Study Permit Challenges for Nigerian Applicants
- Thread starter Omofar
- Start date
Hello Zoe44,
Thanks for your question. I think it is a tough one.
1. Due to how complicated this is we usually advice students to try to get at least two year programs so that they can get the 3 year work permit to give enough time to search for an appropriate level of work that can lead to permanent residency.
2. If the person finds a decent job towards the end of the work permit, they can apply to renew it.
3. Finally it is possible apply for another program, as long as you are able to meet the eligibility requirements again. It is hard for most people to meet once, talk less of doing it twice, so I would not recommend anyone to go that route.
All the best.
Omofar
Thanks for your response, I do appreciate.
I have an issue that i wish to correct regarding this. I have an admission into a one year post graduate program to study project management, and i have already applied to the embassy. if my study permit is approved, can i change it to a two year program when i get to Canada? Because i intend looking for a two year project management postgraduate program. If you know of any school that offers such programs please share it. Thanks
Hello Zoe,
I am making the assumption that you would like to settle back in Canada upon completion of your studies. So, here's my advice.
1. Go ahead and apply for a 2-year program. It does not have to be in project management, you are unlikely to find a 2-year program in that field.
2. Once you get you approval, inform the school of your decision to transfer to another school. They will not be happy with you. But they have no choice in the matter. The will take like 1,000CAD admin fees, then transfer the tuition you paid to the new school.
3. When you get to the Canadian port ot entry, present your LOA for the 2 year program. The CBSA officer will issue you a 2-year study permit.
4. The implication of this is that you have a 1 year temporary residence permit, but 2 year study permit. This is not a problem as long as you are not planning to travel out of Canada during the period. Once you graduate, you can go ahead and apply for your 3-year post graduate work permit, once you get it, you are home free.
I wish you the very best.
Omofar
Hello Lollyp,
Thank you for visiting this thread, I hope well.
Apologies that you feel left out in some way or the other. However, I am doing this on a voluntary basis. Responses to questions is at my own discretion. I also want you to know that I don't personally know the people on this thread, I have never met any of them before, so its not like I am showing partiality in anyway.
I cannot recall what your questions were about, however, if they fall beyond the scope of this thread, then there is a high likelihood that I will not respond to it. Sometimes, it also depends on my mood, if I feel the question has already been treated on the forum, or just not feeling like responding to it, then I won't.
Nevertheless, since you have raised your objection, I am feeling good, post your question and I will endeavor to answer it. Again, please note if it is beyond the scope of this thread, or has been treated in the past, then I may not respond to it again.
Cheers
Omofar
I went back to review your query, the only one on this thread, and I find that I have addressed your a lot of the things you are asking about and some of them fall beyond the scope of this thread. I would encourage you to look for my write-up on self-evaluation to see if you meet the requirements for getting a study permit approved. Before you can begin to process a visa, you also need to get an admission in place. I would suggest that you try to look for a reputable agent to assist you or you read through those write-ups of mine.
Please see the write-ups below.
All the best.
Omofar
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Greetings Everyone,
I hope well.
A big congratulations to the fellow that just got his/her visa, I wish you the very best. Please make the most of Canada.
On the other hand, I have been getting emails from several people asking me to assess their chances of getting a study permit approval based on their finances. Unfortunately, I cannot do that because that is not the only criterion that the VO is using to assess an application. Furthermore, this is not my primary job, so I do not really have the time to respond to all the emails or DMs I get. So I have decided to address the issue again, even though I have done it before. I will do so for the benefit of those who are just visiting for the first time or are new. One more thing before I go into this issue. When I started this thread, I had over 90% confidence in the study permit application process, it was fair, and just. All one needed to do was meet the requirements and you got your study permit approval, today that is different. My confidence in the process has fallen to about 30-40%. So I will offer suggestions, it is still up to anyone reading to decide to move forward with it or otherwise. What I am doing here is voluntary, so your attitude towards it should be the same, you can take it or leave, but there is no need for unnecessary fighting or arguments! Okay, let's dig in...
I see some people here coming to ask about how to get admission, well sorry to burst your bubble, that is not the purpose of this thread. The purpose of this thread remains the same, and that is to help those wanting to apply for a Canadian study permit navigate their way through the process such that they can increase their chances of getting their permits approved.
So before putting in your application for a study permit, you need to consider the following factors
1. Your personal profile
2. The Logic of your application
3. The preconceived perception of the Canadian VO towards Nigerian applicants.
I hope well.
A big congratulations to the fellow that just got his/her visa, I wish you the very best. Please make the most of Canada.
On the other hand, I have been getting emails from several people asking me to assess their chances of getting a study permit approval based on their finances. Unfortunately, I cannot do that because that is not the only criterion that the VO is using to assess an application. Furthermore, this is not my primary job, so I do not really have the time to respond to all the emails or DMs I get. So I have decided to address the issue again, even though I have done it before. I will do so for the benefit of those who are just visiting for the first time or are new. One more thing before I go into this issue. When I started this thread, I had over 90% confidence in the study permit application process, it was fair, and just. All one needed to do was meet the requirements and you got your study permit approval, today that is different. My confidence in the process has fallen to about 30-40%. So I will offer suggestions, it is still up to anyone reading to decide to move forward with it or otherwise. What I am doing here is voluntary, so your attitude towards it should be the same, you can take it or leave, but there is no need for unnecessary fighting or arguments! Okay, let's dig in...
I see some people here coming to ask about how to get admission, well sorry to burst your bubble, that is not the purpose of this thread. The purpose of this thread remains the same, and that is to help those wanting to apply for a Canadian study permit navigate their way through the process such that they can increase their chances of getting their permits approved.
So before putting in your application for a study permit, you need to consider the following factors
1. Your personal profile
2. The Logic of your application
3. The preconceived perception of the Canadian VO towards Nigerian applicants.
1. Your personal profile: The Canadian application process does not give room for a face-to-face interview, everything is based on documentation. Since the VO is unable to see you, he/she needs to be able to build a profile of the kind of person you are in their head. The profile is a picture of some sort, that give the VO an idea of the kind of person you are, based on that profile the VO will classify you into a low, medium, or high-risk applicant and based on that make a decision on your application. If you are considered high risk, then no matter if the logic of your application is sound, you are still likely to be refused. Please bear with me, I am getting there. The forms you feel will help the VO determine your profile. So things like your gender, age, level of education, work experience, personal net-worth, previous international travel history, your nationality (in this case Nigeria) will determine your profile. Right off the bat, the fact that you are a Nigerian already brings up some level of risk that would not be associated with if you were applying as a US, UK, Australian, Japanese, Samoan citizen etc. So let's take the following scenarios
Applicant A: 17 years old, has been traveling overseas for the last 14 years for holidays, goes to an expensive school, the applicant also speaks fluent French, the father is a high net worth individual, has many businesses interests and is now applying to study engineering at the Mcgill University.
Applicant B: 27 years old, graduated from the University of Nsukka in marine biology 4 years ago, has been working as a biology teacher are kekedike secondary school, never traveled out of Nigeria before, and is now applying to go for a Masters degree in Fisheries at Ryerson University...
Who is likely to be profiled as low risk and who will be profiled as high risk?
Applicant A: 17 years old, has been traveling overseas for the last 14 years for holidays, goes to an expensive school, the applicant also speaks fluent French, the father is a high net worth individual, has many businesses interests and is now applying to study engineering at the Mcgill University.
Applicant B: 27 years old, graduated from the University of Nsukka in marine biology 4 years ago, has been working as a biology teacher are kekedike secondary school, never traveled out of Nigeria before, and is now applying to go for a Masters degree in Fisheries at Ryerson University...
Who is likely to be profiled as low risk and who will be profiled as high risk?
2. The logic of Application: This simply refers to the ability of an applicant to Logically meet or even exceed the minimum requirements for a study permit approval as set by the Canadian embassy. There are three components required, these include clear purpose of visit, ability to fund the visit, and clear intention to return to one's own country upon completion of studies.
a) Clear Purpose of Visit: This is simply 'why are you applying to visit Canada?' An applicant must be able to demonstrate clear purpose of visit. In this case, it is to study. How do we know it is for study. You provide evidence. What evidence? A letter of acceptance (LOA) from a designated learning institution (DLI) in Canada. Okay the VO will see this and will say fine. But he/she is trained to probe further. They want to establish the logic behind the plan to study in Canada. So why not study in Nigeria, is the course not available in the almost 180 universities in Nigeria? Is the course at the appropriate level of study, if not why? Oga you have a Bachelors in Mathematics, why do you now want to pursue another bachelor's degree in social work? You have a degree in Biochemistry, why are you pursuing an advanced diploma in food science? The VO must understand the logic behind your actions, if there is no clear logic, then your purpose may be questionable, and that is not a good assessment for the applicant.
b) Ability to fund the purpose of visit: Recall that the VO has already classified the applicant based on his/her profile. The VO will now use this to confirm or dispute his/her suspicions about an applicant. Now this is where many people get it wrong, they think Canadian VOs are impressed by the volume of funds in an account. They are NOT! They are interested in who is the sponsor, why would the sponsor decide to invest so much money into the applicant's study ambitions, is the sponsor credible, will they follow through, what will they gain by sponsoring the applicant, has the sponsor demonstrated that the source of income is from legitimate business activities? Are they in paid employment or running a business, if running the business is it registered, do they pay taxes, what is their net-worth etc, so it is not about the money, but also about the sponsor. It is easily believable if a parent is sponsoring their child, why because they are responsible for the welfare of that child. It is easily believable if a bank is sponsoring an applicant, they will be getting the return on investment via principal and interest payment of the loan. It is less believable if an uncle or daddy's friend is sponsoring the applicant, does this uncle or daddy's friend not have his own children or personal responsibilities to cater to, what do they have to gain. It is more believable if there is a scholarship by a well-known organization being awarded to the applicant. etc So millions in the account means NOTHING without context and logic. However, imagine a 30 year old man relying on sponsorship from his father-in-law. He is unlikely to get a permit approved.
c) Applicant's intention to return to their home country: Congratulations if you have made it this far. I know the story is becoming too long but bear with me. The applicant's ability to demonstrate their INTENTION to return to their home country is key. In many cases, it is almost impossible to demonstrate this. How do you measure someone's INTENTION, it is an abstract thing. We see very rich people who sell all they have and migrate to Canada, USA, Australian because they want a better life for their children, they are tired of insecurity, poverty, power issues, bad roads, they just want a better quality of life. So personal assets cannot be a measure of someone's intention to return. We see people with well-paid jobs who also want to leave for the same reasons outline above. So a good job is not really a measure of one's intention. We have also seen people leave their loved ones in order to migrate for a better life elsewhere, so family ties is not also a good measure of INTENTION, in fact, some leave because of their family, in order to work hard and be sending money home to help support the family. So here one can only try your best and hope that after looking through the entire application, the VO makes a judgment call that you are low risk and approves the application. Nevertheless, you still need to make an effort to do so. This can be assessed by your profile, previous travel history, work experience, personal net-worth, assets declaration, family ties, job prospects upon return etc
a) Clear Purpose of Visit: This is simply 'why are you applying to visit Canada?' An applicant must be able to demonstrate clear purpose of visit. In this case, it is to study. How do we know it is for study. You provide evidence. What evidence? A letter of acceptance (LOA) from a designated learning institution (DLI) in Canada. Okay the VO will see this and will say fine. But he/she is trained to probe further. They want to establish the logic behind the plan to study in Canada. So why not study in Nigeria, is the course not available in the almost 180 universities in Nigeria? Is the course at the appropriate level of study, if not why? Oga you have a Bachelors in Mathematics, why do you now want to pursue another bachelor's degree in social work? You have a degree in Biochemistry, why are you pursuing an advanced diploma in food science? The VO must understand the logic behind your actions, if there is no clear logic, then your purpose may be questionable, and that is not a good assessment for the applicant.
b) Ability to fund the purpose of visit: Recall that the VO has already classified the applicant based on his/her profile. The VO will now use this to confirm or dispute his/her suspicions about an applicant. Now this is where many people get it wrong, they think Canadian VOs are impressed by the volume of funds in an account. They are NOT! They are interested in who is the sponsor, why would the sponsor decide to invest so much money into the applicant's study ambitions, is the sponsor credible, will they follow through, what will they gain by sponsoring the applicant, has the sponsor demonstrated that the source of income is from legitimate business activities? Are they in paid employment or running a business, if running the business is it registered, do they pay taxes, what is their net-worth etc, so it is not about the money, but also about the sponsor. It is easily believable if a parent is sponsoring their child, why because they are responsible for the welfare of that child. It is easily believable if a bank is sponsoring an applicant, they will be getting the return on investment via principal and interest payment of the loan. It is less believable if an uncle or daddy's friend is sponsoring the applicant, does this uncle or daddy's friend not have his own children or personal responsibilities to cater to, what do they have to gain. It is more believable if there is a scholarship by a well-known organization being awarded to the applicant. etc So millions in the account means NOTHING without context and logic. However, imagine a 30 year old man relying on sponsorship from his father-in-law. He is unlikely to get a permit approved.
c) Applicant's intention to return to their home country: Congratulations if you have made it this far. I know the story is becoming too long but bear with me. The applicant's ability to demonstrate their INTENTION to return to their home country is key. In many cases, it is almost impossible to demonstrate this. How do you measure someone's INTENTION, it is an abstract thing. We see very rich people who sell all they have and migrate to Canada, USA, Australian because they want a better life for their children, they are tired of insecurity, poverty, power issues, bad roads, they just want a better quality of life. So personal assets cannot be a measure of someone's intention to return. We see people with well-paid jobs who also want to leave for the same reasons outline above. So a good job is not really a measure of one's intention. We have also seen people leave their loved ones in order to migrate for a better life elsewhere, so family ties is not also a good measure of INTENTION, in fact, some leave because of their family, in order to work hard and be sending money home to help support the family. So here one can only try your best and hope that after looking through the entire application, the VO makes a judgment call that you are low risk and approves the application. Nevertheless, you still need to make an effort to do so. This can be assessed by your profile, previous travel history, work experience, personal net-worth, assets declaration, family ties, job prospects upon return etc
3. The preconceived bias/stereotypic disposition VOs have about Nigerian applicants: In my personal opinion, I did not think this mattered in the past. However, based on recent reports, I can surmise that it now does. Whether you agree or not Nigerians do NOT have a good reputation globally. However, the media does not balance the way it reports stories about Nigerians around the world. The world gets the good, the bad and the ugly of Nigerians, which actually common to all other nationalities of the world. There are good Nigerians, and there are bad ones. There are good Canadians and very bad Canadians, there are good Indians, and very useless ones, there are good Americans and there are psycho ones too, maybe the pyscho ones are even more than the good ones, there are good Britons, and there are very lazy ones that live only on welfare etc, you get my gist. However, when the news is being reported about Nigerians, they won't report about the Doctors, Engineers, IT gurus, Professors, those in entetainment, real- estate doing great things, No. They will only report on the corrupt and bad ones, this forms a preconceived bias in the minds of the VOs. The country's govt is not helping matters, for example, Japan's study permit approval rate is about 95%, why Japanese don't even care to leave their country in the first place to go study in Canada, they have better Universities, technology, and will not have to struggle with the language, so when a VO sees a Japanese application they are delighted, and quickly approve, even if the Japanese person omits a thing or two in their application, they will mail them and ask them to bring that document, but that will NEVER happen if its a Nigerian applicant. It is unfortunate, but that is the stack reality. So, at the end of the day, it boils down to how your entire application looks to the VO. The VO would have considered all of the above, and then takes a decision whether is it worth the risk of approving the applicant's study permit or not.
So FINANCES ALONE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO ASSESS ONE"S CHANCES OF VISA APPROVAL.
Use this guide to assess yourself. Take a decision about whether to proceed with your application. Prepare everything properly and make sure the application makes sense (Logic), then finally whatever God you call on, call on Him/Her/Them and hope they can touch the VO's heart. I will not discuss this again.
I wish you all the best.
Omofar (Theophilus1980@gmail.com)
So FINANCES ALONE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO ASSESS ONE"S CHANCES OF VISA APPROVAL.
Use this guide to assess yourself. Take a decision about whether to proceed with your application. Prepare everything properly and make sure the application makes sense (Logic), then finally whatever God you call on, call on Him/Her/Them and hope they can touch the VO's heart. I will not discuss this again.
I wish you all the best.
Omofar (Theophilus1980@gmail.com)
Good Day Omofar
If one didn't get Refusal Decison Letter but ones Passport is ready for collection is it positive ?
If one didn't get Refusal Decison Letter but ones Passport is ready for collection is it positive ?
Please, I have a current issue. I have done my medical exam upfront. I, however, received a mail from the IRCC requesting me to do my medical exam. What advice do you have for me?