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As an immigrant I have finally come to the moment when I wanted people from my own country to come and visit me. It is very hard to be the one to go back every year. But after checking out and actually going through the process of invitation I can say that this is almost as difficult as doing myself the travel. First of all, my family is in Ecuador, which is a country that doesn’t generate visas, instead all the applications are forwarded to the embassy in Bogota, Colombia. Secondly, a big number of requisites are needed: you need to send proofs of economic solvency such as credit card statements, three months of bank account statements, a letter from your job (in case you are paying for the trip, which is often the case), a copy of the Federal assessment for the previous year, and a letter of invitation, which should state the relationship with the person invited, the itinerary they should have, who is paying the expenses, personal information such as address, phone numbers, dates of arrival and more. Once all this difficult package has been put together, it should be sent to he country, where a second package should be assembled by the guests. The family members (or friends) who are invited need to also collect proof of economic good situation such as bank statements, government tax declaration, certificate of alienation and history of their immovables, a letter from their job that states the time they have worked in the company, their salary, their vacation time and their kind of job. They should also write another letter explaning the reason they are coming to Canada, their itinerary, dates of travel and their intention of coming back to their country of origin. Usually having a print out with the reserve for the flight is considered. Doing this for three people can suck out the life out of you. However it is done now, and hope for the best. The times they take for saying if the visa is granted or not is about 30 days. How much money does all this process cost the people involved and the government of Canada? I find this ridiculous. There should be better ways to determine if someone is admitted to the country.
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