Dominicans in Canada

[daydream]

Originally Posted by Splendor

Hi ...I just got back from a trip to Dominican and fell in love. I am trying to find out if it is difficult for anyone from Dominican to come to Canada for a visit ....is there a lot of paperwork and can it be done?

Welcome

There are tons of threads on this topic. You can use the search function above and by searching for 'visitors visa to canada' you will find many useful threads.

Here's one to start with:

visitor's visa to canada question


Good luck
Daydream

[daydream]

Was this your first trip to the DR?

If so, then this article is also worth a read:

http://dr1.com/articles/sankies.shtml

[MrNiceGuy]

Sorry I haven't contributed much lately as I have been quite busy. I thought I would check in and see what is new and came upon this enlightening thread.

I just want to say to those of you wondering about marriage in the DR. Yes, of course be careful, wouldn't you anyways. There are lots of great people in the DR (and a few bad ones like anywhere else). I have many Dominican friends and no, they don't all have their hands in your pockets. Choose your friends wisely with the same scruples you would choose your friends in your country.

I have also been lucky enough to meet and marry the most wonderful Dominican woman. Her family has welcomed me with open arms and I completely feel like "one" of the family when I am there. We had the wedding in her home town and she made all of the preparations. We had about 100 guests and the day was perfect in every way. We recieved our marriage certificate in full 1 week and 1 day after the ceremony. This is a tricky and somewhat complicated process and requires legalizing in Santo Domingo. The certificate itself is NOT sufficient for immigration purposes.

The immigration process is only as difficult as the person you marry. Fortunately in my case it has been a lot of work, time consuming but not complicated. If you follow the immigration guidelines you should not need a lawyer unless you have unusual circumstances to deal with. My wife had most of her papers and worked diligently to acquire those she did not have. It's just a question of time now before she is able to come to Canada. I expect probably by August or September. The sponsorship has been approved and the application is now in Haiti for final processing.

I live in the hamilton area and will want to meet some local Dominicans too with my wife once she is here. Please feel free to send me an email and some contact info and we can try to make some arrangements to meet.

Finally, to those of you thinking of a relationship with a Dominican, just be aware it is not easy. A great deal of patience is required and you will need resources to bring that person to Canada unless they have their own resources to do so. You will have to prove your relationship so keep all of those telephone bills and photos etc. Think about having both of your names on as many receipts as you can especially hotel receipts. I think this will help.

Best Wishes and best of luck...

[Fiesta Mama]

Hi to all those I have not spoken to in a while and thanks for the well-wishes. Marlie... I haven't been living in the DR but life here is much busier than it ever was there (God I miss living there and I pray to win the lottery every week so we can). By the time I get home from work and spend time relaxing with my hubby, making dinner, just living life... I honestly rarely feel like logging on to the internet. I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing.

Mr. Nice Guy... I have no doubts you had to get your wedding certificate legalized but my experience was different and I wanted to share that. We got married in a civil ceremony at a town hall by a justice of the peace and were handed our marriage certificate immediately following the wedding. We did not need to get it legalized or anything in the DR but I did have to have it translated into English here in Canada for immigration purposes.

I also want to comment on all the posts that I see that make me laugh when regular DR1ers say you will NEVER get your husband/wife to Canada (of course these are people that I'm sure have never been through the process and have heard horror stories... hence their comments). That simply is not true (with a few expections I'm sure). I know a ton of people that have gone through this process now and there were three other couples that I kept in touch with at the same time we did our papers and NONE of us had any problems. None of us used lawyers or consultants and we all did the paperwork ourselves. My husband and I had my husband's papers in less than four months after I sent them to immigration for processing. The other couples' times varied but they were all fairly quick and without problems.

Sure you have to be sure the person you are with is the real thing (and BELIEVE me when I say I know firsthand there are Dominicans who are certainly not the real thing but in those situations I honestly feel the person will know deep down in their heart that something is amiss).

If you are in love and you want to be together, no matter what barriers might lay ahead, it's worth it and you can do it. Treat the paperwork as though it's the most important thing you've ever done and read the guide about 15 times!!!

[AnnaC]

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

I also want to comment on all the posts that I see that make me laugh when regular DR1ers say you will NEVER get your husband/wife to Canada (of course these are people that I'm sure have never been through the process and have heard horror stories... hence their comments). That simply is not true (with a few expections I'm sure). I know a ton of people that have gone through this process now and there were three other couples that I kept in touch with at the same time we did our papers and NONE of us had any problems.

I don't remember too many regulars saying "you will NEVER get your spouse" to Canada it's a visitor's visa to Canada that's difficult. I post about that all the time and give them the website.

[Fiesta Mama]

You're right Anna... I can't quote anyone specifically and I didn't mean anything bad by it other than... if you love someone it's worth the risk of doing the paperwork. I know there is a general feeling though on this site that the whole process is very difficult but if it's a real relationship, I have not had the experience or heard from others that it really is all that difficult to prove if you do the paperwork right and that's all I meant. As for a visitor's visa, I don't know because we never tried for one.

Originally Posted by AnnaC

I don't remember too many regulars saying "you will NEVER get your spouse" to Canada it's a visitor's visa to Canada that's difficult. I post about that all the time and give them the website.

[AnnaC]

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

As for a visitor's visa, I don't know because we never tried for one.

Yes that is what I thought. Many come here to ask how they can get a visitor's visa after a week's vacation in the DR and those are the threads that get hammered with " you never get him/her to Canada on a visitor's visa

I'm very happy for you FM you know that

[Lesley D]

This thread has been a pleasure to read everyone. Canada is truly a welcoming country.

Anyway I can only contribute with respect to Montreal and Toronto, however I would like to suggest getting a copy of the Ontario- Quebec Hispanic business guide. It's a yellow page/ white page listing of all Hispanic businesses/ establishments and other relevant information in the two provinces mentioned. You name it just search alphabetically and you will find it if it exists for example hair salons, restaurants, schools, medical issues, professional services owned by Hispanics.

The guide is available at most Hispanic establishments. It's completely in Spanish of course. It's free so just grab a copy on the way out. I use it all the time. It's very handy. It's called GUIA HISPANA- COMERCIAL-PROFESIONAL.

As well for those of you who may not know there are few Spanish daily newspapers available in Canada. They are not very large but serve their purpose. The most established one is El Popular. It's available on-line and I will provide the link below. Although it's available country wide (Chapter's or Indigo bookstore is one location), the news/ information is predominantly Toronto and Montreal based but you will find it helpful. The hard copy version is more detailed than the on-line version.


El Popular


-LDG.

Pa' lante