Tourist visa TO Canada by Thai national

[drjmagic]

Hi

Does anyone have recent (past year or so) experience in obtaining a tourist visa to Canada by a Thai national. I would like my 48 year old Thai girlfriend to visit my home in Canada. She hands a house and a college aged son but no regular job. I am wondering what roadblocks might prevent her from getting a tourist visa and how to get around these.

 

Any info or suggestions are appreciated.

 

Pete

[macahoom]

I helped my Thai girlfriend get her visa about 18 months ago. It's not a simple application like Schengen; it's more complicated than even USA or UK. She got her visa; almost five years (it expires along with her passport).

 

I think your girlfriend’s biggest hurdle will be the fact that you are, I assume, Canadian and live in Canada. This fact will raise concerns about whether or not your girlfriend will return to Thailand.

[drjmagic]

Any ideas on how I can allay these concerns ?

 

How long did the process take?

 

Thanks

 

Pete

[macahoom]

4 hours ago, drjmagic said:

Any ideas on how I can allay these concerns ?

 

How long did the process take?

 

Thanks

 

Pete

 

She will have to convince the the decision maker that, on the balance of probabilities, she will return to Thailand at the end of her visit. It sounds like that may be a difficulty for her since you, her boyfriend, live in Canada and she has no job in Thailand. Not easy.

 

I don’t think there will be much of a waiting time for an appointment for Canada; the day we went to submit her application it was very quiet. My girlfriend thinks her passport was returned about two weeks later.

 

You may find that completing the application is the most time consuming part of the exercise!

 

Good luck!

[drjmagic]

Ok, thank you

[jerojero]

I helped my Thai girlfriend get her visa about 18 months ago. It's not a simple application like Schengen; it's more complicated than even USA or UK. She got her visa; almost five years (it expires along with her passport).
 
I think your girlfriend’s biggest hurdle will be the fact that you are, I assume, Canadian and live in Canada. This fact will raise concerns about whether or not your girlfriend will return to Thailand.

Kind of visa to Canada is 5 years? Maximum allowable stay for tourists or visitors is 6 months.

[jerojero]

Ok, thank you

A Vancouver immigration lawyer advised me that the Canadian Embassy Officer (in Thailand) who decides on such 'tourist' visas, starts reviewing every application with stern intent on rejecting it, and must be convinced otherwise that the Thai applicant will indeed return to Thailand after visiting Canada. Applicants must have strong ties to Thailand and big compelling reasons to return. In other words the Embassy Immigration Officers are paranoid that every applicant wants to illegally stay past any approved visit to Canada. Lawyer also told me over 70% of applicants from Thailand for Temporary Resident Visa's (for tourism, visits) are rejected. Furthermore the decision by the Officer is not subject to appeal to a higher authority at the Embassy. If an applicant is rejected, the only recourse is to apply again with new compelling ties info, or go through the legal system in Canada. However even that is rather hopeless because a judge in Canada can apparently only force a review of the Application by 'an Embassy Officer' with no way to change the outcome necessarily. It's unbelievable how much decision power an Officer has in deciding who can visit Canada and who cannot. Also if rejected you can get a copy of the Officer's notes under the Freedom of Information Legislation in Canada to help understand why there was a rejection. In my girlfriends case a few years back, despite having an 8 year job, where written vacation approval was included in the application, the Officer fully discounted that because my girlfriend chose not to deposit her pay cheques in a bank, but cashed them elsewhere and her bank records showed sporatic in-out activity. All this despite her having car loan which she was still paying, the vacation fully paid by me, plane tickets booked and paid including return, travel insurance for the mere 4 weeks of planned vacation in Canada. So good luck with your girlfriend application. Some others on ybis Forum say their applications were approved without issue. Ours wasn't. So the following year we got married and 9 months later my new wife got a Permanent Resident Visa and now we're happily living in Canada, and she can come and go between our 2 countries anytime and as often as she wants. Good luck my friend.

[macahoom]

42 minutes ago, jerojero said:

On 6/14/2018 at 9:02 AM, macahoom said:

I helped my Thai girlfriend get her visa about 18 months ago. It's not a simple application like Schengen; it's more complicated than even USA or UK. She got her visa; almost five years (it expires along with her passport).
 
I think your girlfriend’s biggest hurdle will be the fact that you are, I assume, Canadian and live in Canada. This fact will raise concerns about whether or not your girlfriend will return to Thailand.

Kind of visa to Canada is 5 years? Maximum allowable stay for tourists or visitors is 6 months.

 

I thought that would be obvious: It's a multiple entry tourist visa. 

(Issued in 2016 and expires in 2020 on the same date her passport expires.)

[jerojero]

 
I thought that would be obvious: It's a multiple entry tourist visa. 
(Issued in 2016 and expires in 2020 on the same date her passport expires.)

Obviously you are correct. Cheers.

[Trek800]

Can anyone recommend a good visa agent in Bangkok or Phuket who I could use to apply a Canada tourist visa for my Thai Girlfriend. She is full time university student don't have any other income that what she gets from her parents. I would like her to come to Canada for 2-3 weeks on her semester break but reading other peoples experiences it seems fairly hard to obtain a Canada Temporary Residence Visa.

[Banana7]

On 6/14/2018 at 9:02 AM, macahoom said:

I helped my Thai girlfriend get her visa about 18 months ago. It's not a simple application like Schengen; it's more complicated than even USA or UK. She got her visa; almost five years (it expires along with her passport).

 

I think your girlfriend’s biggest hurdle will be the fact that you are, I assume, Canadian and live in Canada. This fact will raise concerns about whether or not your girlfriend will return to Thailand.

Could you please provide the details and important factors as to how your TGF was able to get the 5 year visa? Did she get it on her own or did you reveal that you were her boyfriend? Upon application, how much money was in her bank account? Did she have a full-time job in Thailand? Does have any children? Did you provide a letter to her or the embassy stating you would provide accommodation, food, etc. while she was in Canada? Did you have to provide proof of your income? Did  you have to show your income tax returns? Do own a condo in Thailand? Was your or your TGF's age a factor? Did they ask for proof of the length of your relationship, and if so, what proof was provided?

Edited October 31, 2018 by Banana7

[macahoom]

5 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Could you please provide the details and important factors as to how your TGF was able to get the 5 year visa? Did she get it on her own or did you reveal that you were her boyfriend? Upon application, how much money was in her bank account? Did she have a full-time job in Thailand? Does have any children? Did you provide a letter to her or the embassy stating you would provide accommodation, food, etc. while she was in Canada? Did you have to provide proof of your income? Did  you have to show your income tax returns? Do own a condo in Thailand? Was your or your TGF's age a factor? Did they ask for proof of the length of your relationship, and if so, what proof was provided?

 

Could you please provide the details and important factors as to how your TGF was able to get the 5 year visa? To be clear, she didn’t ask for a five year visa. She just applied for a visa to enter Canada in order to board, in Vancouver, a cruise ship bound for Alaska. 

Did she get it on her own or did you reveal that you were her boyfriend? Both: She got it on her own and she revealed that she would be travelling with me. 

Upon application, how much money was in her bank account? Several million baht.

 
Did she have a full-time job in Thailand? No.

Does have any children? No.

Did you provide a letter to her or the embassy stating you would provide accommodation, food, etc. while she was in Canada? No. I am not Canadian, by the way.

Did you have to provide proof of your income? No.

Did you have to show your income tax returns? No. 

Do own a condo in Thailand? Yes.

Was your or your TGF's age a factor? I have no idea.

Did they ask for proof of the length of your relationship, and if so, what proof was provided? As far as I remember, they did not ask - but my girlfriend certainly informed them. Proof provided was copies of passports dating back to 2005, the stamps in which showed we both had travelled to various countries on the same dates.

 

Hope this helps.

[Banana7]

On 10/31/2018 at 11:32 PM, macahoom said:

 

Could you please provide the details and important factors as to how your TGF was able to get the 5 year visa? To be clear, she didn’t ask for a five year visa. She just applied for a visa to enter Canada in order to board, in Vancouver, a cruise ship bound for Alaska. 

Did she get it on her own or did you reveal that you were her boyfriend? Both: She got it on her own and she revealed that she would be travelling with me. 

Upon application, how much money was in her bank account? Several million baht.

 
Did she have a full-time job in Thailand? No.

Does have any children? No.

Did you provide a letter to her or the embassy stating you would provide accommodation, food, etc. while she was in Canada? No. I am not Canadian, by the way.

Did you have to provide proof of your income? No.

Did you have to show your income tax returns? No. 

Do own a condo in Thailand? Yes.

Was your or your TGF's age a factor? I have no idea.

Did they ask for proof of the length of your relationship, and if so, what proof was provided? As far as I remember, they did not ask - but my girlfriend certainly informed them. Proof provided was copies of passports dating back to 2005, the stamps in which showed we both had travelled to various countries on the same dates.

 

Hope this helps.

Thank you, your answers are very helpful! I too would like to attempt to get my TGF a Canadian tourist visa, especially a 5 yr. visa.

 

Were the cruise tickets and/or airline tickets purchased prior to requesting the visa?

Did they ask to see your condo chanote, or any other documents other than your passports? Did the embassy ask your TGF for a copy of her bank account balance, or any other documents other than her passport?

Do you have a USA passport? Did your TGF have a USA visa prior to requesting the Canadian visa?

 

 

[macahoom]

31 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

Thank you, your answers are very helpful! I too would like to attempt to get my TGF a Canadian tourist visa, especially a 5 yr. visa.

 

Were the cruise tickets and/or airline tickets purchased prior to requesting the visa?

Did they ask to see your condo chanote, or any other documents other than your passports? Did the embassy ask your TGF for a copy of her bank account balance, or any other documents other than her passport?

Do you have a USA passport? Did your TGF have a USA visa prior to requesting the Canadian visa?

 

 

 

Glad my answers have helped. Good luck with the visa.

 

Were the cruise tickets and/or airline tickets purchased prior to requesting the visa? We spent 10 days in Seattle before travelling by Amtrak to Vancouver where we stayed for 10 nights before setting sail on the cruise. After the cruise we spent 11 days driving around Alaska. All flights, hotels, the cruise, the car, even the Amtrak train journey was all booked and paid for prior to applying for the visa.  

 

Did they ask to see your condo chanote, or any other documents other than your passports? I don't think they asked to see chanotes or any other documents (other than the obvious ones) but I believe it's wise to include any document which may help with the application. 

 

Did the embassy ask your TGF for a copy of her bank account balance, or any other documents other than her passport? Proof of her bank account balance was supplied by her, so there was no need for them to ask. Note: after the application was submitted, the embassy requested no further documents.

 
Do you have a USA passport? No; I'm British.

 

Did your TGF have a USA visa prior to requesting the Canadian visa? Yes.

 

Any further questions, please feel free to ask.

[Banana7]

On 11/3/2018 at 10:29 AM, macahoom said:

 

Glad my answers have helped. Good luck with the visa.

 

Were the cruise tickets and/or airline tickets purchased prior to requesting the visa? We spent 10 days in Seattle before travelling by Amtrak to Vancouver where we stayed for 10 nights before setting sail on the cruise. After the cruise we spent 11 days driving around Alaska. All flights, hotels, the cruise, the car, even the Amtrak train journey was all booked and paid for prior to applying for the visa.  

 

Did they ask to see your condo chanote, or any other documents other than your passports? I don't think they asked to see chanotes or any other documents (other than the obvious ones) but I believe it's wise to include any document which may help with the application. 

 

Did the embassy ask your TGF for a copy of her bank account balance, or any other documents other than her passport? Proof of her bank account balance was supplied by her, so there was no need for them to ask. Note: after the application was submitted, the embassy requested no further documents.

 
Do you have a USA passport? No; I'm British.

 

Did your TGF have a USA visa prior to requesting the Canadian visa? Yes.

 

Any further questions, please feel free to ask.

Did your TGF own any property/house/condo or other large value assets in Thailand prior to obtaining the visa? If she did, were the ownership documents presented to the embassy?

 

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by Banana7

[macahoom]

4 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

Did your TGF own any property/house/condo or other large value assets in Thailand prior to obtaining the visa? If she did, were the ownership documents presented to the embassy?

 

 

 

Yes and yes.

 

I should also mention that all the flights, hotels, cruise etc were booked in her name, using her credit card. 

[Csaw]

Several million bhts, property, prior visa to the US, an unusually  expensive trip all paid for in advance.... Ummm I think it's safe to say that that's kinda what did the trick.

[macahoom]

51 minutes ago, Csaw said:

Several million bhts, property, prior visa to the US, an unusually  expensive trip all paid for in advance.... Ummm I think it's safe to say that that's kinda what did the trick.

 

Yes, the embassy need to be pretty sure that she's gonna return to Thailand before granting a visa and, for her, this is the most efficient way to convince them. No point in beating about the bush!

[Trek800]

Has anyones girlfriend who is still a University student got a Canada's tourist visa? We are planning a 2 weeks trip for next Summer. She dont work or own a property but her parents are giving her 20k Baht monthly allowance and her bank account balance would be around 100 000+ at the time of the application.

 

I am a permanent residence in Canada and would write an invitation that I will cover her expences when in Canada but she would pay for her own ticket. We would also get a letter from the Uni stating what she is studying and that after the summer break she have one more year to go until graduation.

 

Seems like a straight forward proccess but after reading other people experiences Im kind of worries that her visa will get denied.

[2121]

I can only say one thing here, before my GF and I decided to apply for a tourist visa for her to Canada, we were hopeless, simply because of all the negative posts. I would say to everyone here to shoot your shot, be honest in your application, and you'll have a decent chance. She got a 6 month tourist visa approved by the end of it.

[Trek800]

Thanks for your answer. Was your girlfriend University student at the time of the application or did she had a permanent job? Also did you submit any additional documents and paperwork other than those required by CIC?

if you have any other tips for me, Im happy to hear. 

[2121]

we had a genuine relationship ongoing for 2 years, so we handed them over a loooooot of photos from those 2 years, everything we could find. she wasn't a student, but she had a full time job. I also sent in an invitation letter, written by myself.