Visitor’s visa not a burden on Canadians
Re A worrisome turn on migrants, editorial, Dec. 8
I am all for helping refugees. Lord knows, groups like the Syrians need all the help they can get. They just want a better life for their families. The same with the thousands of “irregular border crossers,” the majority of whom I am willing to bet are not Convention refugees but economic migrants seeking a better life for themselves. Who can blame them? I get that.
What I don’t get and will not accept is Canada’s hypocritical position on visitors from visa countries. There, you are more than likely to meet with disappointment at the hands of visa officers who will turn them away. Never mind that they have a legitimate letter of invitation and all their expenses are being covered by their Canadian relatives, including their travel medical insurance.
We are facing just such a situation now. My wife would like to have her 25-year-old niece come visit us from the Philippines next year. To even have a chance of coming, she will need to provide marriage licence and birth certificates of her parents and all her siblings, a letter of employment from her work stating her income and permission to take leave, a bank account showing current balance, a letter of support from her parents offering any additional travel assistance, and a list of names and addresses of all her relatives living in Canada. And even if she provides all of that, her chances are compromised by the fact she isn’t rich or doesn’t own land.
I mean, she isn’t applying for parole, she’s applying for a visitor’s visa.
The rationale for all this and potential refusal is that Canada fears she might be a burden on the taxpayer.
But Canada doesn’t seem to flinch at the millions of dollars being spent on dealing with the above-mentioned border crossers seeking asylum.
Where is the fairness here? Bruce Gates, Toronto