Over the past few days, the Canadian government has been increasingly rejecting study visa permits of students from Haryana and Punjab making their future uncertain.
The rate of refusal has been high since the Covid-19-based restrictions had been lifted in 2021 in Canada. However, over the past few days, a 60% rise in the number of study visa permit rejections has been witnessed. It has been reported that students displaying a good IELTS score, good academic record and financial stability were also being refused. Check out some common reasons for visa rejections and how to avoid them here - Reasons for Rejection of Canadian Student Visa.
In a report published by the Wire, the media agency spoke with education consultants in Punjab and Canada. These consultants attributed the high refusal rate to the “high pendency rate of application across categories, fraud documentation, licensing issues with private colleges and rising gang wars between Punjabi men in Canada.” The consultants further added that the refusal rate may even increase in the coming days.
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The Wire highlighted a CBC report, which stated that one million applications out of the 2 million temporary resident and permanent resident pending applications in the country were from India. The report further highlighted a backlog of 2.4 million immigration applications as of June 29, in Canada, as per data from IRCC.
A report titled ‘Differential Treatment in Recruitment and Acceptance Rates of Foreign Students in Quebec and Rest of Canada’, by the Standing Committee of Citizenship and Immigration had been published in the House of Commons.
This report highlighted the total number of study permit applications that had been refused and processed from India in 2021. According to the report, with a refusal rate of about 41%, 91,439 applications were refused and 225,402 applications were processed.
With regard to the number of PR and TR applications from India, the total number comes to around 96,378 and 430,286, respectively. Further, the total number of pending applications was reported to be 9,56,950, which is estimated to be the highest in any country around the globe.
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The report also highlighted the rise in the study visa permits in Canada, which in 2019 was reported to be 4,02,427, a 52% increase from 2016, when the total study visa permits totalled 2,64,625. This increase, however, saw a sharp decline as a result of the pandemic in 2020.
Due to the rising refusal rate, study abroad consultants and students have been looking into Australia as a prospective destination. With entry requirements directing candidates to only pay one semester’s fee and a minimum overall band score requirement of 6, aspirants are still choosing Canada as their first preference. Nevertheless, with reports of fake documents being submitted for visa applications, government officials in both Australia and Canada have been taking a cautious step forward.
A Punjab-based study abroad consultant, when speaking to the media, reported that the IRCC attributed poor Statements of Purpose (SOPs) to be one of the major reasons why study permit applications were being rejected. Meanwhile, a Toronto-based consultant told the media that the trend had been witnessed, not only in study permit visas but also in visitor and spouse visas in Canada as well.
The consultant highlighted gang wars and recent police reports where 9 Punjabi-origin men were associated with posing threat to public safety, as a result of their involvement in gang wars and violence.
Source: The Wire
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