Thai girlfriend sponsorship/invitation conditions?

[CaseyO]

I(canadian boyfriend) will try and keep this brief but i co-habitate with family and therefore my taxes are done with other family members to register income as part of the family business. Therefore, my taxes show as 0 income.

Her (thai girlfriend) has a stable government job and enough money in the account to support herself here in canada even if i don't sponsor her to visit me for 1 month.

As i understand it, i need to show that i can support her which would be easy enough by showing my bank account balances OR showing the tax forms of my family members as part of the business.

What other options do i have considering that my personal income reporting may not be sufficient for immigration?

 

[k.h.p.]

Are you trying to sponsor her for permanent residence or a visitors temporary visa?

 

[CaseyO]

Are you trying to sponsor her for permanent residence or a visitors temporary visa?

Just as a visitor, not getting married or living together (yet anyways) just invited her to visit me for 1 month

Edit: she is booking her own airfare, with return flight if that helps

 

[k.h.p.]

Just as a visitor, not getting married or living together (yet anyways) just invited her to visit me for 1 month

Edit: she is booking her own airfare, with return flight if that helps

In that case, the visa officer is examining her ability to pay for the trip. Not yours. While you can certainly offer her a place to stay in an invitation letter, the review conducted by IRCC is on her ties to Thailand, her ability to pay for the trip, and so forth.

If you spend a lot of time demonstrating your finances and promising to pay for everything for her, you'll raise risks of rejection because it would demonstrate that she has ties in Canad that she could rely on if she decided to overstay.

You do not need to show you can support her. She needs to show she can support herself and that she has ties at home that will make her leave Canada after her visit.

 

[CaseyO]

In that case, the visa officer is examining her ability to pay for the trip. Not yours. While you can certainly offer her a place to stay in an invitation letter, the review conducted by IRCC is on her ties to Thailand, her ability to pay for the trip, and so forth.

If you spend a lot of time demonstrating your finances and promising to pay for everything for her, you'll raise risks of rejection because it would demonstrate that she has ties in Canad that she could rely on if she decided to overstay.

You do not need to show you can support her. She needs to show she can support herself and that she has ties at home that will make her leave Canada after her visit.

Thanks for clarifying and the additional information, if for example i showed a bank account with $10,000 in it and no liabilities or debts, would it still be unsafe to state in the invitation letter i would cover everything for the 30 days she is here?

 

[k.h.p.]

Thanks for clarifying and the additional information, if for example i showed a bank account with $10,000 in it and no liabilities or debts, would it still be unsafe to state in the invitation letter i would cover everything for the 30 days she is here?

Your money doesn't matter. Hers does.

IRCC cannot come after you to pay for anything a visitor needs. There's no legal framework for that. They literally do not care how much money you have if you're just inviting someone to Canada. You don't need to provide financial documents, they can't force you to promise anything, nor can they follow up on your personal promise.

 

[CaseyO]

Your money doesn't matter. Hers does.

IRCC cannot come after you to pay for anything a visitor needs. There's no legal framework for that. They literally do not care how much money you have if you're just inviting someone to Canada. You don't need to provide financial documents, they can't force you to promise anything, nor can they follow up on your personal promise.

Okay good to know, if she is coming here for 30 days and i say in the invitation letter i will provide a place for her, how much should she have in her account to be likely to get approval along financial lines?

 

[scylla]

Just as a visitor, not getting married or living together (yet anyways) just invited her to visit me for 1 month

Edit: she is booking her own airfare, with return flight if that helps

1 month is too long a trip unless she has extensive previous travel to countries requiring visas such as the US and UK. Go with 2 weeks. Chances of approval are likely already on the low end.

She should not book a flight until she has an approved visa.

 

[CaseyO]

1 month is too long a trip unless she has extensive previous travel to countries requiring visas such as the US and UK. Go with 2 weeks. Chances of approval are likely already on the low end.

She should not book a flight until she has an approved visa.

She has stayed in Germany for a month before, not sure how much harder it is easier to get a visa for Germany though...

 

[k.h.p.]

Okay good to know, if she is coming here for 30 days and i say in the invitation letter i will provide a place for her, how much should she have in her account to be likely to get approval along financial lines?

Enough that the costs of her travel are not a major portion of her life savings or income.

 

[CaseyO]

Enough that the costs of her travel are not a major portion of her life savings or income.

so if she had 8000CAD equiv, with a steady government job and i was covering her accommodations, that would be reasonable from an visitor visa perspective?

 

[scylla]

so if she had 8000CAD equiv, with a steady government job and i was covering her accommodations, that would be reasonable from an visitor visa perspective?

That's on the low end. It means she will eat up the majority of that through this trip - IRCC generally doesn't like this. I would ask for 2-3 weeks tops. Do not ask for a month. Asking for a month demonstrates a lack of ties and will make it difficult to get a TRV approved.

 

[CaseyO]

That's on the low end. It means she will eat up the majority of that through this trip - IRCC generally doesn't like this. I would ask for 2-3 weeks tops. Do not ask for a month. Asking for a month demonstrates a lack of ties and will make it difficult to get a TRV approved.

how long is the waiting period between applications if she wanted to try for 1 month first?

 

[k.h.p.]

how long is the waiting period between applications if she wanted to try for 1 month first?

There is no waiting period but that is a bad approach. All your applications are on file, so applying for a month and then applying for two weeks looks very bad.

 

[k.h.p.]

If she is approved for a visa with a planned trip of two weeks, that doesn't mean she can only stay two weeks. Most visitors to Canada can stay for six months unless the border officer - not the visa officer - feels they should be admitted for a shorter time.