I came to Jennifer’s office on the recommendation of a mutual friend. I wasn’t sure about this whole process and I tried to keep myself informed by being on various chat rooms, and so on, for people who wanted to bring their spouse from Central America. I had met Fredy when I was in Honduras on a volunteer trip with Habitat for Humanity. Neither of us realized that trip would change our lives forever. We fell in love and eventually we tried to have Fredy come to Canada for a visit during the summer. We put in the application for his visitor visa ourselves, fully expecting him to be able to join me here in Canada. When we received a refusal letter, we were both shocked and devastated. We hadn’t even really considered that it wouldn’t be approved. After speaking with a friend of mine, she recommended Jennifer to my family. I was leaving to return to Honduras shortly after Christmas in 2013 and so I was Jennifer’s first consultation of 2014.
After meeting with Jennifer, Fredy and I realized that, with both of us being in Honduras for part of the time this was going to be in process, it made sense to have someone who could stay on top of things for us. Deciding to hire Jennifer and her team took a huge headache from me. I am an organized person and it was great to receive a detailed list of what we needed to be working on. It was so much simpler to follow the list rather than have to come up with things on our own. It is a very personal and vulnerable process to let someone into such private areas of your life.
With Jennifer and her team, seeing how close they were to each other, sort of like a family of their own, it made it easier for us to trust them with the details of our lives.
Everyone was very helpful and I do remember some painful moments, like the really long meeting where we go through our relationship with them. I know it was necessary and I’m sure it helped our file to be processed quickly, but it was hard to share our private moments with others.
When I received a phone call from Jennifer’s team saying that Fredy’s file had been completed and that he needed to send his passport in to get his visa to come to Canada, I was shocked at how quickly our file was processed. I know that because they were so thorough in preparing our file, there was nothing further for Immigration Canada to ask and so it seemed to go through the process without a glitch. I am grateful that my husband and I are now making the adjustment to life together in Canada.
I will certainly recommend Jennifer and her team to others in the same situation. At least get the information to make an informed decision for yourselves. That is the best advice I can give. -Sara and Fredy