Yes, but were you visiting *from* India?
You see... for me to go to India (as a Canadian) I got a visa in 48
hours after filling out 2 pieces of paper and sending my passport to
the Visa office. When I asked how many people got rejected to get a
Visa they told me straight up, "oh in the history of the Indian
consulate in Canada, no Canadian has ever been rejected a Visa to go
to India"... I was stunned, and especially later when I found out what
my friend has to do to come to Canada to visit me.
Now for an Indian to come to Canada as a visitor that's a whooooole
other story.and it's actually a bit of a nightmare to get all the
paperwork ready, and then, I am told (by the Visa office in India),
there's still a 30% rejection rate.
An Indian visitor must:
1) Provide proof that they have ridiculous amounts of money in mostly
liquid assets (i.e. cash in bank)... It's not written in the official
documents online, but when I called up the Indian visa office they
admitted that a good 15 to 20K (canadian) was ideal because it showed
"strong roots to India"... as in, the Indian person will come back and
wont leave all their money and investments behind.
2) Provide proof that they own property. A near impossibility for most
young Indians wanting to travel. Owning property also shows "strong
roots to India".
3) Get a letter of invitation from a Canadian citizen explaining their
relation, ages, how they met, reason for invitation, how invitor will
help the person, etc.
4) The invitor has to provide proof of employment, photocopy of
passport or valid ID, tax statement from previous year and a letter
from their bank stating roughly their networth and saying they are
financially sound.
5) The Indian must provide proof of employment and that letter should
show dates of holidays and when they end... which need to coincide
with the time the invitor invites the person for, including the return
date.
6) Fill out the visa application
7) Fill out a personal application letter which lists your Indian
family members and their jobs... again to show that you have family in
India (strong roots).
etc, etc
It's a heck of a lot of paperwork for a visitor's visa if you ask
me...
... so you can imagine that after 2 friends go through all that, that
they don't want any last minute surprises at the airport when the
Indian has to go into an interview and the immigration official stamps
their passport Visa document with a return date or sends them back on
the next available plane because the person was a bit nervous
answering questions, didn't answer some of them "right" or whatever.
So are there any Indians out there that can share their experience of
going through the Airport Immigration interview? What questions were
you asked and what was the process like?
Many thanks,
jeff
PS. Thanks for your comments :-)
On 16 Oct 2005 18:22:08 -0700, dns564@cs.com wrote:
>I have been to Canada as a visitor on 3 occasions: Ones just as a
>tourist to see Niagra Falls, Ottawa and Quebec, the second time to see
>my friends in Vancouver, and the 3rd time for a job interview. Those
>were the reasons I stated on my tourist visa application and the
>reasons I told the Canadian officer at an airport of entry. I never had
>a problem (I am a single male if it makes a difference for you), and
>dont think your friend will have any problems either.
>
>When she receives her visa in her passport (not at the airport but from
>a Canadian consulate after applying for it), it will say for how long
>it is valid. Nobody will ask her about how large her account is in
>India.
>
>I'm not an expert. This is just my experiences.
>Good luck. |