It ended the best in time but it was almost the worst at time, it was the age of wisdom, but nearly the age of foolishness: Let me elaborate on our interview of November 2nd at the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong.
Our appointment was for 8:30 am and because of previous trips to the consulate, we made sure to be extra early because the atrium had always being packed when we arrived around 8:00 am. We got to the consulate at 7:40 am and once out of the elevator on the 12 floor, we had about a dozen people already waiting in front of the Consulate's door. By 8:00 am when the security personnel opened the doors and prescreen the clients, only about 6 more people had shown up. So far it looked like a quiet, non typical morning. After the guard made some announcements in Chinese, such as no friends to accompany applicants, we soon moved from about 12 place to only one couple in front of us. So just after 8:05 am we were inside holding ticket stub no:2. With a precheck from the receptionest who asked if we had a translator with us, we were told to sit down and wait.
Now when I arrived in China I consulted with my wife if we needed to hire a translator as her English is not strong. We can only communicate with basic English instructions. She told me that I could be her translator and since I thought that the consulate would wish to see how we coped with day-to-day communication, I thought that this was a good plan. I also did not have much money to afford such a luxury.
Warning to all those whose wife does not have a good grasp on English - Bad choice as in - "nearly the age of foolishness"
It wasn't until about 8:50 before we saw the monitor light up with our ticket number to enter the interview room. During our waiting only a few people were sporadically entering the consulate and being assisted. Most were only applying for a temporary visitor visa and one girl for a student visa. I believe we were the only ones for a spousal visa. Never did a line up materialise like on previous visits. Like I said - it was a slow day, and thus led to our later good fortune.
When we entered the small one chair room, we said hello to the Visa officer on the other side of the glass partition. I do not recall if he introduced himself with his name. I can only assume he was Mr G. Wallace since that was the name on my RCMP clearance request from June. He asked me to step outside as he would 1st question my wife separately. After only about 30 seconds I was asked to join them. He told me that he was sorry and would need to reschedule our interview. He said that he had asked my wife two simple instructions and she could not comprehend what he had asked her to do. With the glass partition even I sometimes had a hard time clearly hearing him. He said that it was clearly mentioned on the interview request letter that if she could not adequately speak English or French, that a qualified translator needed to be present. I said that I had mentioned to my wife the need for a translator and her response of me being her translator. The Visa officer said that I would not be an impartial translator since I had a stake in the outcome. He also explained, as I listened with sinking heart, that the interview slots were assigned very far in advance and the next available time would not be until February. He apologised for his decision but stated that it would be unfair to make a final decision on her visa request now without a proper interview. Great I thought, an other major delay.
Trying to salvage something from this messed up visit, I asked if at least he could share with us some concerns he had with our application. After all, he had requested an interview so if we knew some concerns he had, maybe we could have the required information or documents needed when we came back in February. I also asked - and thank God for once, my big mouth - if one concern was that on her application we had her biological parents listed but that she had been raised by foster parents. This startled him and he soon questioned me more on this and started to enter the information onto his computer terminal. Those who had not followed my previous story from last year's October trip, during our wedding ceremony my wife was requested to go to the Shenzhen Police department for an interview. They had questioned her on this specific topic and I had always thought that it was the Canadian consulate that had instigated the request. The Visa officer said that they had not even started anything on our application until this year so the directive must have come from the PRC government and not Hong Kong. He was now curious and asked us to hold on for 2 minutes. He came back and said that he had asked another personnel from the consulate if she could assist us and act as a translator. Who said that curiosity killed the cat? because or interview was now revived and so much very alive
Only because it was such a slow day in the consulate did we get this saving grace. Soon our Angel arrived and she quickly entered our discourse steering our interview back on course. We filled in the blanks about my wife's past and I was once more asked to exit the breach. I closed the door and sat solitaire outside that compact interview room at the back end of the main consulate waiting area. For a good 30 to 40 minutes they grilled her behind that door. I could hear a smattering of a few of her responses in Mandarin, and once I even heard her say Calgary. Hum good idea what the question was asked of her just then. And in all this time the main area had very few comings and goings - yes a very much slow day indeed - and the clock hand ticked painfully its plodding matching pace.
Startled out of revery, my wife told me that the Visa officer needed me back from Solitaire confinement. He told me he had a major concern before passing judgment. From our letters and from what I had previously told him, my wife had never been married and her son's father had only causally ever know her. He told me that now in the interview she had confided in him that she had in fact lived with her Son's father for 2 years. Also that the father was not already married with another woman as I had believed.
What is LOWER then a LOW BLOW? I can answer that but no words will do fair justice to this sentiment. Let us instead say that I
Languished in Anguish. He said he was sorry to tell me this and asked of me to ask her why the difference in our two tales. It was also a chance for him to see how we communicated together to resolve our differences. I tried to gather more information from her because for sure, I was desperate to understand. Why this discrepancy and why NOW. I found out that she was involved with him from 1993 - 1994 and shortly after mid 94 after the birth of her son she cut of communication with him. She said that she had found out that he was involved with other women and did not want anymore to do with him. I felt the welling of tears in my eyes because with this revelation now, at this time that we would be denied. Two years of them living together would be common-law status and our application would be incorrect. One to two years before an appeal would be heard and chances are, once labled as perjury, our appeal would be denied. I heard the death knell of our marriage as I saw no other course.
He asked one final question of me and stated that in these situations they usually never question the sponsor's motives, but what guarantee could I give that once she arrived to Canada with her child, that she would simply disappear? Into the mist of tears I bravely stated that I could not give a guarantee. I mentioned that I follow a few immigration blog sites and I have read other horror stories and was well aware that it could happen. I said that from the times we spent together these 6 trips I made, her affection for me felt real. We seem to get along very well and that others have stated the same about us. I was sure that our relationship was real but that I was also not so blind that I did not think it could not happen to me.
He said that he now had enough information to make a decision, and I hung my head in shame to hear his denial only to be flabbergasted to hear the words "I approve this Visa application"!...........
WHATI like to think I am a clever individual but I was found out to be Dumbfounded. Heck..... I would have denied our application, and yet we were approved. I do not think I have ever felt such mixed and mixed up emotions. Elation and confusion dueled with despair. Disappointment at my wife also entered the fray as I thought how close we came to not crossing the chasm.
The bus ride back to the hotel had us holding hands and me asking for more detail to understand what had just happened. If I had been less shell shocked I would have understood better and as the day passed and we were once again back in Shenzhen, I confirmed with my English speaking friend Guang Han. Be aware fellow travelers that even with a translator you can get the wrong information. The Chinese word for stay and live is the same. I should have known this because many times when we travelled to a city in China, my wife would ask in her Chinenglish "what Hotel we LIVE in". So instead of living with this man for 2 years, what she meant was because he was a travelling business man, when he had business in Shenzhen, he would stay with her. And that over a two year period she came to find out that this man had other mistresses in other cities he travelled to. She had heard that he had made other ladies pregnant and that she would have nothing more to do with him. It was only now that she felt comfortable reveling the true nature of her past.
Sorry for the long story, but if my telling can help save someone else grief, then it was a fair trade. So gents make sure that you have a translator on board and that your lady is clear on her dealings. The Visa office is the wrong place for new revelations. And from asking my wife what other questions was asked of her, she mentioned that a few times the visa officer would ask if she joined the dating website because she wished to get a visa to immigrate. Everytime it was asked of her she said NO - that she joined the website to find a husband.
