Canada tourist visa headaches… will there be tourists for the Olympics?

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Following are sample headlines used for future stories… full story below

• Merry Christmas from a Canadian who can’t come to Canada after grandpa passed away

• Make this 1-minute test – see if you could qualify for a tourist visa into Canada
• Would you submit 100 pages of personal information for a tourist visa – and still get denied
• If you thought getting a US visa was tough – try Canada
• Tourist visa policy could cost Canada $xxxm/year
• Don’t apply for a tourist visa – Canada does not want you
• Tourist visa headaches and effects on Olympics and your business
• Last Friday… Canada lost a citizen and a valuable entrepreneur
• Will there be tourists for the Olympics?
• Canada turning away tourists
• How much is Canada’s visa policy costing your business?
• The dark secret of Canada’s tourism policy
• Little known ways Canada is killing tourism
• Advice to immigrants who want to come to Canada – by an ex-Canadian
• Lack of tourists hurting your business?  Thank the government
• Canada the land of… red tape and ineffective government policies
• Planning on cashing in on tourism during the Olympics?  Think again
• Canada was built on immigration – what’s happening now
• Discover why tourist numbers might be hurting during the Olympics
• x out of x tourists getting rejected by Canada
• Should immigrants come to Canada – by an Ex-Canadian
• How Canada’s visa policy created an ex-Canadian
• 5 types of immigrants – which group are you in
• How to kill off tourism – Canada’s visa policy
• No more tourists!
• How many tourists does Canada turn away?
• Why Canada used to be a good place for tourism – and how it affects you
• No tourists – Check out Canada’s new visa policy
• Great moments in Canada immigration – and how current regulations are destroying our reputation
• Canada visa policy – we don’t want tourists
• Canada too good for tourists
• Why will tourist numbers be down over the Olympics?
• Tourists stay home – Canada does not want you
• Where you can not go on a holiday – Canada
• Argentina tourists – Canada does not want you
• Are you in University – do not travel to Canada
• 100 pages supplied and no tourist visa issued –why
• Don’t let Canada’s visa policy affect your business
• Are tourists forced to stay home for the Olympics?
• Are we a nation that’s too good for tourists?
• What everyone ought to know… about the lack of international visitors to the Olympics
• Exclusive offer – could you get a tourist visa into Canada

I am ashamed to be Canadian after the recent issues regarding my girlfriend unjustly being denied a tourist visa to travel with me to Canada to be with my family after my Grandpa passed away.  There is something broken with the visa system, if after supplying around 100 pages of highly personal information and having my mother take full financial responsibility for her…she still gets denied.  We strongly feel that Canada’s reasons for refusal are unjust and will scar Canada’s international reputation.  Further action will be taken to the highest level.

This website dedicated to getting the word out on tourist visa policies and how it affects tourism, business, people, economy and the Olympics in Canada.

The following is a rough overview of the facts that will be used for various articles and marketing campaigns.

Dear Canada,

History/current situation of our relationship (Florencia and Derek)

• Florencia background situation in Argentina
  • taking a gap year from university after operation
  • completed 4.5 years out of a 6 year university program in Industrial engineering
    • going back to University in March to complete degree
• Moms doctor, dads architect – country club members in Buenos Aires
  • Extremely close personal ties and lived with parents
  • Tourists in Costa Rica for 8 months – lived together for 6 months – extremely happy relationship – emotional implications
  • Florencia applied for US tourist visa towards the end of last summer because we were going to visit some friends in Nantucket, US
    • Prepared documents and was very EASY for her to get approval
    • Received US approval for tourist visa in 4 days and visa valid for 10 years!
    • Directly after receiving the US visa we went to the Canada embassy with exact same documentation (in case we wanted to stop off in Canada on the way home).  The immigration officer said we did not have enough documentation and advised us against applying until we could supply all the documentation.  We though this was ridiculous and decided to not bother as neither of us really wanted to go to Canada for long as we were happy living on the beach anyway.
    • Witnessed around 20 people applying for visas to Canada while in the San Jose embassy… 15/20 of those people got directly turned away and looked extremely unsettled.   5/20 got into the interviews but most of the people that came out of this room did not look happy.  Does anyone in Costa Rica have a chance of getting a tourist visa?  Is this the same across all embassies?  Research
    • New situation grandpa passed away few weeks ago – I needed to be home with family for support and wanted my girlfriend Florencia to be there with me so we decided to try and apply for a tourist visa one more time with an absurd amount of documentation.  Would anyone in Canada go to these lengths to supply this amount of information?  I doubt few Canadians would bother – make a few interesting articles on how visa policies are turning away tourist $.
      • Florencia supplied full details on why she will be returning to Argentina in March:
        • parents personal bank account details (show proof of personal connections in Argentina)
        • parents property titles (show proof of personal connections in Argentina)
          • her parents willing to give such highly personal information should be more than enough proof of her family ties back home in Argentina
    • academic standing in university listing all courses taken and personal grades
      • only 1.5/6 years left… going to return in March to finish degree in Industrial Engineering
      • Major reason to return to Argentina
    • inscription dates in University of Buenos Aires
      • University is free in Argentina so we could not show any proof of her enrolment.  Her courses will be chosen the first week of March – we showed calendars detailing all the information
    • flight ticket showing proof of returning to Argentina in March
      • Major reason to return to Argentina
• Derek’s mother Bonnie Hildenbrand wanted to supply full financial responsibility for Florencia while in Canada as a rock solid way of proving that Florencia would have no problems financially or in any other way while in Canada.
  • letter of invitation accepting full financial responsibility
  • copies of passport
  • bank statements & personal letter from her account manager at the bank
  • death certificate of Robert Lepan (which is the main reason for travel to Canada)
• Derek Hildenbrand also supplied letter of invitation.
• To our surprise Florencia got denied a tourist visa.  Reasons for refusal?  Does not make sense…
  • Few days after applying for the tourist visa we got an email from the Embassy explaining clarification on the following points
    • Can Florencia prove that she is going back to University in March?
      • As explained above University is free in Argentina so we could not show any proof of her enrolment.  Her courses will be chosen the first week of March.  We provided proof of her academic standing in University and that she has successfully completed 4.5 years of studies and only has 1.5 years left to complete her degree.  Obviously she will be returning in March to complete her degree.  We also supplied documentation proving her flight status returning in the beginning of March.
      • Also they wanted clarification of my work status in Costa Rica which we explained that I was on a tourist visa and in the middle of researching and planning an internet business.  Why the Canada embassy is interested in this will require more research and I’m sure will make for some interesting articles.
• Then we got the following reasons for denying a tourist visa.  The above first email asking for clarification had very little to do with her actual reasons for refusal.
  • You have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements of Regulation 179, i.e., that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a Temporary Resident.  In reaching this decision, I considered several factors including :
    • Your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
      • Family ties in Canada?  I have been living with Florencia for around 6 months.  My mother travelled to Costa Rica to visit her a month or so ago to meet her and wanted her to visit in Canada.  She did not know my grandfather who passed away but she would be emotionally helping me and my mother with this difficult time.  We stated all of this in the letter of invitation.
      • Obviously her parents willing to part with personal financial information such as property titles and bank statements demonstrate close personal ties.
      • What else is there to prove family ties?  What information would you be able to supply?  She lived with her parents up until travelling to Costa Rica in the same apartment.
        • This is ridiculous the amount of personal insight that is available to the immigration officer and I personally view this as an excuse to discriminate against certain classes of individuals applying for a tourist visa
    • Length of proposed stay in Canada and/or the purpose of your visit
    • Before applying for the tourist visa Derek’s mother Bonnie Hildenbrand contacted the Embassy in Guatemala (where the application was being reviewed) and submitted all her documentation (letter of invitation, bank statements, etc).   The person she talked to said all visas were issued for 3 months and this is what we should be applying for, so we did.
    • My grandfather passing away involves time for personal support as well as:
    • My grandmother has her own health issue, needs help moving into another house, has a very sick dog and wanted to meet Florencia
    • Personal finances need to be transferred, accounting, and financial planning which I need to assist her with and takes time
    • Transfer of property titles and other assets into my name
    • This should be strong evidence for purpose of visit but there’s also….
    • We really wanted to arrive before Christmas to spend it with my family.
    • Another very strong reason for travel to Canada
    • Also since the Olympics are in February it is an ideal time to introduce Florencia to my home country and take part in the Olympic spirit.
    • Another good reason to travel to Canada… or does Canada not want tourists for the Olympics?
    • She had a flight pre-booked home to Argentina in the beginning of March so we decided that we wanted to stay in Canada until then.  Why would the length of visit be a problem?
    • Obviously Canada immigration knows of my family’s intentions and where she will be staying.  If you wanted to find her it would be very easy to do so.
    • Purpose of trip could not be any clearer and I do not see how my grandfather passing away and my families request for support is an invalid reason. If anything the Embassies reasons for refusal are unjust and unfairly punish my family who are citizens of Canada.  Thanks to your refusal I will be unable to support my family during this difficult time and not able to be there for Christmas without Florencia being able to travel with me.

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• Articles on the website will also be researched detailing other immigration policies and the effects on Canada at various levels.
  • Research e statistics on % approval rate of tourist visa applications
  • Research statistics on how many Canadian citizens would be able to receive a tourist visa if they had to apply to a Canada embassy.  Think the results would make Canadians take notice of the cruel and unjust visa policies and how it affects tourism in Canada – interesting articles
  • Who does it directly affect?  Local, regional, national, international, business, finance, tourism, personal, communities, etc, etc,
  • Is it possible for any university student to receive a tourist visa?
  • Are Argentinean tourists unfairly treated – are any Argentinean tourists allowed into Canada?
  • Heavy press release in the countries found
  • Research niche demographics to see who is unfairly biased by Canada visa policies
  • Recent supposed Chinese refugees who land in Canada on boats – research who is allowed to stay and on what grounds – anything interesting to be made public?
  • Criminals who bought their way into Canada – Nazis, Chinese thieves, etc.
  • NZ has working exchange with Argentina…research financial benefits for NZ – loss for Canada
  • Economic implications to Canada’s economy due to lack of tourists
  • Effects on Olympics
    • Compare to policies implemented by Beijing during their Olympics and how it affected national tourism and local businesses during the Olympics
• Canada’s reputation
• Local business
• Individuals
• Families
• Research tourist numbers and compare to other economies such as Australia, NZ, US, England, etc.  -  Are there any statistics that stand out?
• History of immigration and tourism in Canada’s past and how the current regulations are killing a once great system
• How many potential tourists are getting turned away
• Reasons for getting turned away
• Why does Canada have stricter policies than the US?  Effects of Bush era draconian visa policies on the US economy – research – how will current government policies affect Canada
• Research past Olympics in Beijing and show the direct implications of their ineffective visa policies
• Compare how Canada is making the same mistakes
• Website will promote feedback and stories to gather more information
• Effects on Olympics
• Tie in with Beijing visa policies – explain what happened  – related article
• Loss to Canada
• Economic loss of a citizen – research financial data
  • Possible next Facebook or Nortel
  • $/year over lifetime employment
  • Effect of Florencia refusal on her network of friends and family –bad PR
  • Need for Engineers – can’t train fast enough… but no
• Need for immigration – reports on financial implications
  • Situations of effects of immigration
  • What would happen without it
• Reasons people give up residency and move to other country
  • Taxes, health care, freedom & privacy
  • Research expat sites
• Gains for other countries
• Options for citizenship
  • Chile policy encourages entrepreneurs
  • Costa Rica – number of Canadian expats

• We are very interested in posting other people’s issues with Canada immigration and tourism… I’m sure there are lots of other stories that need to be heard.
• In the meantime I will be looking into giving up my residency and making a life in another country.  If Canada is too good for my girlfriend then it is also too good for me.   Honestly who does Canada think they are?  I really don’t think Canada is that great of a place to live and would rather live outside the borders (as I have done for 10 years and will continue to do so).  This recent issue will just fast track me leaving Canada for good and will make for some very interesting reading to as many people as I can tell.
• What options are available to appeal the denial of a tourist visa?  How would you like us to proceed in taking this matter to the next level?  Any comments and experiences would be greatly appreciated
• We look forward to hearing from you!…