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So, the answer for my Canadian tourist visa application that I made recently, and I'm kind of completely lost.

• The purpose of your visit to Canada is not consistent with a temporary stay given the details you have provided in your application.

No idea what this can possibly mean, because I provided all the required docs - travel itinerary, hotel bookings, prepaid return flight, and a hefty sum on my bank account. Several trips to the US and the UK that I did back then.

• You do not have significant family ties outside Canada.

Kind of semi-true, as I live in a different country than my parents and other relatives. But I don't have any relatives in Canada either.

• Your immigration status outside your country of nationality or habitual residence.

This is just completely made up, because I moved to this Mexico (where I applied for the visa) more than 5 years ago and have a status of the permanent resident here, and a full time job that pays well.

If you decide to apply again, know that:
your new application may be refused unless it is supported by new or different
information that would satisfy the officer that you meet all application requirements.

Any ideas what else I could do to satisfy the officer, besides getting a time machine and going back in time to convince my parents to move to a better country when I was a kid?

UPD so, I've got the GCMS notes, and one thing that looks interesting is that they mentioned only one positive factor - employment. Other factors, such as the history of travel and financial solvency, were ignored completely. So, it looks like adding more positive factors for them to ignore wouldn't change nothing.

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    Just a thought, as I'm certainly no expert, but re. your nationality: you are a Russian citizen; Russia has already started drafting citizens into its army; Canada has traditionally been a haven for those avoiding military drafts. Add to this the likelihood that any Canadian official will likely see Canada as being a much more desirable place to live than Mexico ("it's sort-of OK for a holiday but have you seen the news from down there lately?") and they may well feel justified in assuming immigrant intent from you. They may be wrong about you, but they don't actually know you.
    – Spratty
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 7:49
  • Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Travel Meta, or in Travel Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 21:19

2 Answers 2

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In addition to starting your own family, the following factors could be seen as proof of your ties to the country of residence:

  • obtaining a citizenship (as opposed to a permanent resident status you have now)
  • becoming a landlord and submitting a proof of property ownership alongside your visa application
  • expanding your travel history by traveling to other countries and returning to the country of residence without overstays

I know all of these options sound like an overkill for a mere tourist visa, and nothing about this is fair, but there's not much you can do about it. Mexico is a well-known "trampoline" for people trying to immigrate to US/Canada, and your situation lands you into this pile of statistically problematic applicants which don't get visas.

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    The other problem is - if OP is building this successful history doing genuine tourist travel to marvelous places, then OP's tourist inclinations are fully satisfied and who needs Canada? LOL ...... Honestly I suspect every visa-blocked person who claims tourist intent but who insists it must be that particular country. I'm sure immigration offices do too.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 11, 2023 at 20:00
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    @user626528 Nobody's talked about the job issue yet, but if the well paying job is a tech job that could easily be done over the Internet... especially if the firm is not actually in Mexico... that brands you as a "digital nomad" and they don't like those. That may have stacked on top of the other stuff. There are loads of flights from Mexico City and the Caribbean to Europe that don't stop in the USA. Some in the Caribbean don't even overfly the USA. And, they were some of the cheapest (though air prices are so bonkers right now I can't say whether that is normal).
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 6:17
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica 1) well that's really strange, because digital nomads come to put money into the local economy rather than take them away, and many countries provide special visas for them. Canada decided to do everything backwards? Anyway, my employer is here, in Mexico. Your guess is wrong. 2) Europe isn't renown for easy visas either, so I don't see what point you wanted to make.
    – user626528
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 7:15
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica Honestly I don't get your comment about "that particular country". When you request a visa, it's always about visiting a certain country in particular, you can't request a visa for e.g. "anywhere in South America". Or did you mean that Canada is so unattractive to tourists that requesting a Canadian visa automatically means immigration intent?
    – Dmitry Grigoryev
    Commented Mar 13, 2023 at 15:17
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    @Nelson Canada is not a particularly attractive tourist destination: this is a baffling assertion. Have you ever been to Canada as a tourist? Were you bored? I certainly wasn't.
    – phoog
    Commented Jun 7, 2023 at 23:29
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Your interpretation of the reasons 'made up' is off.
It is a common reason to deny visa, one that is hard to fight.

Lack of ties to where you live is an other way of wording it.

Our usual advice is to wait a few years, wait till you have started a family of your own and can leave spouse and children behind as ties. Or hope that by that time the immigration officers see your longer stay in the country you live as a more secure position.

Having your parents living in the same country as you do is rarely enough for those ties to the place you live.

You may not see illegal immigration into Canada as an improvement of your life but many people in Mexico do and Canadian immigration officers have to deny visa if they suspect that going to happen.

It is unfair but at this moment in time it will be very hard to travel to any of the harder to get visa for countries and getting refusal will make it worse.

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    @user626528 A tourist visa is a privilege, not a right. Canadian immigration are not breaking their own rules, they are simply interpreting your personal circumstances differently to your view and deciding that you do not fulfil the eligibility criteria. You may well disagree with that decision, but it doesn’t mean it is ‘incorrect’.
    – Traveller
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 10:55
  • Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Travel Meta, or in Travel Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Mar 14, 2023 at 5:26

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