Why has my visa application to Canada been denied, and what can I do about it? [closed]

Question

My name is Dennis Whole Asante, I am a pastor and the General-Overseer of a church here in Nairobi, Kenya, I am also a Ghanaian and a residence of Kenya. I have all my documents as a legal residence here in Kenya. A friend of mine who is also like a brother, we have been friends for more than 15 years now, he is also a Ghanaian and we are still neighbors living at the same neighborhood in Ghana. He has invited me to visit him in Canada and provided all his documents including his statement of accounts, his residence permit, his tax clearance and every other necessary documents to prove his legality over there in Canada. I also applied for the Visa and also attached my statement of account even in Ghana and other documents needed that will enable me get the visa. As I submitted my application I was denied the visa by two reasons

1. Purpose of Travel
2. Family Ties in Canada and my home country

Those were the first reasons for my refusal, I then reapplied by providing an affidavit stating about my ties here because I also live here in Kenya with my wife and son, Provided a copy of the Tenancy agreement of my church rent which I pay 65,000 Kenyan Shillings which is about 650 US Dollars, Photos of my church, and other necessary documents to prove my ties here in my country of residence, I also provided my two bank statements of accounts from two banks here in Kenya and still added my Ghana stament of account which has more than 200,000 US dollars. I was also able to state my purpose of travel which I also added a letter from a church I will even be ministering as a guest speaker.

To my surprise my application have been refused again by giving me three different reasons from the first one and the reasons are:

1. Travel History
2. Purpose of Travel
3. Personal assets and financial status

But when it comes to travel History, I attached even my already finished passport with Visas of South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Malaysia, Nigeria, Rwanda which I travelled to all and returned to my home country and even in my new passport there are still other visas including an Israeli Visa which I travelled and returned few weeks ago. I only travel for only preaching appointments and I still return to my either home country or my country of residence so I don’t understand Travel History was marked as one of the reasons.

Talking of Purpose of travel, I also explained everything into details and also I have also provided my financial status by providing my statement of accounts from the two banks I save here in my country of residence and my bank in Kenya.

I don’t know why I have been refused again so please advise me where I can appeal to or what else I can do.

Answer 1

It is best to contact a lawyer, but I will offer some suggestions based on my experience of having to apply for multiple visas:

1. Purpose of Travel

   If you are rejected for this reason, it means you did not make clear [a] why you are visiting [b] provide proof that supported your reason for travel. If you wanted to come for a short visit (temporary stay), you should have provided proof of this in the form of [a] a return ticket [b] hotel reservation. If your friend was having you stay with him, he should provide an affidavit of support specifically stating that he is willing to cover your expenses and that you will be staying with him at his residence.

2. Family Ties in Canada and my home country

   As you are a foreign resident in Kenya, and your permanent residency is in Ghana, you have to prove to the immigration authority's satisfaction that you intend to come back. Now, if you have strong family ties in Canada (such as a lifelong friend) this makes your application that much more suspicious as it is easy for you to go on a short visit, and end up staying with your friend indefinitely - in other words, you would be a defacto immigrant. Evidence of strong ties include a steady job, evidence of obligations (for example, a bank account that shows you are paying rent), your family is with you (for example, you have kids in school) etc.

Each time you apply, your application is judged independently of the previous application - as circumstances may have changed in your favor. Therefore, the second time you applied you got different reasons for rejection.

3. Travel History

   This simply means that you do not have sufficient proof of travel to other countries. They usually mean other European countries, in other words, countries that are a target of large influx of migrations. You stated that you only traveled for speaking arrangements, but here you are traveling for tourism.

4. Purpose of Travel

   This one was easy to figure out, since you stated:

   I was also able to state my purpose of travel which I also added a letter from a church I will even be ministering as a guest speaker.

   The immigration authorities may consider this work (even if it is unpaid), and you may have required a different visa type.

   You cannot state that you are going there to visit your friend, and yet you will be going there as a guest speaker at a church. They each require different documents.

5. Personal assets and financial status

   This simply means your financial income is not sufficient for the length and purpose of your trip; and you may be a burden on state assistance. If you show large balances with no justification, you may be suspected of funds parking - that is, borrowing or "parking" money just to show a healthy balance, when in fact you do not have access to these funds, or the source of these funds cannot be determined.

Finally, unless you are applying for a marriage/spouse visa, I have never seen pictures being used to establish family ties. It doesn't prove anything as anyone can take a picture with a bunch of people and claim family ties.