back from cuba. im in the middle
Congratulations! The fact that you visited her several times before marrying will look good to CIC, as they decide whether your marriage was done for the visa, or for love.

Did you ever apply for the Temp visa to visit Canada?
 

jared556

Newbie
Jan 10, 2012
1
0
hello sir my name is jared i like your story alot and am happy for you too, for me i also meet a girl she lives in moscow and we plan to meet in kiev this feburary as we both wont need a visa, but i just am a little worried about traveling all that way by myself, just curious how you travel to russia if you went by yourself or with freinds, and am asking for advice, have a good day.