Amid tensions between India and Canada, there is some good news for students: there has been no stop to issuance of study visa for the North American country. Aspirants who want to study in Canada have a high chance of getting a visa, even if they have close to the required score. This shows in the success rate for visa applications that has been consistently high – ranging from 85% to an astonishing 95%.
The country’s welcoming immigration policies remain intact, making the path to Canadian dreams a reality for many. The success stories emerging from these challenging times stand as a testament to the belief that dreams can come true even with too many odds. Students with an overall International English Language Testing System IELTS score of six bands, including a modest 5 in one or two modules, are even securing a study visa. Even in the PTE (Pearson test of English) exam, where a score of 60 is the benchmark, applicants with scores of 57, 58, and 59 are receiving Canada visas.
The IELTS and PTE centres in Punjab especially in Doaba region, which is considered as the hub of such centres, are getting a students’ visa success rate between 90 to 95% even after a stand-off between India and Canadian came to the fore. Some centres added that they even saw a growth of 18-19 % in their visa success rate during the past one month.
Relations between the two countries became strained after allegations of India’s potential involvement in the killing of Canadian national and militant Hardeep Singh Nijjar by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Despite this, visa centers have seen a surge in student visa applications, and the majority of these applications have been processed since the crisis began.
Students with an overall IELTS band of six, including a modest 5 in one or two modules, have found themselves on the path to fulfilling their Canadian dreams. Even in the PTE exam, where a score of 60 is the benchmark for visa consideration, applicants with scores of 57, 58, and 59 have received the coveted visa stamp, said Sunil Kumar Vashisth, Associate Director of Pyramid e-Services in Jalandhar, adding that and it is happening during the most challenging period.
“We have been processing between 250 to 300 student visa files every months and in the past one month also we did the same and our visa success rate is between 90 to 92% in the past one month and majority of the files were processed post this crisis,” said Sumit Jain of Jain Overseas in Jalandhar which is one of the biggest IELTS centres an Overseas consultancies in the state.
“It is a nice gesture on the part of both the countries that they have not created any hindrance in the path of the students aspirants and because of this the visa success rate is so high and even the visas are coming between a period of 12 to 20 days only,” Jain said, adding that his consultancy had received 205 visas in a single day recently which were applied after August 10 and September months.
Students Rachel, Jatin Sharma, and Harpreet Singh said that they got their visa in just 16 days through Jain Overseas a couple of days back.
Jupiterr academy’s owner Narpat Babbar added that visa success rate of his consultancy is more than 90% and it got better than before.
Success stories
There are also heartwarming stories of students who faced rejection many times but didn’t give up. “One determined student encountered rejection not once, not twice, but a staggering eight times before finally achieving success on the ninth attempt. It is an unwavering spirit of those who aspire to study in Canada,” said Sunil Kumar.
“In the first week of this month we have already received several visas and all these were applied after September 20 as visa processing is online and it doesn’t matter that it is taking place in India or Canada. As there is no change in visa process even and sucess rate is more than 90% and students are getting visas even with 5.5 bands in one module with overall 6 bands,” he said.
Other visas
It’s not just students or parents of students in Canada are getting their visitor visas approved to reunite with their children. But the visas in tourist category, business, investor categories, work permit and Spouse Open Work Permit (SOWP) are coming at the same rate as it used to be earlier, said Gurpreet Singh, adding that in several cases now students, who are getting study visas, are applying for the spouse visa immediately. As in one case even the spouse visa has been received in just 22 days during this conflict between both the countries.
“The Canadian government is welcoming people and keeping its immigration policies open because our community has large presence there and we are doing well there,” said Sunil.
What’s even more interesting is that some visa centers have seen a big increase in visa approvals in the past few weeks, showing that more and more people are getting the chance to fulfill their dreams in Canada.
“In the beginning of India-Canada stand off, the students were little apprehensive and adopted wait and watch policy for few days before applying their visa applications but when they saw that visa were regularly coming they started applying and got visas well in time even when things seem tough,” said Jain, adding that in visitor and tourist visas also there is no problem despite the backdrop of geopolitical complexities.
Intriguingly, certain visa application centers have reported a significant surge in success rates over the past three weeks. A remarkable 18-19% increase in visa approvals was reported because of filing the cases more carefully in such a situation.
Anju Agnihotri ChabaAnju is a Jalandhar (Punjab)-based Assistant Editor with The Indian Ex… read more