169,000 International Students Awaiting Canadian Visa: Indian Students Should Know These Facts

Due to its long waiting time, career of thousands of Indian students who want to study from Canada is dangling as they are facing difficulty in getting Canada visa appointments. 

For the students enrolled in Canadian universities and colleges, India has issued an advisory for students where in the delay issue has been addressed.

As per the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, they have requested the Canadian authorities to “expedite processing of visa applications for students from India”.

The advisory said that “Highlighting these issues and the fact that Indian students have already deposited tuition fees with the Canadian institutions, we requested the Canadian authorities to expedite processing of visa applications for students from India”.

Advisory Points

Following are the points discussed :

1. Canadian Universities informed that they are communicating with incoming international students, including students from India, providing them with timely, actionable information about all issues related to the study permit application process.

2. The universities already have in place contingency plans, in order to support those incoming students who do not receive their study permit in time to be present on campus when term begins in September.

3. Some institutions will provide a remote option for students unable to reach Canada at the start of the term because they have not yet received visa. Students can contact the university/ institutions to find out which courses have a remote option, and to discuss their options in case some do not.

4. For students wishing to defer their admission, the university/institutions is communicating to students their options including deferring the offer of admission to a later term or consider exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

5. Affected students are encouraged to send a request for information and urgent processing through an IRCC web form meant for study permit applications that have been submitted and complete but have exceeded the current processing time for Student Direct Stream (SDS) scheme.

Indian Students Contribute Approx $4 Billion to Canada’s Economy

The students which come to study to Canada contribute positively to the Canadian economy. There are more than 230,000 students from India enrolled in post-secondary institutions in Canada who contribute roughly  $4 billion in tuition fees.

As per the Canadian High Commission communication last week, the commission is trying to make sure that wait time of the Indian students should decrease and they would receive their visas in time.

It said the current processing time for study permit applications globally is 12 weeks.

The commission said that “We understand your frustration and disappointment and want to assure you that we are working to improve the situation. In fact, we have been processing applications throughout the year, including study permits for the September 2022 intake”.

In order to know what is best for them, the Indian High Commission advised Indian students facing delay in visa appointments to contact the concerned Canadian institution/ university.