Letter of Invitation for a Canadian temporary resident visa

My wife and I have invited our parents who live in Cuba to visit us in Toronto, Canada.

One of the supporting documents of the Application for Temporary Resident Visa is the Letter of Invitation.

The Letter of Invitation is written and signed by a person residing in Canada as a permanent resident or Canadian citizen, and it basically extends an invitation for the person abroad to visit him/her in Canada.

There is no formal template for this letter of invitation, but I wanted to share the one my wife and I used before to invite our parents. It has worked for us; hopefully it will help others.

Notice that this is just a template and you will need to adjust it to your particular case. Also, keep in mind that I am not a lawyer or an immigration specialist. This post should not be taken as advice on the matter. If you use the info here, you do it at your own risk.  

Finally, if this article was useful, I would kindly ask you to share it by clicking the Google Plus (G+) button at the beginning of this post.

Toronto, May 6th, 2016

Immigration Department 

Embassy of Canada in Havana 

Subject: Letter of Invitation

To Whom It May Concern: 

I, Cristopher Columbus, Canadian Citizen with Passport No. XXXXXXXX and residence at ____________________, Toronto, ON, Canada; wish to invite my father Mr. Dominic Columbus to visit me for a period of 3 months staying at my home.

My father is a Cuban citizen with ID. No. YYYYYYYYYYY and Passport No. ZZZZZZZ; with permanent residence at ___________________, Havana City, Cuba.

I hereby guarantee and assume all costs that may be incurred by my father’s visit such as plane tickets, travel insurance, accommodation, maintenance, and any other costs, so that he will be of no burden to the government of Canada.

I’m employed (full time) as Naval Engineer at Voyage Inc. since April 15th, 2008. 

My wife, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, is also employed full time as Sales Representative at Best Boats Inc. since February 31st, 2011.

We have the financial means to take care of my father during his visit to Canada; the corresponding documents will be enclosed with the application. 

There are no intentions for my father to stay permanently in Canada.

If you have any concerns regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me at +1 (647) 000-0000 or by email at cristopher.columbus@email.com.

Sincerely yours,

________________________
Cristopher Columbus

Proof of medical examination - Medical Report: Client Biodata and Summary (IMM 1017 Form)

As part of the Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class, the sponsored person and their family members are required to provide “proof” that they have undergone a medical examination.

I am sponsoring my wife to come to Canada, she lives currently in Cuba and I have been living in Toronto for the last 4 years.

When I first heard about this “proof of medical examination”, I asked myself:

• What do they mean by “proof”?
• How can I obtain this “proof”?
• How does this “proof” look like?

For the purpose of sponsoring a Member of the Family Class, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) requires you to mail the IMM 1017 Form as proof that the medical examination took place with an authorized Panel Physician.

In other words, the IMM 1017 Form, also known as Medical Report: Client Biodata and Summary, is the "proof" you are looking for. This form is one page long and you will have to mail the corresponding IMM 1017 Forms not only for the sponsored person, but also for their family members (dependants), if any.

We obtained this form directly from the Panel Physician that examined my wife. We didn’t have to provide a blank form for the doctors to fill. They handled this form to my wife at the end of the medical examination.

This form does not contain the results of the medical results; it’s merely a confirmation that the person in question was examined by an authorized Panel Physician.

Below I have added for reference the IMM 1017 Form that my wife received. I erased all personal data from the form and I also scrambled the barcode. 

I wanted to share this knowledge because the information provided about this topic in the CIC website is quite slim. You should know that I am not a legal or immigration expert. I just want this information to be useful, but you use it at your own risk.

If you think this information was useful, please, consider clicking the Google plus button (G+) at the beginning of this post. Thanks!

Related article: 

• Sponsorship Evaluation [IMM 5481] - Net personal income
• How to obtain an "Option C Printout" for the most recent taxation year?

Sponsorship Evaluation [IMM 5481] - Net personal income

The third question of the Sponsorship Evaluation [IMM 5481] form requires the sponsor net personal income for the 12-month period preceding the date of the application.

First, what is net personal income?

Net personal income is the money that you keep after the taxes have been deducted. Let’s say you make $80 000 a year. That’s your gross income.

After paying your taxes you end up with $57000 ( this number is just an example). This is your net income.

This question is tricky because you have to calculate the net income in the last 12 month: from the current month going back one year.

I’ll give you an example: let’s say you want to send your sponsorship application on October 1st, 2013. Let’s also consider that you were paid bi-weekly. The table below lists all the payments (after taxes) made to you by your employer in the last year.

Month Number	Month	1st Biweekly Payment	2nd Biweekly Payment	3rd Biweekly Payment
1	October 2012	$2,166.43	$2,166.43	N/A
2	November 2012	$2,166.43	$2,166.43	$2,199.26
3	December 2012	$2,199.26	$2,485.43	N/A
4	January 2013	$2,173.40	$2,173.04	N/A
5	February 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	N/A
6	March 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	N/A
7	April 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	N/A
8	May 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	$2,173.04
9	June 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	N/A
10	July 2013	$2,173.04	$2,173.04	N/A
11	August 2013	$2,207.52	$2,351.59	N/A
12	September 2013	$2,376.59	$2,376.59	N/A

Total: $57,457.92

You will have to sum all the individual payments received in the last year. That is your net personal income.

Finally, the answer to question 3 of the Sponsorship Evaluation looks like this.

Sponsorship Evaluation [IMM 5481] - Net personal income

Note that some people have more than one source of income. Some other people are paid monthly (not bi-weekly). What I am trying to say is that the example above is just that: an example. You will need to adjust things depending on your own situation.

I think this post might give you an idea. If so, please, consider clicking Google+ button at the beginning of this entry.

Related Article:

• Proof of medical examination - Medical Report: Client Biodata and Summary (IMM 1017 Form)
• How to obtain an "Option C Printout" for the most recent taxation year?  

Free help for immigrants and political refugees in Toronto, Canada

I was in the subway two days ago and suddenly I heard one person saying to another: "la luz de alante es la que alumbra" [1]. As the only people in the word using such a phrase are Cubans, I interrupted the lady that was chatting with a rhetoric question: Are you Cuban?

Leticia looked at me with a familiar smile and answered affirmatively. Shortly after, I was introduced to Mario, a fine Argentine man, which surprised me due to his deep understanding of the Cuban culture [2].

After a quick catch-up with Leticia [3], Mario gave me his card and explained to me that both of them work for Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto (MNLCT).

MNLCT is a non-profit organization that helps and guides immigrants and political refugees in the Toronto area. Although there are other well-known organizations like YMCA, MNLCT differs in the fact that it not only assists "legal Canadian residents": Suppose you are a Cuban escaping from Cuba, where would you go without money and without papers? Well, I suggest you give MNLCT a try. At the very least, they will point you in the right direction for FREE.

One final quotation: MNLCT welcomes newcomers, immigrants and political refugees from all nationalities, not only Cuban guys.

Notes:

[1]: A similar idiom in English would be: "a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush".

[2]: It is worth mentioning that Mario Bianchi was closely involve with the relocation (in Canada) of 17 Cuban political prisoners, released after the visit of the Venerable Pope John Paul II to Cuba in 1998.

[3]: Cubans are very friendly or like we usually say: "guarosos". So, if you find an unknown Cuban in the middle of Toronto and talk to him/her, there's a 99% chance that he/she will tell you his/her life :-D