does anyone know the requirements to obtain a study permit from changing visa?

[Loveforcanada]

Hello! My girlfriend is here on a visitors visa but it expires at the end of sept. She wants to change the conditions of her visa to a study permit. If she can stay extend her stay here for 8 more months, we can qualify for common law and I can sponsor her. ?
Does anyone know how much of a course load is required to make this successful? She has already been to university for 4 years, holds a degree, and would like to start her own business here one day. Problem is, she doesn't wish to spend huge amounts on more schooling, if not necessary. Is there a minimum of course load to obtain a study permit and change the status of a visitors visa? how are chances improved for getting these?
thank you for reading...

 

[scylla]

It needs to be a full time course load.

The additional schooling she takes also needs to make sense in light of her past schooling - otherwise there's a good chance the visa will be refused. Example: if she already has a bachelors, taking an 8 month diploma probably won't cut it because it's a step down and it will be obvious she's just looking for a way to remain in Canada.

I'm assuming you've already looked into foreign student tuition fees and have seen how much higher they are than domestic fees. To be approved, she will need to show a bank account that has sufficient funds to cover her tuition and also to cover living expenses. CIC will be expecting to see around 1K in living expenses per month (in addition to the tuition). And no - it doesn't matter if she will be living with you. She still needs to demonstrate that she has all of the funds required.

She must also demonstrate that she is a genuine student, has strong ties to her home country and has no plans on remaining long term. Once frequent refusal reasons seen here is lack of home country ties (i.e. CIC suspects the student visa is being used as a means of getting to Canada rather for the genuine purpose of studying).

Last but not least, she should start looking into schools immediately and applying for programs. For your plan to work, she will need to be accepted into a program for September. If I'm not mistaken, some schools have already closed their application intakes for September (universities definitely have).

As you can see from the above, your girlfriend may face some challenges obtaining a study permit in time. If you want to move ahead with this plan get going right now.