The first thing to know before you apply for your study permit is the time frame. We strongly recommend that you apply at least six months prior to you coming to Canada to start your program. Why because you need a buffer period in case something happens, let’s say you get rejected or something that comes up you need to make sure you have enough time to reapply to add extra documents to your application so that you have enough time before your program starts.
Some people apply just two months prior and they run into this issue especially right now that the processing times are longer than normal. They run into the issue of being late for the beginning of their semester and that’s something you don’t want to do.
Second thing to know before you apply for your study permit or a mistake a lot of people make is choosing a cheap school. Although there is nothing wrong with choosing a cheap school and it’s not wrong to choose New Brunswick community college paying $10,000 a year for good quality education versus going to Algonquin college in Ottawa and paying $20,000.
Although, you will still get a similar decent education in both colleges but if you choose a college that’s $5000 a year that’s not a designated learning institution which means your study permit application will be rejected. Make sure that when you choose your school, it’s a designated learning institution and also please make sure that if you want to get PR that the school has the ability to give you a postgraduate work permit after you finish studies.
The third thing to know is covered restrictions. You need to make sure that the school that you choose is prepared to host you by this time. Most schools have a quarantine plan it’s a two weeks plan where you stay at a hotel recommendation and food. Most schools now have that info on their website so it’s pretty easy to find. Though the Canadian government has their own requirement when it comes to quarantine.
The fourth thing to understand is the difference between your study permit and the student visa. The study permit is a document that allows you to live study and work part-time during studies and full-time during scheduled breaks in Canada whereas your student visa is just your ticket into Canada.
It allows you to enter Canada and then at the airport you’ll be taken to immigration and there, an immigration officer will give you your study permits. There is something important to remember, and that’s if your program has a co-op term or work term. They must give you a work permit, if you don’t get it at the airport you need to ask the immigration officer as sometimes they forget.
The fifth thing to know before you apply for your study permits is a huge mistake people make that cost their application often is you need to attach a proper letter of explanation to your study permit application. A lot of people either don’t do it at all because it says it’s an optional document but there’s no optional documents in your study permit application or they just do it in like five minutes.
5 documents you need for study permit application
1. A letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution.
2. Proof of funds. This could be anything from bank statements to letters of financial support with an affidavit from your parents or relatives that are sponsoring you.
3. Passports. This is a pdf document with all of the used passport pages scanned together and merged
4. A digital photo
5. Your letter of explanation
