I don't know why they are not giving stage 2 approvals to applicants from US as students travelling from US are exempt from the travel restrictions. The only people how are benefitting from this travel exemption are US citizens as they can apply for the study permit at the border.
I applied for my study permit in March. My GCMS notes states that I have passed eligibility and my passport request letter is being shown as an outgoing documents which has not been started. I was hoping that after VAC in Los Angeles opens, I will be getting the request letter. But the LA VAC opened for passport submission last week but I have seen only one approval from US in this forum last week. 25 week wait for my visa has taken a mental toll on me.