Hi there folks. So, I received a refusal on 14th April and following were the reasons listed. I have already ordered for the GCMS notes. Until I receive it I would like to prepare a rough LoE based on the points of rejection. I think I wrote a good enough SOP explaining everything. It was about 2.5 pages long. Should I try to shorten my SOP ? Please read and advise me what I am doing wrong or what I can do differently.
Age - 34
Marital status - Single
Nationality - Indian
Highest qualification - Bachelor's of Engineering (Electronics & Communication), passed out in 2010
Work experience - Working as a Marine Electrical engineer onboard passenger ships since 2017. Before that I was on cargo ships since 2012.
Course applying for - Professional Pilot's program at Harv's air.
• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, as stipulated in subsection 216(1) of the IRPR, based on the purpose of your visit.
Here I will explain the following:
Purpose of visit and that I intend to return back to India. I will briefly explain my study plan in Canada and then when I return to India. I will also state that the Indian aviation industry is much more robust than the Canadian aviation industry. There are more flying jobs in India than Canada. Canada is a mature aviation market and the growth is nominal over the years (until pandemic) while India was the fastest growing aviation market (until pandemic) and even now the recovery has been very swift. So, it makes sense to go back to India and try to find flying jobs. I will explain this.
The fact that my parents and extended family reside in Kolkata. My parents are old and my sister is married. So, I am the only one who takes care of them
This time I will include property evaluation certificate from the CA. But it's in my parents name. Please let me know if it will show strong home ties or not ?
I have 56k CAD worth of FDs and mutual fund investment in my name. Should I include that here ? Does it show strong ties ?
I currently have valid US B1/B2 and C1D visa. In the past I have held short term Schengen, Chinese, Russian, Egyptian, Thai and Vietnamese visas. I have extensive travel history in US and western European countries while on ship. My ship is based in US. I have been to Russia, Thailand and Vietnam as a Tourist. There's no precedent of me overstaying at anytime in the past.
Please advise me what more can I include here or what changes should I make in the above draft ?
• Pursuant to paragraph 220(a) of the IRPA, I am not satisfied that you have sufficient and available financial resources, without working in Canada, to pay the tuition fees for the course or program of studies that you intend to pursue.
Last time also I had shown enough funds (total 171k CAD in form of (bank balance + FD + mutual funds + 10k CAD GIC + 10k CAD prepaid tuition fees) so I am not sure why this reason was given in the refusal. My expenditure during the course will be 70k CAD (tuition fees + living expense + other expense). I will wait for the GCMS notes.
I have few questions:
Is FD and mutual funds considered as proof of funds ?
This time I will be getting the property evaluation certificate which is in my parents name. Can i include it when I show the finance since it's not in my name ?
I hold a joint account with my father. Do I have to furnish any new documents to highlight this, because I haven't.
• Given the applicant's previous education and/or employment history, I am not satisfied that the motivation to pursue this particular program at this point in time in Canada is reasonable. Refused under R216(1)(b).
Education history:
On the face of it, I find it hard to disagree with this judgement. However, after a deeper analysis I would like to assert my points for your kind reconsideration. The motivation to pursue this program has always been there. Lack of funds was the chief reason (there were many more reasons which I have discussed in my SOP) why I wasn't able to pursue this course way back in 2005, fresh after my 10+2. Flying is something many of us dreamed about as kids, but eventually life gets in the way and the dream is often sidelined. I come from a middle class family in India. In 2005, I had to make a decision regarding my future and I (more like my parents) chose the much less expensive and traditionally safer option of Electronics engineering. So I played the cards I was dealt with and over the years I have worked hard to save enough funds to complete this program comfortably and still have a safety net. In all this time I have always subconsciously pursued my eventual dream of becoming a pilot.
I understand that I already have a Bachelor's of Engineering degree and now after 10 years I am going for a certificate level course. By all appearances it would seem unreasonable to go for a certificate level course now when I already have a Bachelor's degree and work experience. However, that would have been the case if I was looking for career progression in my current field of expertise (Electrical / Electronics engineering). What I am looking for at this point in my life is a change of career. To study this course the minimum education requirement is 10+2. It's a certificate level course which will allow me to get a Canadian CPL (Commercial Pilot's License) which I can easily convert to an Indian DGCA license upon returning back to India. I understand the rationale that since I already have a Bachelor's degree, it's logical if I had chosen a master's degree, but a certificate level program is the only traditional method of gaining a CPL not just in Canada but anywhere in the world. To become a pilot, there's no master's level program that I am aware of.
So, I would like to reiterate that I am looking for a change of career at this point in my life and I am only 33 years young ! Ideally I still have 3 decades of working life left in me. That amounts to thousands of flying hours the way I see it. It's my firm opinion that it's never too late to challenge yourself and do something new, especially something you have always dreamed of.
Employment history:
I started my career on cargo ships and for the last 4 years I have been sailing on passenger ships as a 2nd Electrical engineer. My motivation has increased since I shifted to passenger ships. Yet again, on face value my employment history as an electrical engineer seems unrelated to my proposed course of study. However, there are a lot of similarities but you have to be in my shoes for a moment to see the correlation. For starters both are in the business of transporting passengers. The process of getting onboard is same - you report at the terminal, go through security, immigration and board your vessel/aircraft. A cruise ship has a Captain, officers, engineers and hotel crew. Similarly, an aircraft has a Captain, first officer, ground engineers and cabin crew. One of the fun similarities is that both set of crew get to travel a lot. Even though my discipline is engineering I find myself quite inclined towards navigation. Also I like the work profile and quality of life of the bridge officers / pilots. Flying is alluring as a profession but the major hindrance is the high initial training cost. I know for a fact that there are many like me who go for flight training later on in their life when their finances are in order. If you randomly pick up 10 pilots it's quite likely that many of them will have very diverse backgrounds. It's not just my opinion but also based on my personal experience of interacting with a lot of flight crew and looking at many profiles on Linkedin while doing research. I hope that I have addressed your concerns.
This is a little hard to explain to the VO. If they don't want to understand they they won't. Would you suggest any changes or anything to add ?
Age - 34
Marital status - Single
Nationality - Indian
Highest qualification - Bachelor's of Engineering (Electronics & Communication), passed out in 2010
Work experience - Working as a Marine Electrical engineer onboard passenger ships since 2017. Before that I was on cargo ships since 2012.
Course applying for - Professional Pilot's program at Harv's air.
• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, as stipulated in subsection 216(1) of the IRPR, based on the purpose of your visit.
Here I will explain the following:
Purpose of visit and that I intend to return back to India. I will briefly explain my study plan in Canada and then when I return to India. I will also state that the Indian aviation industry is much more robust than the Canadian aviation industry. There are more flying jobs in India than Canada. Canada is a mature aviation market and the growth is nominal over the years (until pandemic) while India was the fastest growing aviation market (until pandemic) and even now the recovery has been very swift. So, it makes sense to go back to India and try to find flying jobs. I will explain this.
The fact that my parents and extended family reside in Kolkata. My parents are old and my sister is married. So, I am the only one who takes care of them
This time I will include property evaluation certificate from the CA. But it's in my parents name. Please let me know if it will show strong home ties or not ?
I have 56k CAD worth of FDs and mutual fund investment in my name. Should I include that here ? Does it show strong ties ?
I currently have valid US B1/B2 and C1D visa. In the past I have held short term Schengen, Chinese, Russian, Egyptian, Thai and Vietnamese visas. I have extensive travel history in US and western European countries while on ship. My ship is based in US. I have been to Russia, Thailand and Vietnam as a Tourist. There's no precedent of me overstaying at anytime in the past.
Please advise me what more can I include here or what changes should I make in the above draft ?
• Pursuant to paragraph 220(a) of the IRPA, I am not satisfied that you have sufficient and available financial resources, without working in Canada, to pay the tuition fees for the course or program of studies that you intend to pursue.
Last time also I had shown enough funds (total 171k CAD in form of (bank balance + FD + mutual funds + 10k CAD GIC + 10k CAD prepaid tuition fees) so I am not sure why this reason was given in the refusal. My expenditure during the course will be 70k CAD (tuition fees + living expense + other expense). I will wait for the GCMS notes.
I have few questions:
Is FD and mutual funds considered as proof of funds ?
This time I will be getting the property evaluation certificate which is in my parents name. Can i include it when I show the finance since it's not in my name ?
I hold a joint account with my father. Do I have to furnish any new documents to highlight this, because I haven't.
• Given the applicant's previous education and/or employment history, I am not satisfied that the motivation to pursue this particular program at this point in time in Canada is reasonable. Refused under R216(1)(b).
Education history:
On the face of it, I find it hard to disagree with this judgement. However, after a deeper analysis I would like to assert my points for your kind reconsideration. The motivation to pursue this program has always been there. Lack of funds was the chief reason (there were many more reasons which I have discussed in my SOP) why I wasn't able to pursue this course way back in 2005, fresh after my 10+2. Flying is something many of us dreamed about as kids, but eventually life gets in the way and the dream is often sidelined. I come from a middle class family in India. In 2005, I had to make a decision regarding my future and I (more like my parents) chose the much less expensive and traditionally safer option of Electronics engineering. So I played the cards I was dealt with and over the years I have worked hard to save enough funds to complete this program comfortably and still have a safety net. In all this time I have always subconsciously pursued my eventual dream of becoming a pilot.
I understand that I already have a Bachelor's of Engineering degree and now after 10 years I am going for a certificate level course. By all appearances it would seem unreasonable to go for a certificate level course now when I already have a Bachelor's degree and work experience. However, that would have been the case if I was looking for career progression in my current field of expertise (Electrical / Electronics engineering). What I am looking for at this point in my life is a change of career. To study this course the minimum education requirement is 10+2. It's a certificate level course which will allow me to get a Canadian CPL (Commercial Pilot's License) which I can easily convert to an Indian DGCA license upon returning back to India. I understand the rationale that since I already have a Bachelor's degree, it's logical if I had chosen a master's degree, but a certificate level program is the only traditional method of gaining a CPL not just in Canada but anywhere in the world. To become a pilot, there's no master's level program that I am aware of.
So, I would like to reiterate that I am looking for a change of career at this point in my life and I am only 33 years young ! Ideally I still have 3 decades of working life left in me. That amounts to thousands of flying hours the way I see it. It's my firm opinion that it's never too late to challenge yourself and do something new, especially something you have always dreamed of.
Employment history:
I started my career on cargo ships and for the last 4 years I have been sailing on passenger ships as a 2nd Electrical engineer. My motivation has increased since I shifted to passenger ships. Yet again, on face value my employment history as an electrical engineer seems unrelated to my proposed course of study. However, there are a lot of similarities but you have to be in my shoes for a moment to see the correlation. For starters both are in the business of transporting passengers. The process of getting onboard is same - you report at the terminal, go through security, immigration and board your vessel/aircraft. A cruise ship has a Captain, officers, engineers and hotel crew. Similarly, an aircraft has a Captain, first officer, ground engineers and cabin crew. One of the fun similarities is that both set of crew get to travel a lot. Even though my discipline is engineering I find myself quite inclined towards navigation. Also I like the work profile and quality of life of the bridge officers / pilots. Flying is alluring as a profession but the major hindrance is the high initial training cost. I know for a fact that there are many like me who go for flight training later on in their life when their finances are in order. If you randomly pick up 10 pilots it's quite likely that many of them will have very diverse backgrounds. It's not just my opinion but also based on my personal experience of interacting with a lot of flight crew and looking at many profiles on Linkedin while doing research. I hope that I have addressed your concerns.
This is a little hard to explain to the VO. If they don't want to understand they they won't. Would you suggest any changes or anything to add ?
