Sponsoring Wife as an International Student

[veritasium]

Hi all,

My wife got accepted to George Brown for the ESL program (May 2015) and a conditional acceptance for Accounting (Jan 2016). She We have only been legally married for a few months. She is very eager to get her degree and wants to apply for an international student visa. I would be the one sponsoring her ie. cover all her expenses and tuition). I am a Canadian citizen and she will be applying from her home country.

What is the correct way to approach the application. I would really appreciate any help or guidance on this. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can she get visa???

 

[veritasium]

I would like to add that she is 22 years of age and just completed her business degree. I have all the evidence to support that our relationship is genuine but I would much prefer she gets a head start in school as an international student.

Can we apply for this type of visa?? Do we have good chances of getting it?

 

[rhcohen2014]

if she's applying for a student visa, then SHE must be the one to apply. you can not sponsor her to be a student. as her husband, you can only sponsor her to become PR through family class spousal sponsorship.

no one can really tell you what her chances are for getting a student visa. it is dependant on her specific application and the visa officer processing the application.

 

[Cathy645]

Hi all,

My wife got accepted to George Brown for the ESL program (May 2015) and a conditional acceptance for Accounting (Jan 2016). She We have only been legally married for a few months. She is very eager to get her degree and wants to apply for an international student visa. I would be the one sponsoring her ie. cover all her expenses and tuition). I am a Canadian citizen and she will be applying from her home country.

What is the correct way to approach the application. I would really appreciate any help or guidance on this. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can she get visa???

Why not sponsor her to become PR then the tuition will be a lot less than international student after she becomes PR.

What is her home country? Some country VO processes very fast.

 

[28january]

Are you looking to sponsor her to be a PR or just looking for her to apply for student visa?

If she's a PR then like the above poster said, you'll save a lot of money with her tution but that might take a while depending get on where she's from.

If she's looking for a study permit then it doesn't take that long. On her application forms they'll ask her to list her expected expenses (tuition, food, rent) and then she'll have to specify who will be paying for that on the application. And then in addition to her police certificate, medical, and acceptance letter from school she will have to include the bank statement of the person who will be supporting her financially.

 

[civic]

Why not sponsor her to become PR then the tuition will be a lot less than international student after she becomes PR.

What is her home country? Some country VO processes very fast.

Did you know that many schools in Ontario provide domestic rate to foreigners with Ontario spouses? All you need is marriage certificate.

 

[Cathy645]

Did you know that many schools in Ontario provide domestic rate to foreigners with Ontario spouses? All you need is marriage certificate.

Oh no I didn't. Thank you. Good to know.

 

[veritasium]

She was declined the visa on the basis of that the officer was not convinced that she would return to her home country after study period is over. I mean if we decide to stay in Canada she would have to file for a PR anyway (really shortsighted of the office in my opinion).

Thing is she really wants to study this gives her a huge advantage in the job market (weather we decide to stay in canada or not) as opposed to getting a PR which takes about 2 years. This would delay her study by two years which is considerable time

Should she re-apply for a student visa or just do a spousal sponsorship?

Thank you for your replies

 

[scylla]

I would go for spousal sponsorship and forget the student visa route.

 

[veritasium]

That's fair... Is there a chance of getting visitor's visa in the mean time? I would like her to come and stay for a short period of time.

 

[veritasium]

The basis of refusal were due to failing to convince for the following:

i. your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
ii. length of proposed stay in Canada
ii. purpose of visit

 

[scylla]

That's fair... Is there a chance of getting visitor's visa in the mean time? I would like her to come and stay for a short period of time.

I would assume it will be equally challenging and there's a high chance of refusal. But you're free to apply and give it a shot. You should include as much evidence as possible that shows she has strong ties to her home country (e.g. employment, property, etc.).

 

[scylla]

The basis of refusal were due to failing to convince for the following:

i. your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
ii. length of proposed stay in Canada
ii. purpose of visit

Unfortunately I don't think it's at all surprising she was refused the study visa. To be approved, you must demonstrate that you are coming to Canada as a genuine student and have no plans on remaining in Canada long term. Since your wife has a Canadian husband, CIC refused her due to concerns that she was using the study visa as a means of coming to Canada to be with you (this is what the "purpose of visit" refusal reason means). Added note: I just saw that she was going to start by taking an ESL course. Unfortunately this would have further weakened her case since ESL courses have been abused by way too many people in the past as a means of getting to Canada when someone isn't a genuine student. She would have been better off improving her language skills in her home country first and then gaining acceptance to the diploma/post graduate degree program directly. CIC is not fond of conditional acceptances and these cases seem to have much higher rates of refusal.

 

[scylla]

I'll add one more comment that may be helpful... I think it would only be worthwhile for your wife to try applying for a study visa again if she changed her study plans to a 4 year University degree program. Otherwise I think I would forget about the study permit.

 

[veritasium]

Thank you for your advice! I spoke with an immigration lawyer who suggested we apply for a PR instead. But that really does hurt because if we decide to live in Canada, she still needs some form of Canadian schooling accreditation. That is why her interest for studying is truly genuine. At the end of the day if we decide to stay in Canada, we would have to apply for a PR regardless so it's not like we're abusing anything. It really is what it sounds like a study visa.

You are right in that a university degree is better she wants to study in university... However the fees are astronomical for international students at a university... I mean we just students she is 22 and I'm 24.