TRV - 4 to 5 Weeks Visit.

[Datkros]

Hello everyone!

I'm planning to visit my girlfriend in Canada come June~July. I'd like to know my chances of getting a visa and if necessary, ways to improve my chances.

So some background, my girlfriend is a Canadian citizen and is within 18~24 y/o range (keeping it vague for the sake of privacy). I'll have roughly $5000~6000 of liquidity by the time I get into the plane after paying for tickets and everything else I need (visa fees and such). I'll be staying at her family's house, though. I won't be actually spending money on food or acommodations. But I'll still have the money to get around and enjoy myself.

I am in the 21~24 y/o range and work mainly as a freelancer (for the past three years) and I will be a college graduate (well, technically speaking but my ceremony would still be due) before I apply to the visa. I'm also one of the founding members (therefore, a director) of a registered company in an European country for the past year. Most of the freelance cash goes through crypto or sometimes paypal which gets exchanged into my local currency for food allowance (money I give my mom for food. I'm taking care of bringing in the money for her and her expenses, she takes care of buying the things we need in the house), so it is hard to prove that it is my money (any suggestions here?. I live in a country that doesn't have bank accounts in foreign currencies so I can't use USD directly). I could open my own account and start moving money through there for the sake of having a 6 month bank history.

I do have a commitment to prove that I will come back, which is my graduation ceremony. (and really, the only reason why this question isn't being posted on Express Entry / Immigration instead).

Another reason why I wanted to go is to meet her aunt that works within my field to setup some work interviews.

One question I do have is, if I say that I'll be staying with her, what would be the Proof of Relationship?. I could send longs from waaay back last year from chats we had through discord. She also sent me a package through a personal freight forwarder from the US. But besides that, I don't have any idea.

Thanks, any help would be appreciated!

(Also, sorry if my english isn't the best. I'm a native spanish speaker)

 

[scylla]

What countries have you traveled to in the past?

 

[Datkros]

I am afraid that I have not traveled to any other countries before. I technically could travel to any South American countries before the date if need be for a week or two (because of a treaty similar to the Schengen area in the EU).

 

[scylla]

In that case I would definitely keep your trip to 2-3 weeks (4-5 is too long).

 

[Datkros]

Oh, I see. Well, 3 weeks is definitely fine for me. Any other suggestions or things you'd consider important or that I might be missing?

 

[scylla]

Your profile isn't very strong unfortunately. You're young, haven't traveled, are self employed. I assume you don't own any property. I think you'll need to focus on showing proof of your self employment and bank savings.

Don't mention anything about interviewing while in Canada. All that does is demonstrate an intent to stay and make you look like you're not a genuine visitor.

 

[Datkros]

Well, I work as a software developer and I work per-contract and most of my savings are in crypto. As you may or may not know, it's not the easiest to prove the connection between crypto and a person. My currency is worthless so I don't really use it for anything relevant beyond local food. I do not own any property, I'm afraid.

The only way I can prove my self employment (as a software dev) is through Github commits and crypto payments from my clients, I think. (plus IRC logs).

The only sort of employment I can prove easily would be my organization in EU (as the director), which is actually registered under the Companies House. (UK law allows for foreign nationals to register organizations/companies). But that doesn't require me to live in my home country.

How would I go about proving my self employment if I'm a software dev that deals with pseudo-anonymous clients?

Will national currency be alright for proving bank savings? (Although they wouldn't even be close to the real amount because of economic crisis)

 

[scylla]

I'm very well versed in cryptocurrency. Agreed this makes your application weaker since asset ownership is more difficult to prove. Your position is unfortunately further weakened by the self employment and the fact you can work anywhere. I'm really not sure how you can go about proving employment without actual contracts with individual's names on them. Can you provide tax returns to prove employment? That might be one idea.

National currency is fine for proving bank savings.

 

[Bryanna]

1. How do you get work contracts? How would you ensure that your clients pay you if they are pseudo-anonymous? Do you collaborate with other developers? Would you need to meet your clients (or even 1-2 clients) after your intended visit to Canada?

Basically, are there documents/evidence which you can submit to IRCC to prove that you have active employment, active projects.... with maybe some project to return to.

2. Since how long have you been working?

3. Do you file your accounts and taxes in the UK?

 

[Datkros]

Tax returns aren't a thing in my country, though. That's another isuse. Could I prove employment through the organization I'm part of using the Companies House foundation documents?. That's my only idea.

There's also the posibility of using the contract that we're about to setup (in roughly a month, I'd say) with said organization and one of the projects I work with for the sake of funding. I'd be included there.

 

[Datkros]

1. How do you get work contracts? How would you ensure that your clients pay you if they are pseudo-anonymous? Do you collaborate with other developers? Would you need to meet your clients (or even 1-2 clients) after your intended visit to Canada?

Basically, are there documents/evidence which you can submit to IRCC to prove that you have active employment, active projects.... with maybe some project to return to.

2. Since how long have you been working?

3. Do you file your accounts and taxes in the UK?

1. IRC and contacting open source projects that might need development force. It's solely based on reputation within the open source community that the money goes through. I do collaborate with other developers. I don't need to meet them in person as they are all over the world and meetings are held through IRC. I do not take contracts within my country because they are paid in local currency which I've stated is literally worthless.

2. Early 2016.

3. Yes, we file our accounts and taxes in the UK as a company. Granted, they are not due until 2019 because of how the law works there.

Important to note, I do not live in the UK. I'm from South America.