Travel history file is way too big

[physdude]

I am applying for a Canada visa as I am taking a cruise from Vancouver to Whittier (Alaska) as an extension of a work trip to Seattle to a vacation. I will only need to stay in Canada for 3 days so I am surprised at all the paperwork that I will need to fill in. I have been once to Canada over 10 years ago and the process at that time (Seattle consulate) was really easy and I hardly remember having to fill in anything beyond the very minimum so it seems that immigration has been tightened up a lot since then (I got a 5 year multiple entry visa but it was used only once).

I have tried scanning in all my current and previous passport pages with visas/stamps regarding travel in the past 10 years and the file is way over 4 mb (>15 mb) even when choosing a low resolution scan of 96 dpi. I have seen the suggestions to use Adobe Distiller but I doubt it could reduce the 15mb to 4mb. I have indeed traveled a fair amount (probably over 60-70 trips in those 10 years) so this is somewhat tricky. Is it possible to scan in B&W and limit to the last 5 or so years and explain the rest in a letter or will that result in a refusal? Do I also need to create a table of all these trips? I don't even remember some of them and not all needed my passport (travel between India and Nepal or between HK and Macau for example) but can create one to the best of my ability if needed.

Overall, it seems a lot of hassle and I am surprised at the requirement which could become amazingly onerous for people working in something like CERN where the workplace itself spans several countries and where one could easily have way more than a thousand trips between countries in 10 years. (Well, I should have looked it up before purchasing the cruise so it is definitely my fault.)

 

[physdude]

I would also appreciate it very much if anyone could tell me if attaching the bank and brokerage statements of the last 3 months should be enough for the financial support section or do I also need to get a letter from my employer and salary slips? (the amount in the statements should be well in excess of what I would need for a few years of living expenses in Canada)

 

[steaky]

Instead of applying online, get a paper application like you did ten years ago. I don't think you had an online application when you got your 5 year multiple entry visa from Seattle visa office.

 

[physdude]

I found a program online called shrinkpdf which, amazingly, was able to compress the pdf to below 4 mb but the images are not quite as clear though the text is quite readable. I think I will go with that and see what they say. Would I also need to make a table of the entire travel history or will just the scans of the passport do? Any advice would be much appreciated.

The process with the paper application was way smoother 12 years ago as I remember applying at the consulate in the morning and receiving the visa the same evening. The current system seems to be set up so that one cannot even approach the consulate directly so there seems to be little advantage to go by the paper application route. From reading up a bit, it seems that the demand for Canadian visas has exploded since 2003 due to the rapid increase in Chinese wealth so I suppose the significantly increased difficulty of applying and getting one is not too surprising except for the fact that it also applies to short term visitor visas and not just investor or long term stay visas. I wonder if this is also the reason for the large number of denial stories one sees in this forum.

Anyway, I suppose there is not too much to do except submit everything and hope that my reasonably expensive cruise ticket doesn't go to waste. After reading this forum, I am a bit apprehensive as I am no longer a permanent resident of a high status country for travel purposes (Singapore) as I was then even though my financial status is vastly better now.

 

[physdude]

I got a passport request a couple of days ago and submitted but they did not indicate what the decision was (i.e. it was only stated that a decision was made). Based on your experience, would that mean that I have obtained a visa since they presumably would not need a passport to reject the visa? If so, why not just say that the decision was positive? I am probably overthinking this but it all seems rather odd to me.

 

[physdude]

I ended up getting a 9.5 year visa (until the expiry of my passport) so I suppose everything was good and the hassle was almost worthwhile. A bit better communication on their part would have been good though.

(I only have great memories of Canada and Canadians from the last visit and am greatly looking forward to this one even though it is just a couple of days in Vancouver.)