Special case for student visa whitin Canada Please help.

[Slag03]

Hello
Here is my situation.
My family came for visit on December 2012. My sister who is 14 decided that she wants to study in Canada for a year. My mom and everybody else returned to Panama.
Since we star doing the paper work is have been so many ??. Immigration Canada told us first that she can apply for study permit but we need to send her papers to Guatemala ( they do the visas for Panama) They advise us to get her a new passport because the one she had will expired within the school year ( march 2013) So we did that..it took forever. It is back we are ready to pay the tuition fee ($8,500 plus insurance) for a grade 9 public school. So I contacted Guatemala with a few questions like if they accept payments from online immigration Canada, if we need to send her passports since she already have a visitor visas and if we need to send a forms that says is only filled by 18 years or older. The reply was link to immigration Canada website.
What I understood for that reply is that she have to go back to Panama and apply from there. That is not what Canada immigration here told us. School will star on September 4, my mother is in Philippines working so is no body for her in Panama. I cant send her on her own.
I am incredible stress about it. Please any advice will be greatly appreciate it .
Thanks
PS She already loose a school year because the school calendar in Panama is different from Canada. She has been accepted at the school here.

 

[nettoyant]

Hello!
A friend of mine was in a similar situation, except that she's older. She's here on a visitor's visa doing a english course and wanted to change it to a Study Permit (to continue english course and enter a university). Once she finish the english course, she's is returning to her home country to apply (the chances are way better apparently).

Here's my original post: canada-immigration-discussion-board/from-visitor-to-student-t156302.0.html

Sorry I couldn't help you more.

Cheers,

 

[nettoyant]

Also, I've found this. Dunno if it applies to the current way things are done:

migrationlaw.com/news/Converting-from-%25E2visitor%255C-to-%255Cstudent%255C-not-always-possible/

 

[bali.singh]

Rare case cant say anything

 

[Regina]

What I understood for that reply is that she have to go back to Panama and apply from there.

She does not have to go there to apply. You can send her forms and documents there. However, I think the problem is that she needs to leave Canada to enter it again for getting study permit at the Port of Entry. Usually, in similar situations, it can be done at USA/Canada border but in your case if she does not get study permit at POE- where she supposes to go if she already left Canada and got into limbo in "no man land' between Canada and USA? If she has multivisa she could go back to Canada and go back to Panama from there. But because she has only single entry visitor visa ( and she has already used it to enter Canada with your mom)- she cannot re-enter Canada if she does not get study permit at POE.

Concerning

That is not what Canada immigration here told us.

,CIC told you the truth- you can apply from Canada to VO in her home country. However, what they did not tell you is that she could get into trouble actually getting her study permit at POE. But it is not really their job to explain what you did not ask them. :