Canada has ended one of its most popular fast-track student visa programmes, the Student Direct Stream (SDS), which was launched in 2018 to help post-secondary students from 14 countries, including India, process their visas more quickly. Any study permit applications submitted after the cut-off will now be processed through the regular study permit stream, which may take longer.
Indian students who submitted their applications under the SDS before the 2 pm ET deadline on November 8 will still benefit from expedited processing times. However, those applying after the cut-off will face longer wait times.
“The SDS route has been popular among Indian students for two reasons—the slightly faster visa approval time than the normal student visa route and the requirement for fewer financial documents, as it only required a GIC to be submitted. The ease of documentation option still continues with the regular student visa route, and Indian students can still take advantage of that simpler process,” explained Piyush Kumar, Regional Director – South Asia, Canada and Latin America of IDP, a consultancy firm.
Why the change?
Although the reason behind this sudden policy change remains unclear, experts are concerned it may adversely affect the plans of Indian students hoping to study in Canada. “While the exact reasons behind this change are not entirely clear, it may be connected to broader immigration policy adjustments or an effort to manage the volume of applications amid current diplomatic tensions. For Indian students, the removal of SDS may introduce additional hurdles, potentially increasing processing times and leading to uncertainties,” said Aritra Ghosal, founder and director at OneStep Global, another educational consultancy firm.
Announcing the end of the programme on Friday, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said, “Canada’s goal is to strengthen programme integrity, address student vulnerability, and give all students equal and fair access to the application process, as well as a positive academic experience. To meet this commitment, the Student Direct Stream (SDS) ended as of 2 pm today. Read More
This article is referenced from https://indianexpress.com/
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