Retaining PR status while studying out of Canada

[sharedknowledge]

Dear All,

I am planning to land this year under FSWP. My son is 16 years old and would like to study medicine. However, the medical study in Canada is quite lengthy lasting about 10 years whereas in UK, Germany, or France it would require 5-6 years.

My question is that is it possible for him to go for his studies abroad (out of Canada) and coming back after completing his studies while retaining his PR status during this period? If not, then how can he retain the PR status while studying abroad out of Canada or what are the possible solutions?

Highly appreciating your insights and advice.

 

[Leon]

Dear All,

I am planning to land this year under FSWP. My son is 16 years old and would like to study medicine. However, the medical study in Canada is quite lengthy lasting about 10 years whereas in UK, Germany, or France it would require 5-6 years.

My question is that is it possible for him to go for his studies abroad (out of Canada) and coming back after completing his studies while retaining his PR status during this period? If not, then how can he retain the PR status while studying abroad out of Canada or what are the possible solutions?

Highly appreciating your insights and advice.

Studying abroad is not something that is accepted as an excuse for not meeting the residency requirements. However, if he loses his PR, as a doctor, he would have some options to immigrate. There are however a couple of more points for you to consider.

If you want your family to settle in Canada, son included, it would be better that he studies in Canada. By sending him to another country to study, he will have licensing issues as a doctor in Canada as well as during his 5-6 years of studies in another country, he may have grown his roots there, settled down, found a partner etc. and by the time he graduates and you expect him to join you in Canada, he may already have other plans.

 

[sharedknowledge]

Studying abroad is not something that is accepted as an excuse for not meeting the residency requirements. However, if he loses his PR, as a doctor, he would have some options to immigrate. There are however a couple of more points for you to consider.

If you want your family to settle in Canada, son included, it would be better that he studies in Canada. By sending him to another country to study, he will have licensing issues as a doctor in Canada as well as during his 5-6 years of studies in another country, he may have grown his roots there, settled down, found a partner etc. and by the time he graduates and you expect him to join you in Canada, he may already have other plans.

But, by the time he would graduate from abroad, his age would be around 22, which comfortably fits within the allowed range of his dependency on me, and then, shouldn't I be able to bring him to Canada within the folds of my PR?

At the same I wonder what's so special about Canadian medical education system that they take 10 years. And, are there any medical schools in Canada (private or branches of other international universities) which have reasonable study periods.

 

[Leon]

But, by the time he would graduate from abroad, his age would be around 22, which comfortably fits within the allowed range of his dependency on me, and then, shouldn't I be able to bring him to Canada within the folds of my PR?

At the same I wonder what's so special about Canadian medical education system that they take 10 years. And, are there any medical schools in Canada (private or branches of other international universities) which have reasonable study periods.

Sponsoring him back as a dependent child, either at under 22 or as a full time student would have worked in the past. However, the age of dependent children with regard to immigration just changed on August 1st to under 19 and the allowance for overage dependent students was removed so if he loses his PR, you can not sponsor him back after he turns 19, full time student or not.

You probably know more about medical school than I do considering you have been researching it but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_Canada reveals that most students in Canada complete a BSc before entering medical school which is however not mandatory. As they say, some colleges (Quebec) will accept students with a CEGEP diploma which is equivalent to high school + 1 year and some other provinces accept students with a 2 year degree.

 

[sharedknowledge]

Sponsoring him back as a dependent child, either at under 22 or as a full time student would have worked in the past. However, the age of dependent children with regard to immigration just changed on August 1st to under 19 and the allowance for overage dependent students was removed so if he loses his PR, you can not sponsor him back after he turns 19, full time student or not.

You probably know more about medical school than I do considering you have been researching it but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_Canada reveals that most students in Canada complete a BSc before entering medical school which is however not mandatory. As they say, some colleges (Quebec) will accept students with a CEGEP diploma which is equivalent to high school + 1 year and some other provinces accept students with a 2 year degree.

So many thanks for your insights which I simply were missing.

Does the new rule (dependents to be under age of 19) apply to me although my application for immigration has been processed when the rule was allowing dependent children under 22. Knowing that I have not landed yet?

Am I getting it right? After finishing his pre-university education (12 years), he would need to study, for example at McGill University, CEGEP 1 year + undergraduate medical study 4 years (a total of 5 years) instead of 8 years in other schools (4 years bachelor's + 4 years medical studies)?


Also, he is currently studying under the Cambridge's IGCS/A level system. He will start his Grade 11 in September. The question is will he be able to injected into the Canadian education system without any problem? I have the impression that he will be required to re-start from Grade 9 (beginning of the 4-years high school level in Canada) and he can't simply get into a Canada's school at Grade 11.

 

[Leon]

So many thanks for your insights which I simply were missing.

Does the new rule (dependents to be under age of 19) apply to me although my application for immigration has been processed when the rule was allowing dependent children under 22. Knowing that I have not landed yet?

Am I getting it right? After finishing his pre-university education (12 years), he would need to study, for example at McGill University, CEGEP 1 year + undergraduate medical study 4 years (a total of 5 years) instead of 8 years in other schools (4 years bachelor's + 4 years medical studies)?


Also, he is currently studying under the Cambridge's IGCS/A level system. He will start his Grade 11 in September. The question is will he be able to injected into the Canadian education system without any problem? I have the impression that he will be required to re-start from Grade 9 (beginning of the 4-years high school level in Canada) and he can't simply get into a Canada's school at Grade 11.

The new rule of dependents under 19 does not apply to any applications that were already received before August 1st so if you have children 19 and older who are on your application, you don't need to worry because they will not cancel their visas. You can however not apply to sponsor any children 19 or older after August 1st.

Kids are normally placed in the age appropriate grade and if he is 16, I don't think he would go to 9th grade. It depends on your negotiations with the school he is going to, I think. If you send him to public school, he will go to whatever school is in your neighbourhood but you could send him to a private school instead.

However, faster is not always necessarily better. Are you planning on settling in Quebec? As an FSW applicant, you aren't actually supposed to but if you land outside Quebec and move there in a couple of months, nobody will do anything about it. How is your son's French? Quebec is mainly French speaking as you may know.

 

[sharedknowledge]

The new rule of dependents under 19 does not apply to any applications that were already received before August 1st so if you have children 19 and older who are on your application, you don't need to worry because they will not cancel their visas. You can however not apply to sponsor any children 19 or older after August 1st.

Kids are normally placed in the age appropriate grade and if he is 16, I don't think he would go to 9th grade. It depends on your negotiations with the school he is going to, I think. If you send him to public school, he will go to whatever school is in your neighbourhood but you could send him to a private school instead.

However, faster is not always necessarily better. Are you planning on settling in Quebec? As an FSW applicant, you aren't actually supposed to but if you land outside Quebec and move there in a couple of months, nobody will do anything about it. How is your son's French? Quebec is mainly French speaking as you may know.

Thanks a lot, Leon, for so much information and insights. God bless you.

 

[sharedknowledge]

The new rule of dependents under 19 does not apply to any applications that were already received before August 1st so if you have children 19 and older who are on your application, you don't need to worry because they will not cancel their visas. You can however not apply to sponsor any children 19 or older after August 1st.

Kids are normally placed in the age appropriate grade and if he is 16, I don't think he would go to 9th grade. It depends on your negotiations with the school he is going to, I think. If you send him to public school, he will go to whatever school is in your neighbourhood but you could send him to a private school instead.

However, faster is not always necessarily better. Are you planning on settling in Quebec? As an FSW applicant, you aren't actually supposed to but if you land outside Quebec and move there in a couple of months, nobody will do anything about it. How is your son's French? Quebec is mainly French speaking as you may know.

Sorry. By the way he doesn't know French at the moment however he is willing to learn if required. I was wondering how life is in Quebec? Will it be easy for me to settle there and what can I gain from it?

 

[Leon]

Sorry. By the way he doesn't know French at the moment however he is willing to learn if required. I was wondering how life is in Quebec? Will it be easy for me to settle there and what can I gain from it?

If he was ready to do medical school in France or Germany, he would have had to learn French or German as well. If he currently doesn't speak French at all, it might however make more sense for you to settle in British Canada.

As per the Wikipedia article, medical school in Quebec may however be faster and the cost may be less... if you are Quebec residents.

I checked the website of the University of Alberta and they stated that a student with 2-3 years university and exceptional marks may be considered for medical school admission but more common that students complete 4 years before being admitted.

More info here: http://apps.admissions.ualberta.ca/programs/mh/mh550 and here: http://www.medicine.med.ualberta.ca/Undergraduate.aspx

Basically, it is up to you. Settle in Quebec, spend time learning French but get into medical school faster and cheaper as long as you stay in Quebec. This would of course mean that your whole family is learning French because it is hard to live in Quebec without it. Your children will go to French speaking schools.

OR

Settle in British Canada as per your FSW application, no need to learn French but a longer way towards medical school.