Canada - We Help You In Your Time of Need! Or not....

So, today I went with U (my bf) to the Canadian Embassy here in Ankara to ask a few questions about his visa application...

First let me preface this with saying that if you are a Turkish citizen you pretty much can't leave the country - ever - without permission so it makes spontaneous travel next to impossible...In a country of 78 million people with an unemployment rate of 10% (this is the number the government shows us, but I think it's much higher based on what I've seen) every country out there wants to make sure these nice Turkish people are only visiting and not planning on staying long term!

Anyways, I am planning a trip home in September for a month and I really want U to come and meet my friends and family and see what Canada is all about.  No problem, I thought!  Let's look online and find a nice cheap ticket home!  Not so U tells me...I need a visa first!  The visa application to visit Canada is very intensive.  You have to fill in all kinds of personal information, family information, provide proof of a job and income, show proof that your employer knows you are leaving and coming back, show that you are in good health, and basically show that you are a good upstanding citizen that will come back to your country when your trip is over...All of this is really complicated and comes in several forms and appendices.  I tried calling the 800# on the website where I downloaded all these forms and information packages and quidelines for the application from but it is an endless loop of "press 1 for this, etc"...there is no way to speak to a live person.  So we decided to see if we could get some questions answered at the Embassy and have some clarification.  In Ottawa, I know that you can pretty much walk up to any Embassy and ask for help at the gate and they will direct you to a real live person...I've done it with the Turkish and Italian embassies...However, it's apparently quite different in a foreign country.

The nice security guard at the gate (who spoke surprisingly good english) very nicely told us that no one can go inside.  Ever  They don't even take appointments.  I asked what how we can find answers to our questions.  Then I asked what to do when the application is finally completed.  And finally, I asked what I could do if I had an emergency situation and needed the help of my country.  His response to all these questions:

"Check the website" as he pointed to a typed out memo taped to his glass cage...

Freakin' awesome.  It's so comforting to know that I have the help and support of my country as I live here in Turkey...don't worry family!  I'm sure nothing bad will happen...

Now...to figure out how to fill in these forms...yippee...