Becki567 said:
This is so rude. People work and can not just take all the time off they want, plus there is the cost of travelling. These people are not complaining about a couple months. They have been waiting YEARS!!
I hope your file is at a very slow VO and takes years to complete.
To the original poster and the other person waiting such a long time, I am so sorry for you. My heart aches for you. And I wish it was not this way. I absolutely do think the waiting, and stress of the unknown can play a part in health issues. I pray for you to have a quick positive DM.
First of all, you dont' need to hope, as the Singapore VO office is long (28 months), shorter than Pakistan (31 months), but both long nonetheless.
Secondly, labor laws allow you to have at least 2 weeks paid vacation every year and most employers are more than willing to give you more time if you ask (albeit it's unpaid , but better than nothing). If you explain your circumstances, that you are visiting your spouse which you haven't seen in months, they're more than willing to give it to you, otherwise, such a cold-hearted employer shouldn't be one you should be working for anyway. I work as an electrician, whose workers are extremely hard to find, and they desperately need more such workers, but I was successful in asking for 2 months in each of the past 2 years, and I was successful asking for another 2 months again. They really needed me to work, but I just explained my circumstnaces, also I demonstrated I was a very good worker, with great attendance, no sick days, they were more than happy to give me the time off. Bear in mind, asking for 2 months off a year, is a hard sell, but I was successful because I was a good worker and my reason was to visit my fiance whom I haven't seen in a year. If I asked 2 months because I wanted to go to Hawaii and relax on a beach, they'd tell me to get bent. And you know what? Even if they refused to give me the time off, I'd say "bye bye" and go join another company who will give me the time off. My fiance (soon to be wife) is way more important than any job.
As for my PR application, I haven't filed my PR yet for my fiance, we will do that after we marry in Dec, then we will file in February. We both don't really care either way, whether she's refused or not, I'm more than willing to live in her country (Vietnam) with her, and she doesn't really care for living in Canada or not, she has lived in the US for a year studying and wasn't too crazy about it. Yes the VO office will be Singapore, which is a very long processing time, but you won't see me lose sleep or starve myself just because the processing times are long. We both even agreed, she should not even try for a TRV because the risks of a rejection are not worth it.
You know what I'm doing now? I was working 2 jobs just to save up for our wedding in Dec. I don't want to be apart from her, but at the same time, it is what it is, we have to wait many months, so to make the most of it, I should be visiting her often. My salary was not very high during the past 2 times I visited her, because I was an apprentice electrician, 1st to 2nd year, but I didn't complain, I just simply worked a second job to save up to go visit her (I stayed 2 months each time). Yes it was expensive, because I had to pay for a ticket, spending $, and also had a $1200/month mortgage on a house that I'm not even staying in for 2 months, and guess what? I did all that on a 2nd year apprentice salary ($20/hr) + worked 5 hours a day in evenings ($16/hr). Did that for 10 months 2 years ago, and I'm doing it for another 10 months again for our wedding.
It was difficult, but if I truly loved my fiance, I would do all in my power to see her. If you're really serious about your spouse, and since you can't do anything about the processing times, you have no choice but to go visit him/her, and if it's too expensive, that's too bad, cuz you have many options. Work 2 jobs (which is what I did), find a higher salary job, move to a lower rent accommodation (I chose the hard way by staying in a $1200/month house, but you don't see me complaining).
Vietnam and Pakistan, notice why they have long processing times? Because those countries, as sad as it seems, have high rates of marriage fraud. It sucks past fraud applications are causing regular folks to wait so long, but so what? We can't do anything about it other than to visit our spouse often.
In my case, I feel my circumstances are worse than most people, having to spend $1200/month on a house, working 2 jobs and not having enough sleep after coming home, having to do that for almost a year, but I still was able to save up $16,000 for total expenses on this wedding trip. There's no reason why an average person couldn't save up just $5000+ expenses for a once in a year trip for visiting. Pakistanis and Vietnamese do not have the luxury of being able to afford, or even allowed to travel to Canada freely, so it's up to us Canadians to be the ones doing the travelling.
I'm not stressed at all over this, because whether she's refused or not, or whether this PR application takes a million years to finish, we're happy because we're going to be together in the end, and I will be visiting her often until her PR is accepted or refused. And the OP should feel the same as well. A real genuine relationship is one where either party is willing to live in the other's country should the PR fail. I know Canada is probably a very high preference to live in compared to most countries, but you didnt marry your spouse just so they can come with you to Canada, you married your spouse because you both love each other and want to be together.
