study permit application from within canada

[Tonima]

So I applied 3 weeks ago, my term starts in May. The online update says it will take approximately 9 weeks. I understand that different offices may take different time to attend to their paper applications depending on the traffic but the online applications must be centralised. I mean how does it take someone from the Bahamas 2 weeks to get their permit and me 9 weeks who is right here and already has everything verified since I already had status here before applying for a study permit.
I don't understand how this online filing makes it any better than the paper if that is the case because then applying to the USA consulate via paper would have yielded a faster result.
Anyone facing this kind of dumb problem? how long did it take for you to get your study permit?

 

[Strygald]

I've heard that applying online is faster but now we have to give biometrics which has to be done in person so maybe, maybe not. I followed the advice of my Eduport representative and submitted a paper application at the same time I gave biometrics. I am also skeptical of their processing times, as they change weekly but it makes no difference if you ask me. For example when I submitted my application the processing time for my office was 7 weeks .. then 11 weeks ... then 15 weeks ... 18 weeks ... 23 weeks ... then suddenly dropped now to 12 weeks, yet my application is still being processed after 18 weeks. Of course they say they only aim to process 80% of applications within their processing time, which means for 20% of applications they are free to take forever if they want, quite literally forever!

 

[Tonima]

I've heard that applying online is faster but now we have to give biometrics which has to be done in person so maybe, maybe not. I followed the advice of my Eduport representative and submitted a paper application at the same time I gave biometrics. I am also skeptical of their processing times, as they change weekly but it makes no difference if you ask me. For example, when I submitted my application the processing time for my office was 7 weeks .. then 11 weeks ... then 15 weeks ... 18 weeks ... 23 weeks ... then suddenly dropped now to 12 weeks, yet my application is still being processed after 18 weeks. Of course, they say they only aim to process 80% of applications within their processing time, which means for 20% of applications they are free to take forever if they want, quite literally forever!

the last line bro. its echoing in my head.
it's true though, isn't it? they are free to take forever for the 20%
just getting anxious over it, that's all. I have valid medical and biometrics, so will not need those and everything else was also verified during the process of obtaining my previous status. so even though my application page says I do not need biometrics and medical and background check, it is kind of taking long. I had expected CAQ to take this long, which actually arrived in 3 weeks but not this.

 

[selvakk]

the last line bro. its echoing in my head.
it's true though, isn't it? they are free to take forever for the 20%
just getting anxious over it, that's all. I have valid medical and biometrics, so will not need those and everything else was also verified during the process of obtaining my previous status. so even though my application page says I do not need biometrics and medical and background check, it is kind of taking long. I had expected CAQ to take this long, which actually arrived in 3 weeks but not this.

No such 20% thing is there. The estimate is an average of all applications. Depending on the complexity some can take longer and some can be done faster.

In foreign countries the study permit applications is done at the local embassy. In Canada it is done at a central location and is notorious for being very slow.

That is why you are seeing longer times in Canada but less in your home country. It depends on how many applications they receive and how efficiently they are able to process.

Online applications are technically faster since there is no need to send documentation physically to the embassy, also you can only submit a complete application online, where as in physical applications it is possible to miss something or make a mistake.

If you live in a country where mail does not take too long to be delivered or they process you application in your own country itself then the difference between paper and online is not that much.

Also the approximate time is updated on a regular basis and will fluctuate depending on the number of applications. There is a service Garuntee of 60 days outside Canada. I am not sure how long they can take inside Canada.

 

[Strygald]

No such 20% thing is there. The estimate is an average of all applications. Depending on the complexity some can take longer and some can be done faster.

I'm afraid you're mistaken, this is a quote from one of the replies I received from a CSE:

"As indicated on our website, the processing times provided are based on how long it took to process 80% of all applications during that time period and are subject to change. As these processing times refer to 80% of applications, some applications will fall outside of these timeframes. In addition, as they are an average, there will be some fluctuations in processing times at peak periods during the course of the year."

We don't know for certain but we can speculate that they either exclude the fastest 10% and slowest 10% of all applications or maybe they exclude the slowest 20% ... i've read that some applicants had to wait a really long time, if they include those in their averages then processing times would likely be higher.

There is a service Garuntee of 60 days outside Canada. I am not sure how long they can take inside Canada.

There is no such service guarantee of 60 days outside of Canada(or any guarantee of x days), if i'm mistaken and there is then I would dearly wish you would point me to the official information because I am now at 129 days and counting.

 

[Strygald]

Ok, I found the service standard on their website:

Service standard
IRCC’s goal is to process applications submitted outside Canada for a new study permit within 2 months. In order to process an application, we must have all information and supporting documents.

This service standard was implemented in September 2011.

Performance target
IRCC aims to meet the service standard 80 percent of the time.

Within 2 months is really nice ... unless you are one of the 20%.

For OP, since you are applying within Canada:

Service standard
IRCC’s goal is to process applications submitted in Canada for a study permit submitted in Canada within 4 months. This includes new permits and extensions. In order to process an application, we must have all information and supporting documents.

This service standard was implemented in September 2011.

Performance target
IRCC aims to meet the service standard 80 percent of the time.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/service-declaration/service-standards/new-study-permit-outside-canada.html

 

[selvakk]

Ok, I found the service standard on their website:

Service standard
IRCC’s goal is to process applications submitted outside Canada for a new study permit within 2 months. In order to process an application, we must have all information and supporting documents.

This service standard was implemented in September 2011.

Performance target
IRCC aims to meet the service standard 80 percent of the time.

Within 2 months is really nice ... unless you are one of the 20%.

For OP, since you are applying within Canada:

Service standard
IRCC’s goal is to process applications submitted in Canada for a study permit submitted in Canada within 4 months. This includes new permits and extensions. In order to process an application, we must have all information and supporting documents.

This service standard was implemented in September 2011.

Performance target
IRCC aims to meet the service standard 80 percent of the time.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/service-declaration/service-standards/new-study-permit-outside-canada.html

Yes, while this is true it does not mean it's a hard limit of 80%. That is like the pass percentage being 50%. While you can certainly pass by getting 50% it does not mean that you are restricted to only achieving 50%.

The way you are making the statement it sounds like once they reach 80% of cases solved within the service Garuntee then they can do whatever they want since they reached their target. This is certainly not the case, and they would be litigated to hell if that were the case since you are supposed to deal with individual cases based on the merits of the application and not achieving a target percentage.

Your statement that they can take their own time, even forever with 20% of the applications is not true. Nowhere does it explicitly say that. You are just inventing something up out of an assumption ? If you are stating policy you need to source that from fact and not your own assumptions.

If your application has passed the service Garuntee period you have every right to contact CIC and ask them about an update on your application. I hope you have done so.

 

[Strygald]

I think you are confusing 'guarantee' with 'aim, target, goal', it is not the same thing. Their goal is to process 80% of applications within the processing time, at no point do they use the word guarantee. If they fail to process 80% of applications within the processing time for a given period, do they get penalized for failing to meet their own goal? maybe they do but it doesn't look like it, they can simply say more of the cases were complicated or there were more than usual.

If your application is taking a long time, as in my case, they will just state that only 80% of applications are processed within normal processing times and that unfortunately some take longer than normal. If you ask why your application is taking longer than normal in a case specific enquiry they will not tell you why, only that they are working on it; they also wont give you any indication on when it will be complete. To find out more information the only recourse is to order the GCMS notes... which take a month to get. The GCMS notes will only show what they've done so far and give no indication of when a decision will be reached.

I assume the great majority of foreign students aren't wealthy enough to hire legal services to sue IRCC in a long protracted case, so I doubt they would really get 'litigated to hell' for taking a long time with study permits.

Again, they do not give any guarantee for when an application will be completed.

 

[Kenny76]

So I applied 3 weeks ago, my term starts in May. The online update says it will take approximately 9 weeks. I understand that different offices may take different time to attend to their paper applications depending on the traffic but the online applications must be centralised. I mean how does it take someone from the Bahamas 2 weeks to get their permit and me 9 weeks who is right here and already has everything verified since I already had status here before applying for a study permit.
I don't understand how this online filing makes it any better than the paper if that is the case because then applying to the USA consulate via paper would have yielded a faster result.
Anyone facing this kind of dumb problem? how long did it take for you to get your study permit?

What status are you currently on?

 

[Tonima]

What status are you currently on?

Still waiting.

 

[Kenny76]

Still waiting.

I meant which VISA are you currently on?

 

[Tonima]

I meant which VISA are you currently on?

Oh, my bad. Owp.

 

[Kenny76]

Oh, my bad. Owp.

Thanks