I love Montreal. Its my favorite place on the planet. Since Christmas is nonexistent in Kuwait and since Nat has never been anywhere other then Lebanon and Kuwait I figured we would spend Christmas and New Years in Montreal. I was looking forward to binging on Labatt Blue while stuffing myself with poutine. Nat on the other hand was looking forward to the Tiesto concert on New Years night. We had everything planned and ready, only thing missing was Nats visa to Canada. I don’t need a visa because I have the Canadian citizenship.
Around a week ago we sent Nats passport and all the forms and papers needed to the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi (local embassy don’t do visas). Visa costs like KD18 while DHL with a return airway bill costs KD55. So thats KD73 for a one time entry visa.
Today Nat got her passport back and guess what? They refused to give her a visa! Their reason was the following:
You have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements of Regulation 179; that you would leave Canada at the end of the temporary period if you were authorized to enter. In reaching this decision I considered your ties to your country of residence/citzenship balanced against factors which might motivate you to stay in Canada.
In summary, they think Nat will basically go to Canada, tear up her passport and request asylum. How did they come up with this conclusion? Its because she is Lebanese. How much more discriminating can they be? No one called her to talk to her, no one called her in for an interview, they didn’t even care that her husband is a Canadian.
I am extremely pissed off now because it basically means I can no longer go to Canada unless I am alone, which isn’t going to happen as long as I am married. Tomorrow I will be calling up the embassy and giving someone there a piece of my mind. No way am I gonna accept the fact that some stranger all the way in the UAE is going to ruin my Christmas!
52 replies on “No Canada for Nat.. or me”
That really sucks! You really should try to call them tomorrow and ask them what this is all about….
Can’t Nat get the Canadian passport now that she’s married to you?
It’s too bad…Montreal in the winter is amazing….I miss winter 🙂
Does that make Expats in Kuwait feel that Kuwait is not so bad after all ? I really thought we had it bad but apparently the whole world is not making sense anymore !
Man think you are allowed to take you wife with you since you are Canadian. I am sure they are not aware of this. Otherwise all the Canadians with non Canadian wives will be stuck somewhere. I think there is a certain procedure for that however, if not then that sucks.
I think it would have been better for Nat to have applied from the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon. It’s always better to apply for a visa from your home country. Would they have let her do that even though she is a resident in Kuwait? Also, don’t assume that this means she will never get a visa in the future and that you won’t be able to go one day. If she got rejected “without discrimination” or whatever the phrase they use might be, that means this rejection won’t be held against her next time she applies. I know it really sucks, but unfortunately this is the world we’re living in right now. Don’t lose your temper when you call the embassy though – you don’t want to burn your bridges! But find out whether or not they know that you, her husband, are Canadian.
Mark,
But is’t it starnge that you actually identify yourselves as ” married Lebanese couple who are living in Kuwait ” !! How come you are now Canadian Citizen ?!!!I have no problem with either nationality but I think you should correct the situation to like ,,,,Canadian of Lebenese origin or Just Canadian Married to a Lebenese lady !
Call them? I dont think that would do any good. You’re not calling MTC/Showtime heh.
In any case, sorry to hear your misfortune.
Honestly i dont blame them since arabs gave the canadian gov a reason to doubt us, but as a canadian citizen, you can apply and get her the passport, then you wont have problems, but i think you guys will have to live there for a year, check with the embassy in kuwait.
nothing beats walking down st. catherines in the -30 weather (-60 with windchill) during new years with all the x-mass lights… i cant wait to go back
Don’t they speak English in Canada? That paragraph is horrendously written!
And yeah, the Canadian embassy in Abu Dhabi is a bitch.
USA! USA!
GOD don’t hit with a stick!
Mark, go to the embassy and bring nat with you try to interview the ambassador he is really nice i always meet him for personal good, and make sure to bring all papers that the abudhabi forward you., and i guarantee you it will work and if it doesnt ill work something else
GOD never hits with stick!
well good luck with ALL THAT.
Mark, give those faggots hell, you deserve this to enjoy a nice christmas with Nat, complain like you never did before to em.
Well after seeing all the Lebanese and Arabs in Canada and especially Montreal, I would think they have good reason to say/do such a thing. No offense to you or Nat, But the amount of Arabs that live in Montreal is just mind boggling! Many of them don’t have a citizenship, aren’t legal but still act as if they own the city! So this is probably just a precausionary measure the government is taking from now on. I suggest you prove to them that you will be coming back(Ask the embassy of a way to do so) I think it’s been done before…
i’ve had a friend’s student visa application to canada declined from abu dhabi, and i’ve heard that they tend to decline a lot of expats with the same reason. what’s up with that eh?
Several of my friends in Kuwait have had the same experience (visa rejection) then flew to Abu Dhabi to apply for a visa in person. All of them got their visa while there.
Thats really screwed up! They didnt even get back to you, or say anything! At least the american embassy asks for an interview that you can go into and then they make their decision! I think if your face to face then its a different story!
I hope you try to get it!
Hey Mark sorry to hear that,
I was watching a T.V show here in Toronto disscussing the costs of evacuating “canadian lebanes” and how some ppl are pushing to mandate laws to prevent citizens from living outside of Canada for a consecutive number of years. It was so obvious that there talking about lebanes.
I heard also from many that in Monteral tension from Quebecois against arabs and precisly Lebanese is rising. Hradluck buddy
I firmly believe if you choose to change your residency to another country (unless it’s through a parental right), you should live there. Otherwise, what’s the point? So Ahmed’s comment about the evacuation costs make sense from a *real* Canadian’s standpoint.
All the same, applying in person at the embassy in your home country gives the maximum chance of acceptance, followed by applying in person in another country.
Get a Jazeera flight over there with Nat, and do it face to face. You might end up with a visa.
yea i guy i know wat you mean and the canadian embassy here sux big time i lost my citizen’s card a while back i went down there and they made me fill out all these forms and guess what i still never got back the new one its been 3 months now and seriously they dont care if ur not Canadian then they make up all this bull shit on how ur ganna stay in there country so if ur planing on going in xmas go down there and beat up sumbody i hope tht u dont get the fat lady i got the only speaks french and her assistant keeps laughing at her.
The visa was rejected BECAUSE you are a Canadian. If you want Nat in Canada, you have to haul your ass over to Canada, and then bring Nat as a dependant – no 2 ways about it.
However, if there is a way round it, I do wish you luck.
GOD never hit people with stick!
Mark i experience the same thing when sending some employees to Canada for training. I think its a easy way out for the embassy.
All the best
I think providing some documentation would be good.Some embassies require a letter of employment and bank balance ,so they know you would leave canada to get back to your joband have means to live there.Have a talk to them and try again.Dont give up.Also your being Canadian should help.Good luck.
man that fucking sucks real bad, Nat needs to a vacation from this damn place i could see it in her face.
i think they also rejected the application bc she’s lebanese and with all the shit going down in leb now and she’s in kuwait, that she’s trying to escape and seek asylum elsewhere.
I’m a native Montrealer, just came across this blog. I’ve got to say, I really doubt it’s because your wife is Lebanese. Canada is actually not that stringent with Arabs, especially the Lebanese. It was probably because she was going through the embassy in the UAE.
Jafar I thought about mentioning I am canadian in the “Who Posts Here” paragraph but i decided it would just make things complicated so I simplified it.
montreal: I was told by the Canadian embassy in Kuwait to apply for a visa via Abu dhabi.
anyway I just sent an email to the ambassador. hopefully he checks his email. I tried calling him but I got an answering machine.
email wont help alot mark move get Nat to the embassy and talk to the ambassador personnaly thats truly not fear !!!
dont i need an appointment?
call them or go directly sometimes without appointment but u need to go to the ambassador with nat and the refuse paper, Mon Colise de tabarnak !!!!!!!!!!!
LOL.. Trying to use the Q8 solution (ambassador wasta) won’t work.
The immigration officer has the final say so.
You should get her a proper passport and citizenship as she is your spouse. This would benefit not only her but also your children, if you have any or are planning to have any.
moving to canada and getting the passport she can do at a later stage. for now i just wnat to go for a vacation…
Man that sure sucks! I do hope it works out for you.
I hate it when everyone gets cast in one basket due to some geo-political situation (or any situation for that matter).
i have been naggin u to post somethin abt montreal for so long, now that u did i wouldnt have wanted to know…would have been fun having u here…drinkin in crecent and st. laurent..good luck with ur visa
maybe there was a mistake …
I think its because of the uproar last summer in Canada when half of Lebanon wanted to be evacuated by Canadian vessels due to the fighting because they carry Canadian passports.
One politician said something like: “These people treat our country like it’s one big hotel they stay in when they’re in trouble and leave when everything is ok.” I think he might have a point.
Personally, I don’t know any Lebanese who doesn’t hold some other passport. With the way their country is being run, who can blame them.
i miss my busy weekends in downtown making shipping, Anon talking to the ambassador is not a wasta!!!!
Can’t she get citizenship through you? Yes, it’s rediculous. Good luck.
Mark man.. Believe it or not I have now next to me the same sheet of paper.. The fucker marked the 1st paragraph for Nat right?? Same as my case.. See my wife is Canadian and am Lebanese.. We had the same problem.. So basely am the best to advise you.. Don’t call them dont go to UAE and dont do shit.. Next year if you have time go with Nat to Canada and do her landing.. Man I called them to ask why the fuck they did this.. You know what happened.. 10 days later I got a DHL guy in my office asking me to pay the 73 KD again I though fuck they sent me the visa after I gave them shit.. Although the passport is with me now I thought that they have made it as a sheet of paper for me to attach it to my passport.. I paid up the money opened the envelope and got the same sheet again.. I HAVE PAYED 73 KD FOR A A4 SHEET THAT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ONE I ALREADY GOT.. I WANNA KILL SOMEONE MAN AM SO FUCKIN PISSED.. IN SHORT FUCK CANADA.. dont do shit.. work on her landing later on.. (if you want i can send you all they email that i sent them and all the fuckin generic reply that i get.. they are like machines and robat)
gotcha, seems you gotta live in Canada to get the citizenship for her. didn’t know that. Good luck yet!
And my question will be:
WHY THE F*CK IS DHL CHARGING 73 KD TO DELIVER 1 PIECE OF A4 PAPER?
khalil
WASTA=Conduit
You suggested speaking to the ambassador as a means of facilitating the visa. Hence, he would be acting as a conduit.
Cajie.. They call it “visa pack”.. It is some sort of in organised crime / mafia between them and the embassies.. FUCK GLOBALISATION
I paid KD55 for my DHL visa pack. It included sending the passport and documents to Abu Dhabi with next day delivery and a return back the same way.
anon.. my mother in law spoke to him.. = mauvais conducteur (meaning, nothing happend)
Thanx guys. I was quite shocked when mark told me about it over the phone yesterday, I actually thought he was pulling my leg at first since he does that often. A friend of mine had told me earlier that her visa got accepted. She also works in kuwait but she’s is single so I thought I shouldn’t have any problems with mine since my Mark is canadian . However this might have been the main reason behind the rejection since they seem to think I wont be coming back. Hopefully this can all be sorted out through the embassy here though or I’ll have to start applying somewhere else. But it definitly seems that our xmas and new years plans have been ruined..
Hi Mark … i’ve been reading ur awesome blog 4 the past month :), keep on man 🙂
This the first time i try to post 🙂
Anyway what happened sure sucks! I do hope it works out for you ,,, u r canadian what the hell !!!
Really sorry about that, I hope you can make it. Look like someone took a bit too seriously some memo because of what happened last summer in Lebanese and all the fuss about the evacuation.
Too bad because there’s already snow here and some more is expected.
hmm. if its not too late head to some eastern country.
Do you know guys the canadian consulate here in abudhabi sucks..Its a lot faster if u do it from the home country ..thats the best advise i can give you..Cos the turds in the consulate in abudhabi are not helpful, the phone answering system sucks, and they reply back to you after one week and even if they do they will not give u a straight answer..
I dont understand why the candian consulate is running like a emirate company ( non effecient and completely clueless, and giving people wishy washy answers) are these trolls blazin in there?