PGWP - no final transcript

[oneofmanyforeigners]

Hi everyone,

I am an M. Sc. student on a thesis-based program, and late last month I presented my thesis. I was able to obtain an official letter from the Registrar's office confirming I have met all requirements for graduation, but my convocation date was set for October. My transcript right now shows my thesis course as "in progress", and I am told that they will not update the grades until mid-September. I have tried to get them to release them earlier to no avail. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation?

I am thinking of applying with a copy of the transcript as is, and a letter of explanation with attached correspondence from the university explaining that though my transcript does not yet show it, I HAVE completed all requirements for me degree. I have found some similar posts here, but as far as I can tell they were all able to include their final transcripts in time due to unusual delays due to COVID (which do not seem to be occurring at the moment). Please advise.

I spoke to the Faculty of Graduate studies and they said that other studies in my situation do what I am planning to do, and that it works. But, I would like to hear a first-hand account of that.

 

[Simba112]

Hi everyone,

I am an M. Sc. student on a thesis-based program, and late last month I presented my thesis. I was able to obtain an official letter from the Registrar's office confirming I have met all requirements for graduation, but my convocation date was set for October. My transcript right now shows my thesis course as "in progress", and I am told that they will not update the grades until mid-September. I have tried to get them to release them earlier to no avail. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation?

I am thinking of applying with a copy of the transcript as is, and a letter of explanation with attached correspondence from the university explaining that though my transcript does not yet show it, I HAVE completed all requirements for me degree. I have found some similar posts here, but as far as I can tell they were all able to include their final transcripts in time due to unusual delays due to COVID (which do not seem to be occurring at the moment). Please advise.

I spoke to the Faculty of Graduate studies and they said that other studies in my situation do what I am planning to do, and that it works. But, I would like to hear a first-hand account of that.

NO experience about that, but you can apply and attach explanation.

 

[oneofmanyforeigners]

NO experience about that, but you can apply and attach explanation.

Yeah, I guess I will have to see. Wish me luck! Worst comes to worst, I will be able to apply in September, since it's within the 180 days. BUT, I would probably lose a really good job opportunity.

 

[Impatient Dankaroo]

Hi everyone,

I am an M. Sc. student on a thesis-based program, and late last month I presented my thesis. I was able to obtain an official letter from the Registrar's office confirming I have met all requirements for graduation, but my convocation date was set for October. My transcript right now shows my thesis course as "in progress", and I am told that they will not update the grades until mid-September. I have tried to get them to release them earlier to no avail. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation?

I am thinking of applying with a copy of the transcript as is, and a letter of explanation with attached correspondence from the university explaining that though my transcript does not yet show it, I HAVE completed all requirements for me degree. I have found some similar posts here, but as far as I can tell they were all able to include their final transcripts in time due to unusual delays due to COVID (which do not seem to be occurring at the moment). Please advise.

I spoke to the Faculty of Graduate studies and they said that other studies in my situation do what I am planning to do, and that it works. But, I would like to hear a first-hand account of that.

You will need them to provide proof of graduation. You can either wait or speak to the appropriate department / Intl student services and ask them to expedite the process because you have a job offer. My university has explicitly mentioned that final grades take some time however they will accommodate requests to expedite if you have a valid job offer.

 

[oneofmanyforeigners]

You will need them to provide proof of graduation. You can either wait or speak to the appropriate department / Intl student services and ask them to expedite the process because you have a job offer. My university has explicitly mentioned that final grades take some time however they will accommodate requests to expedite if you have a valid job offer.

I do have a letter saying I met all requirements for graduation, and that convocation will take place in October. I also have documents showing that the two pending grades will be included as PASS come September. As much as I tried, the University refuses to release the grades before September.

 

[nadwill21]

Hi everyone,

I am an M. Sc. student on a thesis-based program, and late last month I presented my thesis. I was able to obtain an official letter from the Registrar's office confirming I have met all requirements for graduation, but my convocation date was set for October. My transcript right now shows my thesis course as "in progress", and I am told that they will not update the grades until mid-September. I have tried to get them to release them earlier to no avail. Has anyone had experience with a similar situation?

I am thinking of applying with a copy of the transcript as is, and a letter of explanation with attached correspondence from the university explaining that though my transcript does not yet show it, I HAVE completed all requirements for me degree. I have found some similar posts here, but as far as I can tell they were all able to include their final transcripts in time due to unusual delays due to COVID (which do not seem to be occurring at the moment). Please advise.

I spoke to the Faculty of Graduate studies and they said that other studies in my situation do what I am planning to do, and that it works. But, I would like to hear a first-hand account of that.

I am actually in the exact exact position as you. Waiting just for my thesis mark and they will only have that by end of September, no exceptions! Did you end up waiting or submitting? Mine study permit will expire by September 25th and so I am just going to attach what I have and hope for the best? I also have to start working asap. What are you doing?

 

[rafaelh9]

removed

 

[oneofmanyforeigners]

I am actually in the exact exact position as you. Waiting just for my thesis mark and they will only have that by end of September, no exceptions! Did you end up waiting or submitting? Mine study permit will expire by September 25th and so I am just going to attach what I have and hope for the best? I also have to start working asap. What are you doing?

I applied and included a lengthy letter of explanation as well as documents and emails showing that I had completed the program (like the thesis evaluation document, the letter for the registrar's office, and emails I exchanged with the the faculty of graduate studies). I included the transcript as it was, even though it did not show the final thesis mark. My application was approved about two months after, so I would say go for it. (Obviously, though, this is not professional advice). Best of luck!

 

[Esporte321]

I applied last week with the official letter from university and with an un-official transcript. The transcript was obtained from university website and does not contain any kind of mention that I completed the program, only the courses and grades (no pending grades). In other words, it was a transcript, not a *final* transcript.

IRCC website states that [1]:
"All you need to apply for a PGWP is

• an official letter from your school that confirms you’ve completed your study program, and
• an official transcript, or a copy of your transcript from your school’s website."

In this case I understand that an un-official transcript is correct (obtained from school's website). Also, they do not mention "final transcript", only "transcript".

In other link from IRCC website, it states [2]:
"Get your documents ready
Before you can apply for a PGWP, you need one of the following to prove you’ve completed your studies:

• a degree or diploma
• an official letter from your school
• an official transcript, or a copy of your transcript from your school’s website

We may request other documents once we receive your application."

Note that they say that we need only one document, however to apply we must update two documents: letter + transcript (if you go through the application you will see that we can't continue without upload these documents).
From this paragraph I understand that we need only one document to prove that we've completed our studies. Sure that we do not have the degree/diploma yet, but we do have the official letter from our school AND the "copy of your transcript", in other words, "un-official transcript".

These are the reasons why I decided to apply with the letter from the university and with the un-official and not final transcript. However, the last line the extract from [2] is pertinent. If the official final transcript is absolutely necessary, they will not refuse the entire application, they will simply request it after a first analysis of the application.

That is my opinion and interpretation of the text published in the website cited below and may differ from the immigration officer interpretation.
Please, share your opinions.

[1] https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=755
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/after-graduation/apply.html