Hello,
I am a Canadian citizen studying for my Ph.D in Montreal. I married my long-time boyfriend (we've been involved since 1993) in early December 2007.

My husband is an Indian national and has been working for about 10 months in Dubai, UAE. Since I am very close to the completion of my degree, I elected to return to Canada at the end of January 2008 to finish up.

I plan to go to Dubai once my thesis is submitted and look for employment there. I would like for my husband to visit me in Montreal over the summer and share in the Canadian experience, see what my part of the world looks like before I leave from here.

We do not intend to stay in Canada after August 2008, since I will be done with my thesis by then.

We plan to apply at the Abu Dhabi office for a visit visa so he can come visit me.

What would be the best way to put forward our application, especially since he has no intention of leaving his lucrative tax free job in Dubai? What documents are required and what is best way to convince the immigration official that we have no intent to keep my husband here in Canada?

We just seem to be surrounded by horror stories of spouses being rejected many times for a visit visa to Canada. We miss each other terribly since we only had like a month and a half after our wedding together.

Thank you in advance for any information you maybe able to provide.

Quote:

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Originally posted by DotBlot

Hello,
I am a Canadian citizen studying for my Ph.D in Montreal. I married my long-time boyfriend (we´ve been involved since 1993) in early December 2008.
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Hello! Please go to edit box at the bottom right and correct the year that you both got married. Now, that should make you both married in the last year. Now congratulations to you both on your nuptials. Fifteen long years of romance. WOW! How did you get him to say 'the word'!!
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My husband is an Indian national and has been working for about 10 months in Dubai. Since I am very close to the completion of my degree, I elected to return to Canada at the end of January 2008 to finish up.

I plan to go to Dubai once my thesis is submitted and look for employment there. I would like for my husband to visit me in Montreal over the summer and share in the Canadian experience, see what my part of the world looks like before I leave from here.
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Surely why not?! Just ask for a visitor's visa, duration of which is normally for a period of six months. i.e. from the date of arrival here. You both should be gone before that time, out of this country. But before you leave......for good...
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We do not intend to stay in Canada after August 2008, since I will be done with my thesis by then.

We plan to apply at the Abu Dhabi office for a visit visa so he can come visit me.

What would be the best way to put forward our application, especially since he has no intention of leaving his lucrative tax free job in Dubai? What documents are required and what is best way to convince the immigration official that we have no intent to keep my husband here in Canada?
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Provide the immigration, CIC there, at Abu Dhabi with
1) A letter inviting him to visit you in Canada for the duration of the visa period. You will have to specify the time span. In that letter, provide the personal details of the applicant, with passport number etc., as written in that document. This information will properly identify him to that invitation. Specify that you will look after him and his day to day needs during his stay there in Montreal.
2) Get an employment letter from his current employer with details and status.
3) Provide them with other details about any property owned, in any part of the world, if he has any, and any bank accounts, and the balances, he might have there or in DUBAI and in India, and any other family details that will show his strong leanings towards that area where he is from and also about the rental lease in DUBAI, where he is working. To provide you with an example, he is paying the rent in Dubai and his parents live there with him. Or in India.
4) Try and get a police clearance from DUBAI, because he has been living there for more than six months.
5) Also obtain a leave of absence from the current employer for the duration that he is going to be with you here in Canada, since he will be away too long from his current employment, with a resuming date.
6) Try and book a ticket with FRONT END open, if possible, and with a FIXED return date which will get him back there into Dubai a few days ahead of time. Talk with a travel agent and see if he can help you with the starting date change, even if it will cost you $80 (Bucks)
7) Also provide them with a sworn affidavit that he will leave Canada within the visa period. For this you will have to go to a JP there and work on it.
8) See if you can also get him an travel health insurance policy for the travel dates through a local insurer there.
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We just seem to be surrounded by horror stories of spouses being rejected many times for a visit visa to Canada. We miss each other terribly since we only had like a month and a half after our wedding together.

I can understand. How does thirty, no, twenty-nine, no, twenty eight, no, twenty six days sound from being apart? Well, you will have to work with this situation and see if it falls in that ball park (number of days)

{{I am running low on the batteries. They use di-lithium crystals and no one is able to show me where I can buy them? once I get them, I will have my crystal ball working in full swing (operation.) Yes, after that you will have to use the beetal leaf (Paan) and coat it with gingili oil to locate me.! (Because I will be a wanted man!) Cell phone video technology, lcd, was developed from this idea.}}

Please file your application as neatly as possible and please include the required fees and a return envelope, just in case. I know you guys are right where their offices are! (Abu Dhabi) May be you can walk in and get one on the spot, if you will do all the required stuff, meticulously and submit it in person.Also see if there is a travel agent there with this kind of service. How is that for a suggestion?

Good Luck.

Freddie.

Thank you in advance for any information you maybe able to provide.

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Dear Freddie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply in such depth! I needed a few more clarifications:

My husband doesn't plan to stay in Canada any later than a month. That's all the time off he can get from his job )

Unfortunately, he doesn't own any property in Dubai or India in his own name (its in his Dad's name), same with bank accounts in India. His accommodation is provided by the company he works for, hence he does not have a lease in his name and he does not drive, so no car registration papers either. His parents live in India.

He has credit cards and bank accounts in Dubai.

What can we do in this case to show ties to Dubai/India. Will we need an affidavit attested by the Indian Embassy there saying that his folks and parents live in Dubai/India?
Will that be sufficient? I am asking because I've read that the CIC considers spousal ties as more binding than direct familial ties.

Is the Police clearance an absolute necessity? Because we asked and were told that it would take about 2-3 weeks and my husband is planning to go to Abu Dhabi and apply for the visa in person on 17th April, (His vacation starts from 21st April).

Thanks again for all your help.

Hi there,

What I have provided you with is a foolproof (not idiot proof) method of doing things. There is no reason for refusal with this method. You have covered all the grounds.
But do we need all of this?
No! None of this.
Also they do not know that you have gotten married to him. Use that to your advantage.
So, just go to any Travel agent there in Dubai and book a return trip and drop the Passport in his lap and provide him with the employment letter (job offer) with all of the details that is needed. Find out from him if he can do all of the spade work and obtain a travel visa for the thirty day period, with the Dubai - Montreal Return Ticket.
Also make sure that that he has a health insurance coverage for that period, just in case.

They will normally take about thirty days for the issue of a travel Visa, on the basis of the Air ticket and the employment letter.

Hope you succeed.

Tell us when you get through.

Best of luck.

Freddie.

Hi again Freddie,

Thank you so much for your reply.

One quick question....

Is it needed to provide an actually purchased return ticket and health insurance at the time of submission of documents for visit visa or will a confirmed travel booking and health insurance quote suffice?

Am asking since I don't think I can get a refund for either once purchased in case the visa gets rejected....

Thanks a lot for your time....

Hi,

When you fill a visa application, Please enclose a tentative booking and a basic health insurance policy and get all of the details from the travel agent. Also state in that letter that he is due his vacation and wants to take a 30 or what ever number of days that he can swing at the work place and tell the Travel Agent that it is tentative and only if he gets his visa. Currently with the "No fly List" or the watch list, the travel agents cannot book tickets for John Doe's, hence the cancellation fees.

Some do provide a postponement or a cancellation for a small fee. (Here it is $80)
Insurance can be booked later, it is not essential for obtaining the visa, but good to show your earnestness.

Please try and obtain a letter from his employer about his vacation entitlement with dates and request the visa about 30 days in advance or even earlier to coincide with it.

Good Luck.

Freddie

my husband came to canada two months after our wedding - he sent me a letter from his school (as he was on student visas in canada) and the letter was 6 months old and i dont have any bank statement ( i produce my brother bank statement and he was back home) - as i dont have much money in my acct at that time, I applied through abu dhabi office and produced my wedding certificate and thats all, one interview and within two days of submitting my passport i got the visitor visas. so good luck with urs.