[liam1]

i sent an email to Immigration Office in Haiti last night and they have already replied. very good on their side!

my email to them:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I just got back from Canadian Embassy in Santo Domingo, DominicanRepublic, where I was informed that my wife's application for TEMPORARYResident Visa was refused.

I would kindly ask if You could take a few moments to read this email, and to help point us in the right direction.

Here is a little background on our case: We have known each other for a year and a half and we got married January 09, 2008. She is 20 and I am 27. She is currently a student in what would be considered 13th grade in Canada, and next year she plans to start university, therefore we applied for TEMPORARY Visa with entry date August 15th (the school will finish late July) and exit date November 15th at the latest, depending when she would need to be back for university.

On the refusal letter the reason given was "You have not established tomy satisfaction that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident".

We have gathered all the documents necessary, personal, school, bank statements... (I have submitted my bank statement where I have around 100.000 Dollars to prove that I can financially support her while we arein Canada).

We have applied for 'Multiple Entry Visa' since I travel to Canada quite often, about once every 2 months, and I would like my wife to accompany me as much as possible, depending on her university obligations.

We will re-apply, the only question we have is for which visa to apply? We know if we re-apply for the same one, TEMPORARY Resident Visa, it would probably be refused again since nothing has changed with our situation. If we re-apply for PERMANENT Resident Visa I believe we would probably get it since I am a Canadian Citizen, we are legally married and I have the means to support her, but it would take longer to process the application, and we were planning to visit Canada this summer. Also if we apply for PERMANENT Resident Visa it would not be 100% what wewant/need, since at the moment we have no plans to live in Canada; she will start university and I am in process of getting business license to hopefully start a business here in Dominican Republic. We are afraid if we apply for Tourist Visa you would have same concerns; that she would enter Canada and not leave.

In the Santo Domingo office nobody was able to tell us anything; "Wedon't do immigration here, call Haiti."

Please advise us from your experience, what is the best for us to do; re-apply for the same Temporary Resident Visa, which is exactly what we need, but probably won't get, or apply for PERMANENT Visa, which we would most likely get, but do not need, since we do not plan to live in Canada any time soon? Thank You for your time.

Sincerely yours,
.................................................. ..............

their reply:

Good day,

Unless you, as the Canadian spouse, are strongly established in your wife's country (employment, property, several years there, etc.), the officer will likely think that a temporary resident visa application for your wife could be an attempt to bring her to reside with you in Canada. In that sense, if you are not very well-established, chances are future applications will also be denied. Nevertheless, even if you are a Canadian citizen residing abroad, this does not prevent you from sponsoring her for permanent residence. While you do not need to be residing in Canada at the time of the application, you will have to demonstrate to the officer that you intend to reside in Canada once she would receive her permanent residence visa (lease agreement, job offer,etc.). In a balance of probabilities, your chances for her to qualify for a permanent resident visa are probably higher, given the details you provided. If/once she will have obtained her permanent residence status, she will be required to spend at least 2 years physically inCanada for every 5-year period (and it does not have to be 2 years in arow, but cumulated within that timeframe), so this would still allow you to spend most of your time in the Dominican Republic, if you wish, without her losing that status.

Sincerely, PRNCE (IM)