What can I use as proof of travel history to apply for a Canadian visa?
I will visit Canada for one month. I am a Romanian applicant and I was wondering if I can submit a Youthpass as proof of my travel history (inside EU, so I didn't need a passport). I cannot find my boarding pass from the former trip and the information provided by the Online Application Service for Canada Immigration is:
You must provide information on your valid visa from the United States as well as previous travel history. This can include copies of
- your previous passports and/or visas (used within the last 10 years to travel outside your country)
- entry and exit stamps
- study and/or work permits that indicate your duration outside of your country
- expired or valid visas
- boarding passes
Best Answer
I agree with @Mark but suspect whatever evidence you provided would have made very little difference, if any. Visa authorities rarely if ever ask for what towns and cities, or villages or neighbours, applicants have visited within their own country. What they care about are border crossings. Hence passport stamps that show these, and visas that show permission to apply to cross borders. Hence their your duration outside of your country and to some extent boarding passes, since these are usually only issued for long and therefore potentially transnational journeys.
Canada, like most other countries, does not want unemployment amongst its own nationals to go up because of work performed by non-Canadians in Canada. It also does not want Canadian tax payers to pay for any more welfare support than the Canadian government deems necessary. So it checks potential visitors to reduce the chances of either. A history of conforming, even if in other countries, is taken as some guide to likely future behaviour and, since other countries have much the same objectives, permissions from them are reassuring. A prematurely cancelled visa is a sign of issues, so a visa that has not been cancelled at least is better than that.
In your case you mention that your travel did not require even a passport so would have proved nothing of value even had you submitted comprehensive documentation of it. Where there are no limits on your travel (time or distance) nor on activities (tourism, study etc) then such travel establishes nothing significant about the chances of your complying with limits where those do apply.
In effect, you had no travel history worth showing so the answer to your question is "nothing". As you know from your fiancée's experience, that does not mean to say a visa is sure to be refused, but it is likely to reduce the chances of being issued – as you have found from your own experience.
You did the best you could and I'm sorry you did not make it to Canada (somewhere I also would like to visit). You were both higher than average risk (university student, not married, Romanian) so maybe consider that your fiancée was lucky rather than you unlucky.
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Quick Answer about "What can I use as proof of travel history to apply for a Canadian visa?"
- your previous passports and/or visas (used within the last 10 years to travel outside your country)
- entry and exit stamps.
- study and/or work permits that indicate your duration outside your country.
- expired or valid visas.
Does travel history matter for Canada visa?
Yes, you can apply for Canadian tourist visa without no travel history and no invitation.What should be included in a travel history?
Travel history is a track record of a traveler/visitor past visits to outside of their home country. Whenever someone visits into a foreign country than he /she got an immigration stamp or a visa stamp on their passport, this records of stamps on the passport is called travel history.What do tourist need to provide proof of when applying for a visa?
A passport or travel document valid for no less than 30 days after the expiry of your intended visit. Your passport must have at least one unused page for entry / departure endorsements. A completed Form BI-84 (application for a visa) Payment of the prescribed fee.Does travel history matter for Canada PR?
If you do not include travel that may seem insignificant to you, you risk having your application returned to you or being found inadmissible for misrepresentation. You must include your entire travel history, big or small!Canada Visa Denied | History of Travel | What you should do
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