Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Acceptance: Student Visa to Study in Canada

Recently I was contacted by someone who was also accepted to the program and questioned about student visas for Canada. Although this doesn't pertain to me in particular I thought it would be helpful to post the information I found here to assist others. As I found out, a student visa is actually officially referred to as a "Study Permit" here in Canada.

Before I go on I would like to encourage all students accepted to the MBA program at Queen's who want to know more about student visas to get in touch with Queen's. They have been very helpful with everything I have contacted them about and they assist a lot of students every year.

On the Queen's application process website I found the following excerpt concerning student visas:

International Students
If you are neither a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada you must apply for a Study Permit from the Canadian government in order to enter Canada to enroll in this program. Depending on your country of citizenship you may also be
required to have a Temporary Resident Visa to enter Canada. You should begin
the application process as soon as you receive your offer of admission from
Queen’s. To determine your student visa requirements and to apply for a
student visa go to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Note: Acceptance into Queen’s MBA does not guarantee nor imply acceptance of your application for a study permit. You should not take any final steps, such as moving to Canada, purchasing plane tickets, or quitting your job, until your Study
Permit is approved.


It was explicitly state in the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website that you must have an acceptance letter prior to applying for a visa. You can read through all the specifications for the application process on their website as there are way too many for me to discuss in detail. However, I thought I would post links to the guide, application form , and document checklist here.

Thank you for your e-mails. I hope someone finds this information useful.

(Update: Found this other blogger at Ivey who has detailted the PR process and passport stuff in much greater detail. Suggest those interested in this information check it out)

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