Visitor Visa for Conference from Egypt-any help?

[omar92]

Hi,
I recently applied for a TRV to attend an academic conference in Canada. It's my first time to apply for a Canadian visa, and I don't know what to expect. Most people I hear about travel to Canada to settle there, or to study, or to visit family. Very rarely do I hear about people traveling for short-term leisure/work etc. and I hear the rejection rate is pretty high. All this is anecdotal, and specific to applicants from Egypt.

I supplied bank statements, a letter from my academic institution, an invitation letter from the conference organizers in Canada, plus copies of my current+previous passports. I have a solid travel history (US, UK, Schengen), and currently hold a valid B1/B2 US visa+ UK 2 year visa. I did NOT however qualify for the elusive CAN+ program which allegedly expedites applicants with evidence of US travel. I did not supply a flight ticket, or proof of assets, just bank statements.

What are my chances? Does Canada have a history of rejecting applicants even with invites from bona fide conference organizers? Does it really take 30+ days to process a TRV application? And crucially, is there anything I can do to strengthen my case (i.e. get the organizers to e-mail the Canadian embassy in Cairo to petition on my behalf)? Worth mentioning that my conference invitation had some IRCC reference code, which indicates that the conference is "known" to Canadian immigration authorities.

Any insight or feedback would be greatly appreciated, as I feel I"m in the dark.
TIA

 

[Sam Jankiz]

Hi,
I recently applied for a TRV to attend an academic conference in Canada. It's my first time to apply for a Canadian visa, and I don't know what to expect. Most people I hear about travel to Canada to settle there, or to study, or to visit family. Very rarely do I hear about people traveling for short-term leisure/work etc. and I hear the rejection rate is pretty high. All this is anecdotal, and specific to applicants from Egypt.

I supplied bank statements, a letter from my academic institution, an invitation letter from the conference organizers in Canada, plus copies of my current+previous passports. I have a solid travel history (US, UK, Schengen), and currently hold a valid B1/B2 US visa+ UK 2 year visa. I did NOT however qualify for the elusive CAN+ program which allegedly expedites applicants with evidence of US travel. I did not supply a flight ticket, or proof of assets, just bank statements.

What are my chances? Does Canada have a history of rejecting applicants even with invites from bona fide conference organizers? Does it really take 30+ days to process a TRV application? And crucially, is there anything I can do to strengthen my case (i.e. get the organizers to e-mail the Canadian embassy in Cairo to petition on my behalf)? Worth mentioning that my conference invitation had some IRCC reference code, which indicates that the conference is "known" to Canadian immigration authorities.

Any insight or feedback would be greatly appreciated, as I feel I"m in the dark.
TIA

All what can I tell you is that you can expect anything from the Canada Embassy, and believe it or not it really depends on the officer's mood in the end... so don't believe anyone who tells you that they're honest and completely organized and cases are different and bla bla bla.. at least most of them are not...I talk from an experience..

Yes, I personally heard that applying from Egypt to countries like Canada, USA, or Europe is so complicated, yet I don't know why. For example, one of my friends wanted to travel to the USA from Egypt but he got refused... after that he applied again from Djibouti and got approved.

Other one applied to Germany from Egypt and faced a lot of requirements and things were complex while others who applied to Germany from Oman said that everything was easy and no difficult requirements like the Embassy of Germany in Egypt.


Finally, as I told you, you can expect anything and if the officer who will review your application is good and works genuinely ... everything may be fine.

 

[omar92]

Thanks for your response.
Yes applying for a visa from Egypt is generally hard but we are used to it by now.
The US (excluding the long wait times to get an appointment) is either very easy (a few questions and you get approved) or very hard.
The UK allows you to submit whatever documents you see fit and build your case.
The major Schengen countries (France, Germany) usually have clear requirements. Smaller countries like Greece, Hungary can be horrible.
Canada has a confusing visa online platform and instructions are very unclear. Unlike 10 years ago when walk-in applicants could get it issued the same day.
I guess it's a waiting game.

 

[Jets13]

Hi,
I recently applied for a TRV to attend an academic conference in Canada. It's my first time to apply for a Canadian visa, and I don't know what to expect. Most people I hear about travel to Canada to settle there, or to study, or to visit family. Very rarely do I hear about people traveling for short-term leisure/work etc. and I hear the rejection rate is pretty high. All this is anecdotal, and specific to applicants from Egypt.

I supplied bank statements, a letter from my academic institution, an invitation letter from the conference organizers in Canada, plus copies of my current+previous passports. I have a solid travel history (US, UK, Schengen), and currently hold a valid B1/B2 US visa+ UK 2 year visa. I did NOT however qualify for the elusive CAN+ program which allegedly expedites applicants with evidence of US travel. I did not supply a flight ticket, or proof of assets, just bank statements.

What are my chances? Does Canada have a history of rejecting applicants even with invites from bona fide conference organizers? Does it really take 30+ days to process a TRV application? And crucially, is there anything I can do to strengthen my case (i.e. get the organizers to e-mail the Canadian embassy in Cairo to petition on my behalf)? Worth mentioning that my conference invitation had some IRCC reference code, which indicates that the conference is "known" to Canadian immigration authorities.

Any insight or feedback would be greatly appreciated, as I feel I"m in the dark.
TIA

So Canada does profile applicants and make decisions based on what applicants with similar profiles have done in the past. So if applicants abused the system and overstayed, or claimed refugee when future applicants with the same profile could feel the impact of that. If you have solid travel history to countries like US, UK and then you left as per the terms of the visa that is a major plus.
As far as the conference, I would say if the conference organizers were paying for the trip and accommodation that would add legitimacy to it, but otherwise it would depend on your profile. How likely it would be that you would attend based on your previous travel history or profile etc.
As far as processing goes what the website says is an estimate as to when they are currently finishing a majority of applications from that country. Some can be done quicker and some can take longer. That estimate is also subject to change. More than likely it will take that amount of time or longer.