NOTE: THIS PROCESS WAS DONE IN 2017. IT'S BEST TO REACH OUT TO SCHOOL AND READ CIC WEBSITE FOR UPDATED REQUIREMENTS, ETC.
Applying for a student visa can be done on your own. Instead of investing money on immigration agencies, you can invest time on researching how to DIY your student visa application like I did mine. Below is my step by step process for your guidance.
There are two ways to apply for a student visa. You can apply online or apply on paper. I applied online since it is faster and I don't have to send original copies of my important documents but rather just scan and upload them.
Generally, there are 5 major requirements in applying for a student visa. You just have to add supporting documents to ensure a strong application.
1. Valid Passport
2. Letter of Acceptance from a Canadian Designated Learning Institution
3. Proof of Funds - as of this writing, you must have at least $10,000 plus 1 year tuition fee
4. Medical Exam - can be done upfront or wait for request upon application. This can be done only by clinics or doctors that are on the list of Canada's panel physicians. More details of this can be found in CIC website.
5. Letter of Explanation (optional but highly recommended since this is the document where you have to explain why you have to study in Canada and convince the immigration officer why they should approve your application)
I recommend to also refer to the official Canadian immigration website since they may have updates to the requirements.
Below is what I did for my application:
1. Find a university/college. Ensure that the chosen school is a public school so you will be qualified for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) after graduation. This PGWP will allow you to stay and work in Canada after your graduation. This is your chance to find an employer and gain a Canadian work experience to increase your points in Express Entry or qualify in Canadian Experience Class (CEC) stream for Permanent Residency application.
The duration of your PGWP will depend on the duration of your study here in Canada.
1 year study = 1 year PGWP and 2 years study = 3 years work permit
Find list of public schools in this link provided by official Canada Immigration (CIC) website. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study-institutions-list.asp
You may browse list of schools by province.
2. Go to the college website to apply for a program. Instructions and requirements will be on their website. Tip: if the college requires IELTS, try to ask them if “Certificate of English as Medium of Instructions” from your previous University/College is accepted. This will save you Php15,000 pesos and stress of IELTS review and exam.
3. Below are the requirements I submitted to NBCC (New Brunswick Community College) which I mailed to them in Canada via LBC (all hard and original copies):
· College Diploma and TOR (sealed by my university)
· Resume
· Certificate of Employment (COE)
· Certificate of English as Medium of Instructions
· Personal Statement/Letter of Intent
· Recommendation letter from my manager
*Most of these are really not required but as I mentioned, this will ensure a strong application. For NBCC requirement, you may directly reach out to the college or check in their website.
Below is my School Application Timeline with costs in Philippine Peso:
I am not sure about other schools but for NBCC, application fee is non-refundable as well as the deposit fee which is deductible from your full tuition. I did not pay the whole year tuition for my student visa application. I just paid for the deposit fee.
4. Once you’re accepted in college, they will email you with the Letter of Acceptance (LOA), a primary requirement in applying for a student visa. This is the time that you have to pay the deposit fee to them. Instructions will be sent by the school.
5. When you already have your LOA, create an online account in Canada Immigration website.
6. Once your account is created, a list of required documents will be shown.
7. You can only upload 1 file per document requirement and max file size is 4MB per document. So I scanned all the supporting files for that document and just compressed them into 1 pdf file. I used www.ilovepdf.com site for compressing.
Below are the required documents (the column headers) based on my online application as well as the supporting docs I submitted. Sample: for Proof of Financial Support, i submitted 16 supporting files compressed into 1 PDF. These files are enumerated below.
Note: My sponsor is just for show money purposes. I will really fund my own studies and living costs once I’m in Canada via personal loan in CitiBank plus my savings. Financed by myself from application, to tuition, all the way! I have created a separate post for this.
Below is my timeline of the whole student visa process:
Please note that this process is for single applicants only and is based on my personal experience. For international student aspirants who are planning to bring their husband/wife and kids, there are additional steps/process that you have to undergo. Please refer to Canada Immigration website.
Update:
Effective December 31, 2018, Canada’s mandatory fingerprints and photo requirement, known as biometrics, will apply to people from Asia, Asia Pacific and the Americas. More of this news here.