Faq

It depends on your interest in the study, past education history, and employment (if currently working). You should be able to explain your reasons to a visa officer in your Statement of Purpose (SOP) that what is the reason that you want to study in Canada, is there any specific reason to choose that particular program in a respective college/university, how doing that program of study in Canada will help you in getting a job in your home country? Selecting the right education program is key for a stronger study visa application. The more you can convince a visa officer that you are a genuine student who will return back to their home country after completing the program of study in Canada, the higher is the chance of getting your study permit application approved.

International students are allowed to work off-campus jobs up to a maximum of 20 hours a week during their program of study and may work full-time during a designated break from the institution.

Yes, if you want to apply for a study permit for Canada, you need to have a valid letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution (DLI). The list of DLI's in various provinces can be found online athttps://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/study-permit/prepare/designated-learning-institutions-list.htmlSo, if receives an offer letter or letter of acceptance (LOA) from an institution that is not on the above list, you may not be eligible to apply for a study permit.

Most international students prefer to apply for Post Graduation open work permit (PGWP) after they finish their program of study in Canada. You may check the link below to make your institution actually offers PGWP programs otherwise you may be able to get a study permit, but may not be eligible to get a work permit after studying in Canada if you want to get a work permit after your studies in Canada.https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/study-permit/prepare/designated-learning-institutions-list.html

Visa is an entry document that allows you to enter Canada from outside the country. If your want to travel outside Canada during your studies or any other time, please make sure your visa must still be valid if you do require a Visa. Having a valid study/ work permit may not allow you to enter Canada if your visa is expired.

The processing time for various applications depends on the country from which you are applying. You can always check the processing time online or just click on the following link to know the current processing time for the majority of applications.https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

Yes, you may re-apply any temporary residence application whether it is study, work, visitor, supervisa provided that in the refusal letter given by the IRCC, you shouldn't be prohibited from re-applying. If you are going to re-apply, please make sure you address the visa officer concerns given in the prior refusal decision.

The spouse of an international student may apply for an open work permit along with the principal applicant's study permit application. If the application is approved, then yes your spouse may accompany you to Canada. For dependent children (under age 22 and unmarried), will get a study permit which will allow them to study in Canada until the age of majority.

If the international student is already in Canada, then also the spouse can apply for an open work permit.

Generally, you may stay in Canada for a period of up to 6 months from the date of entry to Canada. However, the border officers always have the authority to decrease your amount of time in Canada (from 6 months) if they want. If CBSA officers think you are not a genuine visitor, they may send you back even though you may have a valid visitor visa.

It really depends upon the reasons why the person wants to visit Canada and how much money they have to cover for the expenses in Canada. More genuine is the purpose to travel to Canada, higher are the chances that the visa application may be approved. Other than the purpose of visit, make sure to include many documents such as Employment letter, Bank Statements, Personal Assets, etc that can prove your ties to your home country that after visiting Canada you will go back to your country of residence/ nationality.

Yes, you may apply to extend your stay as a visitor in Canada by applying for a visitor record before your current status expires.

No, generally, you are not allowed to study or work in Canada while staying in Canada on a visitor visa until an exception exists that allows you to work or study in Canada without the need to apply for a study or work permit. If you are caught working illegally on a visitor visa, you may be sent back from Canada.

Supervisa is also a multiple entry visitor visa but the only major difference is the amount of stay in Canada. A person on a supervisa may stay for up to 2 years while on a visitor visa they can stay in Canada for 6 months. SuperVisa may be costly compared to a visitor visa as the sponsor in Canada has to purchase a 1-year private medical insurance for their parents and grandparents if they want to apply for a supervisa.

In most cases, you need to get a job offer (supported by an LMIA) from an employer in Canada and then an employer-specific work permit can be applied from outside Canada which allows the foreign worker to work for that particular employer only. Generally, an employer in Canada has to get the approval of LMIA from Service Canada if they wish to hire a foreign worker. Once an employer gets the approval for LMIA, then using that LMIA, the foreign national can apply for a work permit.

An open work permit doesn't require any LMIA approval but it is hard to get open work from outside Canada unless you finish your study in Canada and return back to your home country and now applying for a post-graduate work permit, or you are the spouse of an international student or skilled worker, etc.

It is not hard to apply for a work permit to Canada but is it is hard to find a job offer from a Canadian employer in Canada that matches your skills and previous work experience. Even if you got a job offer, still the employer cannot directly hire you as they (employer) have to get the LMIA approval from Service Canada first (there are some exceptions to this LMIA), and then only after an employer gets an LMIA approval, you can apply for a work permit by proving that you are qualified to perform the duties of job offered to you.

Processing times for a work permit application can be checked online, but make sure just need to add the processing time for an LMIA application also on top of processing time for a work permit application if LMIA approval is required.

For e.g considering that high-wage LMIA processing time by Service Canada is 2 months, the employer needs to add 1 month of doing an advertisement for the job (exception Global Talent Stream LMIA, where no job advertisement is required) in that time frame. So total processing time for high-wage LMIA, in this case, will be 3 months. Now after getting the LMIA, suppose the processing time for a work permit from India is 4 months, then the total time, in this case, is 3+4 = 7 months for getting a work permit. Processing time for LMIA and work permit applications vary greatly so please check that online.

Yes, it may be possible. Express Entry is the fastest way of getting PR applications approved for Canada when applying from overseas as the PR applications under the Express Entry Program are processed under 6 months average timeline. Foreign skilled workers mainly qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) which is a category under the Express Entry program.

First of all, the applicant needs to meet the eligibility criteria for at least one of the three categories under Express Entry Program, which are Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled worker Class (FSWC), or Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC). A skilled worker working overseas mainly qualifies under FSWC, while most skilled workers inside Canada qualify under CEC. If you meet the eligibility criteria for at least 1 of the category above, you can create your express profile and enter the Express Entry pool. You can apply for PR only if you receive an ITA to apply from the Express entry pool.

Once you enter the express entry pool, you will get a CRS score associated with your profile that is calculated according to various factors like Age, Education, Work Experience (Canadian, or Foreign), Language test results, etc. IRCC periodically conducts draws from the express entry pool and sent invitations to people to apply for PR whose profile has CRS score more than or equal to CRS cut-off score for that draw. Once you have successfully received an invitation to apply (ITA), you can apply for a PR application.

You may consider getting an extra CRS score by improving your language skills, gaining more work experience, learning the french language (which is never an easy option), getting an LMIA under Express Entry Stream (it may give extra 50 points), getting a PNP under Express Entry Stream (although it gives extra 600 points which may be more than enough but it is mostly hard to get especially if you are outside Canada), a study in Canada (gives additional 15 points for 1 or 2-year program, or 30 points for 3 years program or bachelors or masters degree in Canada), etc.

It really depends upon the reasons why the person wants to visit Canada and how much money they have to cover for the expenses in Canada. More genuine is the purpose to travel to Canada, higher are the chances that the visa application may be approved. Other than the purpose of visit, make sure to include many documents such as Employment letter, Bank Statements, Personal Assets, etc that can prove your ties to your home country that after visiting Canada you will go back to your country of residence/ nationality.