Against All Odds: My Visa Odyssey

How I built my future from scratch without money, without connections,and learning the language along the way.

More than two decades ago, I had my visa interview at the Canadian embassy in Bogotá. Nobody knew how hard it had been to get there. At the end of that meeting, I found out that I had a 98% possibility of getting the visa

I left the embassy crying, CSQ (Certificate of Selection of Quebec), the document I received during my interview, in hand. My mom was waiting for me in a mall right across the street; when she saw me, she didn’t know if my tears were from sadness or happiness because I couldn’t even speak. It was the shock of knowing the dream was real, but the journey was just beginning.

After knocking on so many doors and facing so many rejections, waiting for one to open… this time the hardest door, the most valuable one and the one that would take the longest, was finally starting to show its light. It was another country offering me a hand to start over.

At some phone booths we called my brother, who lived in another city, because we didn’t have a cell phone and it was a long-distance call.

The visa application included some processes and documents:

Colombian Passport

It had to be valid for at least a year or more, because the visa could take that long or maybe longer. I had gotten it before 9/11 to ask for a US tourist visa, but they denied me, so my passport was just sitting there, on hold.

Back then not many people in Colombia had a passport unless they had travel plans,

Permanent Residence Application Form

All the documentation was entirely in English. Back then, you had to print it and fill it out by hand. It included personal information, education, work experience, language skills, and whether you had family or friends in Canada. I didn’t have a computer, so I had to go to an internet cafe to print the application. While my application was being processed, I realized someone had hacked my email…

Legal Representation

I didn’t use a processing agent or lawyer for the application. Even though I didn’t speak French or English when I started, I had no money, so the only option was to do it alone and, as always, I was going to do it my best.

I remember a classmate from the French course paid $3,000 US dollars to some lawyers who told him his profile was excellent, only to end up studying French in a rush because his score was low. I started my process two years after him and I got my visa in 11 months, while his application was still in “under Review ” after three years.

Criminal Record Check

In Colombia the criminal record Check was called the Judicial Certificate. I had to stand in line at the DAS (Administrative Department of Security) where thousands of people went daily. There they checked your criminal history; you had to bring photos, they registered your fingerprints and face on a screen.

Submitting the documents

The application included the documents mentioned above, plus a payment receipt from a bank near the embassy, a couple of photos, and the CSQ I had received during the interview. I submitted the documents in person at the embassy. I submitted everything in person at the embassy and received a tracking number to follow the process online.

After that, I had to wait maybe one or two years to get the visa. Meanwhile, I kept studying, researching Canada, and preparing myself for whatever might happen. I even considered two other countries for immigration as plans B and C. The next step was the order for the medical exams.

I remember some classmates from the French course received their medical exam orders just two months after applying, and four months after taking them, they had their visas. I knew their cases were special, which is why their process were faster. In my case, I received the order for medical exams six months after applying. Things were moving along well.

What I learned

Looking back 20 years, I see how resilient, independent and determined I was to get here. I faced many obstacles during the process. I was learning french on the way while waiting for the interview and that I was ready for it.

It wasn’t luck. I built my future from scratch with my own hands.

Writing this story was difficult; it shook me to my core. I thought I had forgotten everything. I came here to talk about animals and lessons, not about my life before arriving in Canada. I never thought that so much time later, I would remember every detail. Writing this made me look in the mirror and realize it wasn’t a dream; the girl I was always knew she would go far. I always knew my destiny was in another country, even though the odds were against me. My classmates from school and university always told me so, because they saw a strength in me that wouldn’t be defeated despite the difficulties.

I remember that several years ago, while talking with a friend from university, she told me how she saw me back then. She wrote me an email about the image I always projected, even when it was hard to get up again and again and keep going. This is a paragraph from that email:

My dear girl, I always believed in you… we were all aware of your intelligence, your big heart, and that there was nothing you set your mind to that you wouldn’t achieve. I always use you as an example for my son and for everyone: the genius girl, verraca, successful… you deserve all the triumph and success, I admire you so much… you are an example of struggle, overcoming, and verraquera.

In Colombia, being “verraca” or having “verraquera” defines a brave, enterprising person who overcomes any difficulty with sheer determination.