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Visitor visa for filmmaker

sansally

Newbie
Apr 22, 2018
3
0
Hi there.

About me: I'm an Indian citizen currently living in London on a student visa. I have just finished a masters in filmmaking. I don't have any relatives in Canada (or UK for that matter). I have never travelled to any other country except the UK. I have lived with a close family friend in London for the last year.

What I want: A visa to visit Canada, Vancouver to be specific, at least twice. My first visit, hopefully in June, will be for a week to do some basic research for a feature film I'm planning and writing. My story is a cultural comedy about the Indian diaspora experience in Canada. This visit will not involve any filming, in case that is an issue. The aim is to gain an understanding of the social scene and public life.

The second visit will be during the Vancouver film festival (September 27 to October 12). I plan to (hopefully) premiere my graduation short film in the festival. This short film also handles a similar subject, only based in London. Additionally, I also hope to make some pitches to potential funders/producers during the festival with my feature screenplay which will be finished by then. This visit will also be of a one-week duration, or even less, but the exact dates will depend on the festival schedule.

My plan is to travel from London to Vancouver for the first visit, fly to India, and travel from India to Vancouver for the second. I will be applying from the London office. (I checked the website, and I am permitted to do this).

I am perfectly willing to include any of the above details, along with the synopses of the two films (the completed short and the feature in development) in my application. If it helps, I wouldn't even mind attaching the entire screenplay of the short, although I guess that would be considered reckless/unnecessary.

My concerns: As one would expect after a busy masters program, my bank account is rather depleted. Hence, I wouldn't expect to be able to produce a 4 month bank statement with enough funds in it.

My solution: Fortunately, my friend (who I live with) has agreed to pay for my trip, and I will repay the amount later. He is a UK citizen and has enough money to manage this. He can give me a bank draft with convertible currency for whatever amount is considered necessary and also issue a statement of financial support. To be honest, I'm not too sure how this works; a bank draft sounds like an alien idea to me. (But then I'm an artist lol).

I think I have provided enough details in a clear enough manner. I'd be obliged if someone could point out anything I'm doing wrong. Understandably, I'm not big on beurocratic procedure. If there is any relevant information I have falied to mention, please ask. :)

Thank you.
 

bellaluna

VIP Member
May 23, 2014
7,379
1,769
My concerns: As one would expect after a busy masters program, my bank account is rather depleted. Hence, I wouldn't expect to be able to produce a 4 month bank statement with enough funds in it.

My solution: Fortunately, my friend (who I live with) has agreed to pay for my trip, and I will repay the amount later. He is a UK citizen and has enough money to manage this. He can give me a bank draft with convertible currency for whatever amount is considered necessary and also issue a statement of financial support. To be honest, I'm not too sure how this works; a bank draft sounds like an alien idea to me. (But then I'm an artist lol).
Hi, just my opinion, I think this is your biggest issue. To be granted a TRV, you have to show your own funds to support your stay in Canada...the fact that you have to borrow money is a red flag. It doesn't help either that you are a filmmaker en route to Vancouver, which may indicate that you would like to find work in the film industry there (you already mentioned you're looking for investors for your films), so you would need a business visitor visa or work permit for this instead.
 

sansally

Newbie
Apr 22, 2018
3
0
Hi Bellaluna. Thanks a lot for your reply. If Vancouver is an issue, I can definitely avoid that in my first visit and visit another city with a significant Indian population, like Toronto. I can apply for a single-entry visa for June and a separate application for the festival in October, which is still important to me. As to a work permit or business visa, I'm afraid I don't mean to do any kind of work at all in Canada; and I don't think the routine networking you do at a film festival would count as business either. The second visit is purely about the film festival (to get my work seen) and the first visit is for creative research.

About the money issue, I'm afraid I don't really have a choice. Would you say it's pointless to apply? If there's at least a 50% chance, I would like to. This visit is really important for my creative project as I need to gather some information first hand; the efficacy of my script depends a lot on this. Thank you.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
92,837
20,494
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
I agree with bellaluna. I think your lack of funds is going to be your biggest problem. I'm not sure I would say your chances of being approved are 50%. I think they are lower than that without your own money to fund the trip.