Worried About Income

[LadyMai]

I read somewhere that in order to extend my visit, I need to provide proof that I make $1k CAD a week? Is this true? That's ludicrous! My boyfriend has been almost 100% of my financial support since March, and only now did he start making approximately that much, but only WHEN his clients get around to paying him. Sometimes he only makes $2k a month, and other months he makes $8k. He has to pay taxes manually at the end of the term as well, so I'm not sure if he's going to have enough in his account in the 3-4 months before i apply for my extension.

What in the world are we supposed to do? My living expenses across the border are almost $800 CAD a month, and for every month I live with him, that's how much we save. I just can't fathom spending $1k a week when I don't even spend that in a month.

 

[Aquakitty]

I read somewhere that in order to extend my visit, I need to provide proof that I make $1k CAD a week? Is this true? That's ludicrous! My boyfriend has been almost 100% of my financial support since March, and only now did he start making approximately that much, but only WHEN his clients get around to paying him. Sometimes he only makes $2k a month, and other months he makes $8k. He has to pay taxes manually at the end of the term as well, so I'm not sure if he's going to have enough in his account in the 3-4 months before i apply for my extension.

What in the world are we supposed to do? My living expenses across the border are almost $800 CAD a month, and for every month I live with him, that's how much we save. I just can't fathom spending $1k a week when I don't even spend that in a month.

Where are you reading all these crazy requirements?

To extend status as a visitor, you should show you have enough money to "visit" for the requested time. So, some people just show a bank account with money in it, others have their spouse write a letter stating they cover financial costs, and provide pay stubs. There is absolutely no requirement to make a certain amount per week.

 

[LadyMai]

Where are you reading all these crazy requirements?

To extend status as a visitor, you should show you have enough money to "visit" for the requested time. So, some people just show a bank account with money in it, others have their spouse write a letter stating they cover financial costs, and provide pay stubs. There is absolutely no requirement to make a certain amount per week.

I think their name was Bryanna? Someone had asked them for help and she specifically said something about $1k a week.

 

[JamesinCanada]

My spouse doesn't make that much and he was approved for my visitor extension twice now so far. So this information can't be quite right.

 

[LadyMai]

My spouse doesn't make that much and he was approved for my visitor extension twice now so far. So this information can't be quite right.

Maybe it's for different countries then.

Could you tell me about your experiences getting visitor extensions, though? My plan was to visit for the 6 months and apply for a 12 month extension. Would that work, or should I do two visitor extensions like you did? The first 12 months will make us common law, which we'll declare then if it's approved apply for Outland.

 

[Aquakitty]

Maybe it's for different countries then.

Could you tell me about your experiences getting visitor extensions, though? My plan was to visit for the 6 months and apply for a 12 month extension. Would that work, or should I do two visitor extensions like you did? The first 12 months will make us common law, which we'll declare then if it's approved apply for Outland.

Every case is different though. A person visiting for a vacation with no ties to Canada is a bit different than a person staying with their employed spouse. There's no magic number. You have to prove you have the funds to support yourself. Having a few thousand in an account is a good start, but sometimes people don't have that and show other means of supporting themselves.

My husband received about 6-7 visitor extensions (yes ridiculous I know). Each time we showed an amount of $5000 in the bank, which was overkill imo. I think showing $2500 and/or his pay stubs would be sufficient.

We also explained how he was supporting himself in Canada without working.


In addition to this, you need to convince them you will leave if you don't get approved. The whole thing is rather screwy. But that's what you do.

 

[LadyMai]

Every case is different though. A person visiting for a vacation with no ties to Canada is a bit different than a person staying with their employed spouse. There's no magic number. You have to prove you have the funds to support yourself. Having a few thousand in an account is a good start, but sometimes people don't have that and show other means of supporting themselves.

My husband received about 6-7 visitor extensions (yes ridiculous I know). Each time we showed an amount of $5000 in the bank, which was overkill imo. I think showing $2500 and/or his pay stubs would be sufficient.

We also explained how he was supporting himself in Canada without working.


In addition to this, you need to convince them you will leave if you don't get approved. The whole thing is rather screwy. But that's what you do.

Uh oh, how do I convince them I'll leave if I'm not approved? We can't apply for common law if I'm not approved.

 

[Aquakitty]

Uh oh, how do I convince them I'll leave if I'm not approved? We can't apply for common law if I'm not approved.

Well that's the screwy thing. Have you applied for PR yet? If you have you can include proof that you've applied, and generally they are easier about this.

What we always did was write a sob-story-esque essay of about a page saying why (my b/f at the time) needed to stay with me in Canada.

On the one hand, if you boohoo enough and explain that you are applying for PR or show proof, they approve the extension. On the other hand they still want people to prove they are not a risk to stay in Canada (as often VR's are refused because the VO does not believe they will leave at the end of their stay) so they deny the extension.

Well DUH. We want to stay and apply for PR. So what the eff CIC? We have to prove we want to live together, live in Canada, but still have ties to the home country. The whole thing is dumb beyond belief. That's why we just got married and never renewed another VR, lol.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was consistent, but it's not. One person is approved with little proof, the next person is denied. Ug.

But remember this is just for status, it's not a visa. So the requirements are not as high as those who go after visitor visas. That might be what you are reading about over in the other forum.

 

[LadyMai]

Well that's the screwy thing. Have you applied for PR yet? If you have you can include proof that you've applied, and generally they are easier about this.

What we always did was write a sob-story-esque essay of about a page saying why (my b/f at the time) needed to stay with me in Canada.

On the one hand, if you boohoo enough and explain that you are applying for PR or show proof, they approve the extension. On the other hand they still want people to prove they are not a risk to stay in Canada (as often VR's are refused because the VO does not believe they will leave at the end of their stay) so they deny the extension.

Well DUH. We want to stay and apply for PR. So what the eff CIC? We have to prove we want to live together, live in Canada, but still have ties to the home country. The whole thing is dumb beyond belief. That's why we just got married and never renewed another VR, lol.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was consistent, but it's not. One person is approved with little proof, the next person is denied. Ug.

But remember this is just for status, it's not a visa. So the requirements are not as high as those who go after visitor visas. That might be what you are reading about over in the other forum.

Ah, okay. No, we can't apply until we are common law, and we can't become common law until I get a visitor extension long enough to keep me there for the common law to be applicable.

 

[JamesinCanada]

Just to add to this, twice I asked for a year and twice they only gave me six months I'm not sure why. We had plenty of funds and the second time I had my PR application in and proof of this. Other users on the forums asked for six months and got a year! I guess it comes down to the officer and their mood that moment.

 

[Amra]

I don't think you need to show you are making $1K/week in order to have your visitor visa extended. But I believe CIC looks into how much money your b/f makes a year in order for them to see if he can financially support you while living with him. If you say that he doesn't have a steady income, instead of showing a bank statement in the last 3-4 months, have some sort of bank report showing the income in the last year. If you have any saving account you can show them the statement from that as well.

We asked for one year extension last year, and luckily we got it. We wrote a letter explaining that we intend to apply for sponsorship, we attached upfront medicals that we did last year, police certificates, bank account statements, my letter as a sponsor stating that I will cover all financial needs while he is Canada with me. This weekend we are going to apply for another extension, and we hope we'll get it. We will ask only for 6 months this time. And even though we just sent the application package and don't have an AOR or other hard evidence, we will show them the proof proof that our application was sent and was received in Mississauga, we would like to be together until we receive the PR.

What I would do if I were you is visit your b/f for 6 months (if you are not in Canada already), after 5-5.5 months of being in Canada apply for a 6 month extension telling CIC that you would like to be together in order to be living with him continuously for one year (you would still need some bank statement of proof of income from your b/f to show he's being able he can support you. Or have some bank statement on your name as well, or have a letter from you parents stating that they will send you money to help you while on this "journey"). Once you get approved for another 6 months, start preparing your application. Before the second 6 months end, do your upfront medicals (at this time you should be at around 11 months from that 1 year you need to be together), get any police certificates or FBI clearance if you need to, pay the $1040 process fee. Then send a letter to CIC asking for another 6 months showing them all the proofs that you are indeed preparing to apply for sponsorship/PR. You would still need to show again some proof of income. Even though sponsoring a spouse/common law doesn't require having a mandatory yearly income, showing that he is making enough money to support both of you helps.

All the best, and I hope you will get your extension.

 

[LadyMai]

I don't think you need to show you are making $1K/week in order to have your visitor visa extended. But I believe CIC looks into how much money your b/f makes a year in order for them to see if he can financially support you while living with him. If you say that he doesn't have a steady income, instead of showing a bank statement in the last 3-4 months, have some sort of bank report showing the income in the last year. If you have any saving account you can show them the statement from that as well.

We asked for one year extension last year, and luckily we got it. We wrote a letter explaining that we intend to apply for sponsorship, we attached upfront medicals that we did last year, police certificates, bank account statements, my letter as a sponsor stating that I will cover all financial needs while he is Canada with me. This weekend we are going to apply for another extension, and we hope we'll get it. We will ask only for 6 months this time. And even though we just sent the application package and don't have an AOR or other hard evidence, we will show them the proof proof that our application was sent and was received in Mississauga, we would like to be together until we receive the PR.

What I would do if I were you is visit your b/f for 6 months (if you are not in Canada already), after 5-5.5 months of being in Canada apply for a 6 month extension telling CIC that you would like to be together in order to be living with him continuously for one year (you would still need some bank statement of proof of income from your b/f to show he's being able he can support you. Or have some bank statement on your name as well, or have a letter from you parents stating that they will send you money to help you while on this "journey"). Once you get approved for another 6 months, start preparing your application. Before the second 6 months end, do your upfront medicals (at this time you should be at around 11 months from that 1 year you need to be together), get any police certificates or FBI clearance if you need to, pay the $1040 process fee. Then send a letter to CIC asking for another 6 months showing them all the proofs that you are indeed preparing to apply for sponsorship/PR. You would still need to show again some proof of income. Even though sponsoring a spouse/common law doesn't require having a mandatory yearly income, showing that he is making enough money to support both of you helps.

All the best, and I hope you will get your extension.

This was helpful af, just so you know. You literally just planned out an entire year for us. Like holy shit, no guesswork or anything. Thanks a lot, man. You're a lifesaver.