Upon reading Corey Larocque’s recent piece on Chinese criminal Lai Changxing being the biggest obstacle in opening the flood gates to Chinese tour groups onto Niagara, I couldn’t help but laugh. Not at Larocque, he’s swell, but at the idea that China’s Approved Destination Status (ADS) is the obstacle.

I’m a Wellander who lives in China and was recently married to a Chinese woman. We are coming home to Welland for the holidays thanks to the benevolence of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIS).

That is to say, getting my wife a visa was roughly as simple and noninvasive as deep colon surgery.

In addition to the long and detailed application form, we had to provide six months of banking records and pay stubs for my wife, myself, and each family member we’ll be staying with while in Canada. Also, we were required to submit letters from hers, my, and each of my family members’ employers stating our respective lengths of employment.

And unlike when I obtained my visa to China via mail from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, Chinese citizens are required to have an interview in person at one of three Canadian embassy/consulate locations across this massive country – an expensive trip for anyone that does not live in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

All of this on the often futile hopes that they’ll get that pretty little lamination in their passport that says they can go.

Of course all of this is because CIS knows that if they are not strict the country will be filled with Chinese nationals overstaying their visas. Ontario’s current minimum wage of $8/hr is more than most Chinese make a day, and on the gritty streets of China, that’s enough to paint Canada’s roads in all sorts of golden hues. ADS or no ADS, this is not going to change. Canada, quite simply, doesn’t trust Chinese citizens enough to freely open their border to the rapidly-rising superpower.

So, though the Canadian tourism industry may be waking with cold sweats thinking ADS is the answer to the lack of Americans crossing the border, until Canada figures out a more accessible visa structure, it’s all but a fever dream.

Oh… and:

Liberal MP John Maloney, who represents Welland, said Canada’s relationship with China has “soured” since Harper’s Conservatives took office in 2006.

“Mr. Harper has been cool to China,” Maloney said, pointing to critical comments cabinet ministers have made about China’s human rights record, Harper’s recent visit with the Dalai Lama on Parliament Hill, and a reluctance among Conservative cabinet ministers to visit China.

“These are considered slights by Oriental culture,” Maloney said.

“Liberal” Maloney blaming Harper’s Conservatives for being critical of China’s lack of improvement in human rights (after promises given both for the WTO and Olympic bodies) as well as insinuating that it is somehow wrong that Harper met with the Dalai Lama is just ridiculous. Maloney baloney – if you will.

Now, not to speak for a nation of people, but any man that refers to Chinese as “Orientals” might want to keep his mouth shut lest he reveal the ignorance inside. I can’t believe I lost to this guy in 2004 – a complete lack of campaign or not.

Why is it that governmental bodies, no matter of what nation or for what purpose, always have the ability to make even the most innocent person feel like a criminal?

For something as simple as trying to visit my homeland with my wife and I feel like I’m under a lamp and hooked to a polygraph. To get to China, I showed up, walked past the FLG pamphlet dispensers, gave them $60 and came back the next day and got my visa.

For Maggie’s application best we could figure from the mountain of obtuseness that is the Canadian Immigration system was that we needed to prove our marriage was legitimate, and she hadn’t just married me for the money (hahahahaha)/ticket to Canada and that she would indeed return to China.

That’s a whole lot easier to say than to do. I mean, Maggie’s not exactly a tycoon. She had never had a bank account before we got together, and her tied-to-China assets pretty much amount to a yoga mat, a library of yoga books and DVDs, and far too many shoes.

The result was that we ended up putting together a binder full of information thicker than an encyclopedia in hopes that our sheer commitment to getting this done would impress the decision makers. For anyone that’s curious, here’s what we included:

• Her application form in duplicate
• Her family details, education and employment history
• Her financial records (a copy of her bank book – though this wasn’t what was really required, a Statement of Secured Savings/Funds was, but the fee for the statement would have halved the funds, and it wasn’t expensive)
• An explanatory letter from me outlining the purpose of the trip
• Six months of my financial records
• A letter explaining our pathetic finances (I’m a student and she’s… well… Chinese)
• Both of our passports and wedding certificates
• A history of our relationship (excerpted from this blog)
• A letter granting a leave of absence from her employer
• A letter of invitation from both my father and my sister
• Six months of bank records, pay stubs and letters from their respective employers from my father and sister

Additionally, the Canadian Consulate in Shanghai requires that you pay with a bank draft, something their site misleadingly states can be got “conveniently” from any local bank. It took us three. The first two had no idea what it was and told us we had to go to a bigger branch.

We ended up at Suzhou’s main Bank of China branch, the sheer size of which would make some of the King St. crew blush. In asking them for a bank draft the girl stopped and I swear I watched as her eyes glazed over. She snapped out of it and confirmed we actually asked for a bank draft for 520 RMB. We confirmed. She again confirmed, this time the emphasis being put on the 520. We confirmed. She again confirmed, this time with the emphasis on the RMB. We confirmed. She reglazed.

After banging on the Plexiglas between us, she came to and said she’d never heard of anyone requesting one for RMB before. Usually they were done in foreign currencies. We asked if it could be done. She again returned to her happy place. Snap. Back. She wasn’t sure.

After watching her ask half of the completely disinterested staff, she pulled out a form (from her desk) and we were on our way. Honestly, if ever there was something to fear in China’s rise, it’s that their banking “system” might catch on (rather than the presumed other way around).

Anyway, it’s done. Now all we can do is hope. Wish us luck.

* The first attempt last Thursday saw us go all the way to Shanghai (me skipping school and Maggie taking off work) to be told in the first five seconds that Maggie was required to have an official residence permit for Suzhou before the Canadian Consulate could help her. Back to Suzhou, 1 RMB and five minutes later and we had it. What a waste of time – China seems to love red tape like it loves red underwear.