- Andrew Carvajal
Canada announces new measures to support future international students
Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marco Mendicino, announced a number of new measures to support international students learning online at Canadian institutions. These measures have been put in place to give foreign students more certainty regarding their ability to come to Canada once travel restrictions have been eased. The changes allow students to work in Canada after graduation, regardless of whether their studies began online from their home countries.
According to the a news release by the Government of Canada, these measures are:
Providing priority study-permit processing for students who have submitted a complete application online, to ensure that permits are processed as quickly as possible
Allowing students to count the time spent pursuing their studies online abroad toward their eligibility for a Post-graduation Work Permit (PGWP). This is as long as they have received their study permit approval or an approval-in-principle (described below) on their study permit application. The studies abroad cannot consist of more than 50% of their program duration
Providing reassurances to international students who cannot submit all of the documentation needed to complete processing of their study permit applications and who choose to pursue programs through distance learning, by implementing a temporary two-stage approval process
This temporary two-stage process will allow applicants to count the time spent studying online abroad towards their PGWP once they receive an approval-in-principle letter, as long as they are able to satisfy all requirements and receive the full approval of their study permit application at a later date. As processing services begin to reopen, applicants will be required to submit the remaining documents and receive an approved study permit before being allowed to travel to Canada.
These temporary measures will apply to students who submit a study permit application prior to September 15, 2020.
Andrew Carvajal is a Toronto lawyer, partner and Head of Economic Immigration at Desloges Law Group. He specializes in corporate immigration, temporary permits and all types of permanent residence applications for professionals and entrepreneurs.
Twitter: @CarvajalLaw
LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/carvajalandrew
Email: acarvajal@desloges.ca
