Applying in LA office from Canada for Study permit with SX-1 visa

[molotoff1984]

Hi,

I need to clarify the following information found on LA consulate site:

The visa office in Los Angeles accepts the following applications:

Temporary Resident Visas from people in the USA.
Study Permits and Work Permits from people in the USA West of the Mississippi River*, and from people in Canada on valid visitor status.

I am an international student in Canada on short-term courses (less than 6 months) and have student visa (coded as SX-1) in my passport, but don't have study permit as I don't need it for these studies. Now my intention is to attend long-term courses in Canada (more than 6 months), therefore I need to apply for study permit in the office outside of Canada.

Can I be counted under category 'people in Canada on valid visitor status' and apply for study permit in LA office by mail?

Thanks for your answer in advice, guys.

 

[krtecek]

Hi,
I am in the very same situation right now.
If you are coded as SX-1, your status is a visitor. SX-1 is a "Student exempt from the requirement to obtain a study permit."
Therefore, I sent my application for a study permit to LA before Christmas. They returned it yesterday, saying, that as I am in Canada, I am supposed to send my application to the Pilot center in Ottawa. So I called to a Canadian visa office and I was told that as a visitor, I can't send my application to an office inside of Canada. They suggested to contact LA and ask them about it. I have written an email to LA today and I'm waiting for a response now.
It is confusing. I think I will end up sending an on-line application, even though according to the immigration website I am not eligible to do so.

 

[molotoff1984]

Thanks for your reply. I sent the same question on Jan 7 via email to LA consulate, but haven't received reply from them yet. As they declare they do not reply on questions that are answered on their site. So that would be mean either I am right or wrong. Let me know about your result. We are definitely not eligible to apply online for permit.

 

[krtecek]

Hi,
you're welcome. Yesterday I called the CIC Call Centre again and they confirmed that as a visitor, I was supposed to apply to an office outside of Canada. They told me to wait for a reply from Los Angeles - I have not received any reply yet. The problem is that I can't wait anymore, my visa is expiring in the end of January. So I'm sending my application to New York tomorrow, with a letter explaining my delay.

What about you? Have you got any reply to your email?

Hope it will work. I'm quite nervous, though it seems like it has been a mistake of a visa officer and not mine.

 

[molotoff1984]

Hi,

I'm still waiting, but don't have any hope for getting any reply now. They probably are confident that answer for my question can be found on the their website, as they state:

If the information is available on our websites, we will not respond to your message.

Pretty sure it was officer mistake in your case, since you don't have any valid study permit while SX-1 visa cannot be count as that, so you cannot apply in Ottawa CPP. I also made calls to a number of lawyers, and they confirmed that applying for SX-1 holders from Canada is still possible, though not giving any details, of course.

What I would do in your case first is to apply for the new visitor record, to extend your stay as visitor. But if applying for study permit extends your status automatically until the final decision of CIC, then it is OK.

By the way, did CIC call centre agree that applying for permit by mailing to LA can be considered as working solution?

Let me know how things are going for you further. Thanks.

 

[molotoff1984]

It feels like LA consulate web site is changed a bit, but again it states:

"We also review applications for a Study Permit from people who hold valid visitor status in Canada"

Dear students, is there anybody else who applied in LA the way described in my first post?

Much appreciate to hear any information from you. Thinking between applying on my own or using lawyer assistance.

Thanks.

 

[molotoff1984]

Hi everybody again,

Still hope some of your guys have got any kind of experience with LA consulate (positive or negative) . Let me know, if you tried to apply this way.

 

[Ericvv]

Hello mol,

I got almost same situation. I applied SX-1 for shoot term study. But after 5 month I got university offer, now my SX-1 will be expired on this end of month (31th May). Before I got offer, I planed to return my country. However, I wish I can stay in Canada.
I did some research. Basically, SX-1 is belong to visit visa. So I cannot extend study permit, only need to apply for it outside of canada.
Thus, My question is can I apply now, I mean I still legal in Canada during my study permit application precessing. Is it right? Can I?

I don't want miss my study, it is too much important for me.

Thank you,

 

[molotoff1984]

Hi, Ericvv

I applied around 5 weeks ago by mail. Still no answer from LA consulate, but at least my documents are not received back. Therefore my estimation (optimistic one!) for total process time is around 8 weeks (as per CIC site). So plan accordingly, you can apply to get a new visitor record first to be on a safer side, and meanwhile apply for study permit by way mentioned above. But there is NO warranty AT ALL, cause there is NO feedback from anyone rather than krtecek -- and his experience was negative, thus applying this way is a blackbox, and you don't know result until you put something into it. I will provide my timeline and feedback -- negative or positive -- as soon as I finish my process.

 

[Ericvv]

Thank you for quick respond. If I am legal studying in Canada during my study permit applying. I will do it today. because If I leave canada, I could not guarantee I get study permit and visa before coursing start.

So my biggest problem is my visa will be expired soon, and staying at canada to apply student permit is the best choice for me, but I am not sure can I stay at Canada for studying during my application is being processed outside Canada.

And SX-1 type visa makes me confused long time. I thought it is study permit and visa, I only need to do is extending study permit.

Thank you mol

look forward to hearing from you.

 

[molotoff1984]

Thank you for quick respond. If I am legal studying in Canada during my study permit applying. I will do it today. because If I leave canada, I could not guarantee I get study permit and visa before coursing start.

So my biggest problem is my visa will be expired soon, and staying at canada to apply student permit is the best choice for me, but I am not sure can I stay at Canada for studying during my application is being processed outside Canada.

And SX-1 type visa makes me confused long time. I thought it is study permit and visa, I only need to do is extending study permit.

Thank you mol

look forward to hearing from you.

Ericvv

Did you apply in LA? if yes you can put your timeline here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmZuOpGyQcQYdFJ1RTBrcnlZTFNzNFhLUDJFUF9TbFE#gid=0

And I encourage everybody -- who applied the way described in the post -- to share their timeline over the link above.

 

[letsC]

Hi everybody,

I am currently PhD student in US, trying to transfer my credits to canada. Apparently, this is the best place I could find about giving me a feeling about LA consultant performance.
I am about to apply online cause I heard it is faster (half in time). Is there any reason that almost everyone applied paper based in the google doc file?

 

[molotoff1984]

Hi everybody,

I am currently PhD student in US, trying to transfer my credits to canada. Apparently, this is the best place I could find about giving me a feeling about LA consultant performance.
I am about to apply online cause I heard it is faster (half in time). Is there any reason that almost everyone applied paper based in the google doc file?

I guess the only reason for US applicants apply paper based is it might be considered more authentic and trustworthy by Consulate. You can use the following thread as most comprehensive one:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/people-who-applied-for-study-permit-la-consulate-for-fall-2013-t155147.0.html#new

 

[letsC]

Thanks for your respond. I think online is better or at least has no difference according to processing time.

 

[Tolan4uk]

Hi guys can you tell me please, which documents did you sent to L.A. for study permit? i have already basic documents, but maybe i need something else......thanks in advance!)