Applicant from PhD program after 5 Nov, 2011 connect here to get status

[asbereth]

For those of you who have been approved for domestic tuition, how did they adjust your funding package? Do you get more or less (after paying tuition and fees)?
Thanks in advance. `

Btw, Western has sent out an email saying that PER is good enough for them to change the tuition rates (from international to domestic). Good news should come to all other universities very soon:

Hi phdapplicant, I spoke with the immigration specialist at Waterloo, and she said that the difference between PER email and 'Approval-in-principle' is that, the former only grants you 'eligibility to apply for permanent residence', whereas approval-in-principle requires 'eligibility to apply for permanent resident status'. OHIP, however, only requires the former, so PER email should be enough to get you OHIP. Splitting hair, I know, and stupid too, but she said that if I have evidence that some students have gotten their tuition reduced as per PER email alone, I am welcomed to bring it to her so she can evaluate further. I really want to show some proof to her, but if I do, then I may put the domestic status of some of the students here to jeopardy, so I should just let it go I guess...

 

[asbereth]

I apologize in advance if people here are already fed up with my tirade regarding domestic tuition rates for Ontario, but I just have to add the following information that I got from York University website:

http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/2012-2013/financial/fee_categories/index.htm

The following category of students are eligible for tuition rates reduction, according to the regulations specified by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities:

Students or their parents or spouse who are permanent resident applicants are eligible for domestic fees only if they have received communication addressed to the primary applicant from Citizenship and Immigration Canada which has one of the statements below. Please note that only letters with one of these exact statements can be accepted :

"It has been determined that you meet the eligibility requirements to apply for permanent resident status as someone who is in the live in caregivers in Canada class, or as someone who is the spouse or common-law partner of a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, or as someone who is a Protected Person."

or

"We have completed the initial assessment of your application and expect to finalize your application without a personal interview."

or

"This refers to your application for permanent residence in Canada, Your interview has been waived."

or

"This refers to your application for permanent residence within Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds."

or

"The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism issued instructions which were published in the Canada Gazette on November 5, 2011. These instructions specify that applications from international students who are currently enrolled in a PhD program, or foreign nationals who have completed a PhD program, in a recognized educational institution located in Canada and that are accompanied by the results of the principal applicant’s English or French language proficiency assessment are eligible to be processed in the Federal Skilled Worker class.

Based on a review of the information you have provided, your application has received a positive final determination of eligibility for processing on the basis of your enrollment in, or completion of, a PhD program as specified in the Instructions issued by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism and published in the Canada Gazette on November 5, 2011. "

The last statement was exactly what we got from the PER email, which implies that, as per the regulations set by Ontario government, we should be eligible for tuition rates reduction. I forwarded the link to my school's immigration specialist, and let's see what she has to say now.

 

[moonbow2010]

I apologize in advance if people here are already fed up with my tirade regarding domestic tuition rates for Ontario, but I just have to add the following information that I got from York University website:

http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/2012-2013/financial/fee_categories/index.htm

The following category of students are eligible for tuition rates reduction, according to the regulations specified by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities:


The last statement was exactly what we got from the PER email, which implies that, as per the regulations set by Ontario government, we should be eligible for tuition rates reduction. I forwarded the link to my school's immigration specialist, and let's see what she has to say now.

Dear, you provided a strong support for our tuition fees reductions. Thanks for ur efforts.

However, I am still confused about the part of OHIP. I applied for it and got rejected from the review committee of OHIP.

While, below is quoted from their responses to our application.

A person who has submitted an application for PR and received confirmation from CIC that they are eligible to apply for PR in Canada is considered to have an OHIP-eligible status as set out in Regulation 552 under the Health Insurance Act.

In an effort to assist with ur file, ministry staff contacted CIC to determine if you meet the eligibility requirements to apply for PR in Canada. CIC has advised that your application has not yet reached this stage of approval. As a result, your OHIP-eligible status cannot be confirmed and therefore, you are not eligible for OHIP coverage at this time.

Should your situation change and you are able to provide confirmation from CIC that you are eligible to apply for PR in Canada or your receive another OHIP eligible immigration document, please visit your local Service Ontario center...

It is actually weird. By the time when I applied for OHIP, it is 2 months after I received the PER email. They still thought I was not at that stage.

So I guess that it may be due to systematic lag reflecting the change.

Well, I still encouraged other PhD folks to try applying for OHIP. Maybe try it several months after you get ur PER email.


That is my two cents.

 

[asbereth]

Hi moonbow2010, thank you for sharing. It is interesting that the CIC does not find you eligible to apply for PR (which I'm assuming is permanent residence here rather than permanent resident status). I was always under the impression that, after you get your PER email, then you should be eligible for OHIP, at least on the face value, and the form IMM 5475 E is just there to make sure that the email is legit, and you have not been rejected yet. Maybe you can try again? Can you tell us when you get the rejection letter from OHIP? Also, since you're obviously in Ontario, did you try getting the international fee waived as well?

 

[TRT_Flynn]

I apologize in advance if people here are already fed up with my tirade regarding domestic tuition rates for Ontario, but I just have to add the following information that I got from York University website:

http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca/2012-2013/financial/fee_categories/index.htm

The following category of students are eligible for tuition rates reduction, according to the regulations specified by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities:


The last statement was exactly what we got from the PER email, which implies that, as per the regulations set by Ontario government, we should be eligible for tuition rates reduction. I forwarded the link to my school's immigration specialist, and let's see what she has to say now.

Thanks for making so much efforts for us. I think it will be stronger if we can find some direct link from Ontario government in which there are some specific wording regarding to this. Unfortunately, I failed to find it using google.

 

[moonbow2010]

Hi moonbow2010, thank you for sharing. It is interesting that the CIC does not find you eligible to apply for PR (which I'm assuming is permanent residence here rather than permanent resident status). I was always under the impression that, after you get your PER email, then you should be eligible for OHIP, at least on the face value, and the form IMM 5475 E is just there to make sure that the email is legit, and you have not been rejected yet. Maybe you can try again? Can you tell us when you get the rejection letter from OHIP? Also, since you're obviously in Ontario, did you try getting the international fee waived as well?

CIC did not state that I was not eligible to apply for PR. They just said that I had not reached that stage of application.

However, I did have my PER around Mar.17th and got rejected by Service Ontario around May 4th. What is the problem here?

I filled that form IMM5475E and follow all the OHIP decision appealing process.

 

[samer_eg]

CIC did not state that I was not eligible to apply for PR. They just said that I had not reached that stage of application.

However, I did have my PER around Mar.17th and got rejected by Service Ontario around May 4th. What is the problem here?

I filled that form IMM5475E and follow all the OHIP decision appealing process.

What I understand from OHIP site themselves that you are eligible if:

you have submitted an application for permanent residence in Canada, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada has confirmed that you meet the eligibility requirements to apply for permanent residence in Canada (please note: applicants for permanent residence are no longer required to provide confirmation of having satisfied the Immigration medical as a condition for OHIP coverage);


So, just the eligibility for application is enough, not the eligibility to get the PR itself (i.e. background checks, security checks...etc). Even the medical requirements have been waived as shown.

My advice: go with all documents to your MP, and discuss with him the information obtained from OHIP website.

 

[samer_eg]

Hi phdapplicant, I spoke with the immigration specialist at Waterloo, and she said that the difference between PER email and 'Approval-in-principle' is that, the former only grants you 'eligibility to apply for permanent residence', whereas approval-in-principle requires 'eligibility to apply for permanent resident status'. OHIP, however, only requires the former, so PER email should be enough to get you OHIP. Splitting hair, I know, and stupid too, but she said that if I have evidence that some students have gotten their tuition reduced as per PER email alone, I am welcomed to bring it to her so she can evaluate further. I really want to show some proof to her, but if I do, then I may put the domestic status of some of the students here to jeopardy, so I should just let it go I guess...

I think both definitions are the same! The local MP told me that PER is the same as "Approval-in-principle", as I was told it is only the old term for the PER. From the CIC websites glossary:

Approval in Principle (AIP): Positive determination of eligibility in a permanent residence application processed in Canada. Similar to a positive selection decision made overseas.

 

[TyrusX]

People that applied under the PNP in November 2011 are getting passport request from Ottawa.

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/application-reached-buffalo-on-30-november-2011-t93149.0.html;msg1762423#msg1762423

 

[specialmary]

Hi TyrusX,

I think that the person applied to CIC last Nov. Before the process, they need to submit documents to the immigration office in their own province. This decision-making process at the province level can take around 3 months before they get approved. Then they need to fill out more forms and send documents to CIC.

If you think about it, PNP has a disadvantage of being unable to move to another province until they got their citizenship. What if the economy of their province goes bad?

Specialmary

 

[TyrusX]

Hi TyrusX,

I think that the person applied to CIC last Nov. Before the process, they need to submit documents to the immigration office in their own province. This decision-making process at the province level can take around 3 months before they get approved. Then they need to fill out more forms and send documents to CIC.

If you think about it, PNP has a disadvantage of being unable to move to another province until they got their citizenship. What if the economy of their province goes bad?

Specialmary

I was just pointing the PNP has processing priority. This is stated on the website as well.

 

[specialmary]

I guess PNP is quicker.

I also read other posts about the FSW1 applications to New Delhi. Their process is extremely quick (6-7 months?). How can it happen and why can't PhD stream be that quick, given that we got our education (and many cases, work experience) in Canada? This is very perplexing...

Specialmary

 

[TyrusX]

I guess PNP is quicker.

I also read other posts about the FSW1 applications to New Delhi. Their process is extremely quick (6-7 months?). How can it happen and why can't PhD stream be that quick, given that we got our education (and many cases, work experience) in Canada? This is very perplexing...

Specialmary

Yes it blows my mind. Some people like Massoud have been on this for almost 11 months already.

 

[maytheflower]

Any news? Seems the VOs should finish the vacation and start to work. Hope they may make up the progress loss due to summer vacation.

Anyone got 'Passport Request' or 'Visa'? Still nobody in the PhD stream got visa yet?

 

[maytheflower]

Yes it blows my mind. Some people like Massoud have been on this for almost 11 months already.

Hope the dipomatic breakup between Canada and Iran will not affect these Iran guys.