Thank you for courteous reply, SBW.
There is, alas, really no rejoinder to the "points of refusal". My fiancé has had no job since the end of 2019. Before that, she worked in the Middle East and HongKong for 8 years. But she sent all her money home to help other siblings to go to school. She did not come home to a big bank account. Since her return, she has been living with an aunt who's American husband died of covid. She essentially acts as maid to her aunt, but not treated like a maid. They are family. So she lives in a nice house, has free room and board, internet, etc. She gets paid a couple hundred dollars a month, which is more than she needs. In return she takes care of the aunt and 2 others living there and the aunt's 7-year-old daughter. Schools have been closed here for 2 years, so she acts as teacher to the girl and helps her with her online learning every day. She owns no land.
She has no record of travel apart from Middle East countries and HK, which we know count for nothing. Never been to any of the big ticket places such as US, UK, etc. So, as i see it, the reasons for refusal remain as robust today as 2 years ago.
I find it annoying (to put it mildly), that those who can supposedly show some financial means, get TRVs. I am often left to wonder just what they prove. Many people here have jobs, but the jobs pay peanuts compared to Canadian wages. Many own land. But the land has little value compared to Canada. I just bought a modest condo in Victoria to provide a home for my son when he starts at Uvic in the fall. Paid over CAD800,000. That's 32 million Philippine pesos. Not many properties in this whole country worth that, but it it's the cost of a condo in Canada. Do VOs get appraisals of Philippine lands, etc.? I am guessing that many who get approved, have no real ties here. If Canada is so tempting, how hard would it be to walk away from a low paying job and a modest real estate holding. Moreover, the land can always be sold later on.
If, as it certainly seems, that having a strong financial incentive to return home counts for so much, then why does Canada not allow for the posting of a cash deposit to secure performance of one's promise to return home? I would quite happily put up $100,000 U.S. or more in cash and tell the VO that the Manila office, or Trudeau, or whoever, that they could forfeit it and use it for a party fund if my fiancé went awol and did not return as and when promised. I would think that would be a fair incentive. How many would agree to writing off $100k so easily? Not I. I would see that as a much greater motivator to return than the siren call of a crappy job and some scrubby land in a poor country.
As far as the advice one gets here, I respect it as honestly given for the most part. But it varies and conflicts quite a bit. Some advise stuffing your invitee's bank account, best if over a protracted period. Long ago, I offered to put $1,000-$2,000 a month into my fiancé's account, for maybe a year or so. She said no one would believe she could earn that sum here. Yet, to show a VO you have a compelling reason to come home, I see even that sum, well below Canadian minimum wages, as not much of a drawing card. I don't know what quantum VOs look for, but I cannot really imagine net earnings of under CAD5,000 a month providing much reason to return. Do all who get approved show at least that much?
The oft given word here is the applicant must show the trip money was earned by him/her. Me saying I have more than enough to cover her costs for 100 years means nothing, some say. So she has to show maybe $20,000 or so in the bank for a short trip, yet it cannot come from me. Not many in this country have that.
I find myself particularly resentful since my marginal income tax rate in Canada is 49.5%. Every year, I pay tens of thousands in income tax alone, yet my government won't let me bring my fiancé for a visit. But anyone who can walk into Canada via Roxham Road, enter illegally, can get red carpet treatment. So, I am angry in the extreme that our government confiscates a large portion of what I work hard for, then treats me and my fiancé as subhumans.
And, as I have alluded to, the stock advice is never admit to your invitee being in any kind of relationship with you. Indeed, the advice I think comes down to don't invite in that case. Let 'em apply on their own. Stay out of sight yourself. Now, how believable will it be, for my fiancé, a single woman from the Phils, about age 40, knowing no one in Canada, to suddenly decide to spend her life savings to take a trip on her own to Canada? Not supposed to say Niagara falls anymore, too overused. Maybe she can say she wants to apply for a non-resident BC hunting license to shoot a grizzly bear. That one has probably not been tried so often. Maybe I can invite her if I buy a guide/outfitter license and invite her in the ordinary course of business, keeping our relationship secret.
As I see it, much of the advice given here comes down to saying that telling lies is ill-advised, but being economical with the truth is the route to success in many cases.
