Student visa delays: India takes up issue with Canada, colleges prepare ‘contingency plans’

NEW DELHI: The High Commission of India (HCI) in Ottawa has requested Canadian “authorities to expedite processing of visa applications for students from India”.
It has also highlighted the fact that “Indian students have already deposited tuition fees”.
While Canadian universities have raised this concern with the relevant ministry, they have put “in place contingency plans, to support those incoming students who do not receive their study permit in time” when term begins in September.
“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,” the HCI in Ottawa said in a recent advisory.
“For students wishing to defer their admission, the university/institution is communicating students their options including deferring the offer of admission to a later term or consider exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Affected students are encouraged to send a request for information and urgent processing through an IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) 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. HCI advises Indian students so affected to contact the concerned Canadian institution/university and work with them to find the best available options . The Mission will remain engaged with Canadian authorities and with Canadian educational institutions,” the advisory adds.
The HCI in Ottawa has received several petitions from Indian students who have secured admission to Canadian universities but are unable to join due to delays in processing of their visas and student permits.
Meanwhile, parents of such students have issued a statement highlighting their plight. “This year has been a nightmare for students seeking study permits. The IRCC website states (those) who apply via the SDS route (student direct route) from certain countries (approved by Canada) to get faster approval of study permits, in about 20 days. India is an approved country for this scheme and hence a lot of students opt to apply via this route, which requires them to pay the first-year tuition fees upfront, in order for them to get expedited approvals,” the parents’ statement says.
“Currently there are nearly 500 unique student study permits with brilliant academic profiles, admitted to top Canadian universities pending, most of whom have applied via the SDS route over 2-3 months still awaiting their study permits. (They) had options in other countries and chose Canada (but) are being subjected to the same category as the rest…. The irony here being many students who chose not to pay the first-year tuition upfront and opted for the regular route, obtained permits in 2-3 weeks… Requests to Universities to conduct online classes until these students get their permits and can arrive on the campus have not been met with so far,” the affected students’ and their parents’ statement says.
The HCI in Ottawa says Canada has in recent years emerged as a preferred destination for Indian students for college education. “Currently, more than 2.3 lakh students from India enrolled in post-secondary institutions in Canada. (They) are making a positive contribution to the Canadian economy including through an estimated $4 billion in tuition fees…. continue to be engaged with relevant Canadian interlocutors including Canadian academic institutions and universities regarding problems faced by Indian students due to delay in issue of visas,” the HCI says.
A spokesperson for the Canadian High Commission in India had recently told TOI: “Canada has seen a spike in the number of study permit applications this year. In the first five months of 2022, IRCC received about 123,500 study permit applications from Indian residents or 55% more than during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. Between January and May 2022, IRCC processed 221,522 study permit applications. Out of those applications, about 50% of those were from Indian international students. This compares to 128,021 processed during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. This represents a 73% increase in processing of study permits so far in 2022 compared to the same time period in 2019.”
“IRCC is committed to processing study permit applications as quickly as possible to ensure students can make it on time for the fall semester. The summer period is typically the time of year that IRCC processes the most study permit applications,” the Canadian mission statement had added.