Indian students make inquiries at a Canadian education fair in Amritsar, India on July 8, 2022. PRABHJOT GILL / The Associated Press
Delays in processing student visas have put a large number of internationals on hold Students are at risk of missing the start of fall classes this year as the federal Immigration Department struggles to keep up with what it describes as a surge in applications.
The problem has prompted a complaint from the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, which said in a statement that it has received several requests from Indian students frustrated by long wait times for visa processing.
India is Canada’s largest source country for international high school students. Students from outside Canada pay tuition fees that are typically more than two to three times higher than domestic students, and this money has become a crucial source of funding for universities and colleges in Canada. all over the country.
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According to the Department of Immigration, the number of student visa applications is growing. Canada received more than 123,000 student visa applications from India in the first five months of this year, a 55% increase over 2019, according to Aidan Strickland, spokesman for Immigration Minister Sean Fraser . So far this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has processed more than 360,000 student visas, a 17% increase over the same period in 2021.
Students apply for study permits only after they have been accepted to Canadian universities. Until their visa applications are processed, they are not allowed to enter Canada to study, even if they have already paid tuition or taken out student loans.
Ms. Strickland added in a statement that IRCC is still grappling with the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations around the world. He said the government is prioritizing applications from students who want to start their studies in September, but not all applications will be processed in time for autumn 2022.
“IRCC has seen an unprecedented volume of applications received for both initial study permits and extensions in 2022, not only from citizens of India but globally,” said Ms. Strickland.
The number of students affected is unclear, but Canada’s diplomatic mission in India said in a tweet last week that a “large number” had experienced long wait times or had not received visa decisions.
Federal data shows that as of the end of July, 34 percent of pending international student visa applications were taking longer to process than government standards dictate.
Indian students contribute more than $4 billion in tuition fees to Canada’s post-secondary system, according to the Indian High Commission statement. More than 230,000 Indian students are enrolled in Canadian schools, the statement said.
At the University of Toronto, the number of students contacting registrars with study permit issues is higher than usual, the university said in a statement. The university said it has been in constant contact with IRCC, and directly with the minister’s office, to advocate for the timely processing of study permit applications and to explain the impact of delays on students. The statement added that any students unable to enter the country due to delays can apply for deferments if they are eligible.
Gautham Kolluri, an international student recruiter and immigration consultant based in Waterloo, Ont., said the number of students affected is likely to be in the thousands.
He said these are students who have accepted places offered to them at Canadian universities or colleges and he expects their student visas to be approved in a matter of weeks. Instead, the process takes months.
One of his clients waited six months to get a study permit, he said.
Mr. Kolluri said he is informing some clients that they are unlikely to receive IRCC approval before classes begin. At that point, he said, he recommends deferring until the next available intake, which could mean a delay until January or, in some cases, until next September.
“They’re devastated. For them, it’s their education, but also their future career and opportunities in Canada that are affected,” Kolluri said. “We’re losing these kinds of good students who can make a contribution to Canada “.
Most students in India take out education loans in their home countries before coming to Canada. Mr. Kolluri said interest on these loans starts to accrue even after students have been unable to start their studies, adding to the pressure they feel if there are problems with their study permits.
Before the pandemic, he said, visa approvals often came in two to three weeks, and in some cases up to 48 hours. Now the IRCC website says it takes up to 12 weeks on average to approve an Indian study permit application. The goal is eight weeks, according to the department.
Ms. Strickland said that Mr. Fraser has announced that he expects to hire an additional 1,250 officers by the end of the fall to deal with the backlog of applications and processing delays, paid for in part with $85 million in additional funds directed to the department in the budget fiscal year 2021 of the government. update