Urgent help with visa reconsideration request

[Nightwalker]

Greetings,



I am a Chemical Engineering PhD student from Brazil who won a scholarship and was accepted as a visiting international student at the University of Toronto, to study there for six months. I had a colleague from my department that went to the University of Toronto (U of T for short) last year through the same scholarship, and had no problems. I started the application for the visa in July, chose less than six months temporary visa and study permit, just like my colleague had done, and I also checked with the immigration advisor department of the U of T and they said it was ok. I proceeded with the application, sent all mandatory documents that were requested of me, but no optional ones, since the system says they would contact me asking for extra documents if they need to. Because this process takes too long, I was basically forced to go ahead and buy the flight and book an accommodation/room, as I am expected to arrive in Toronto on October.

On day 11th of September, I got a letter saying my visa was refused because “there was not enough evidence that I would return to my country after the end of my study period”, which makes no sense as several of the mandatory documents I sent shows the beginning and end of my study period, and, the letter of acceptance of the U of T clearly states I have to remain enrolled in my home university and will return to Brazil in the end of March. I contacted the immigration advisor department of the U of T, the advisor reviewed my documents and said that indeed the letter of acceptance was enough proof that I would return, and that I should request reconsideration (given how little time I have), stating the officer made an error and resending the letter of acceptance, highlighting the segment that proves I will return.

I sent a webform in the day 15th of September. On 16th at night I got this reply to my form, from the IRCC:


Good day,

Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

We’re experiencing a high volume of requests, so our response may be delayed. We’ll respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.

If you have an application in process, you can:

· check processing times

· check your application status online or

· request a change of address

Our agents do not have access to more information about your case status or processing times than you can access online. The processing office will contact you if further information is needed.

For more information, you can:

· get general information about our programs,


find an application package or form, and

· find answers to common questions in our Help Centre.


We understand that timely access to client support is important. Thank you for your patience.

Please do not reply to this email.

Sincerely,



Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada









Which was a bad sign regarding time, but at least they saw the form. Then on Monday 18th I got another reply from the IRCC:









Good day,

Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

We acknowledge receipt of the documents and wish to inform you that they have been added to the file. Please note, for technical reasons, they may not be visible in your online account. Rest assured that your supporting documents are indeed added and available for officer review.

· If your enquiry was solely to provide documents, please note this is the only response you will receive.

· If your enquiry included additional questions in addition to the documents, they will be addressed separately, as soon as possible.

While your application is being processed, we recommend consulting the Check your application status.

For more information, we suggest consulting the following online services:

Get general information about our programs,

Change of address

Download an application package or form, and

Help Centre - To find answers, you may consult the different sections or type keywords related to your question.

We understand that timely access to client support is important. Thank you for your patience.

Please do not reply to this email.

Sincerely,

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada




Which well, proves that they received the document I sent attached and will be available for their review, although their message is kinda generic. Also, good news I guess since they don´t usually acknowledge receipt from what I read? But if I understand well, the message says I wont be able to check the progress of the reconsideration on my account.

So, my question is, will they actually email me back telling me if they accepted my reconsideration and reopened my application or refused my request for reconsideration? Has anyone here done and received something similar? Cause I got no more messages from them after that, and today is the day I have to do something about my flight ticket and I am completely desperate. What should I do, wait them let me know by email the result of the reconsideration? Send another online form saying that, if they need even more proof beyond all that was in my original application (like my letter of acceptance), I do have other extra documents that prove I will return and I can send them promptly on their request, or maybe just downright send them already? Will sending another form delay the process?

This seriously sucks, I did everything right as pointed by the University of Toronto and yet I am dealing with this massive headache. I have been doing everything in my power to solve this problem as fast as possible but it still persists. The money of the scholarship was already given to me and I will face even more problems if I don´t arrive before the middle of October.

 

[mrtravelok]

Well, I am waiting for my study permit application decision. I am just sharing my views regarding your situation.

We all know that IRCC is too slow in processing things for the most of the applications because of huge number of applications or other reasons. I think you could have tried re-applying instead of sending a request to reconsider.

If you can wait for their reply, you should wait.
If you cannot, try re-applying and then wait.
Else, you know what options have left.

Let others also share their views.

 

[hiizoechan]

My husband is currently facing a similar situation. He is a Chemical Engineer who received a full scholarship for the Master of Applied Science program (with research activities) for the Fall term. Originally, he was supposed to be in Canada this September, but he is presently stuck in Vietnam, awaiting progress in his new application.

We had previously submitted a reconsideration letter, but unfortunately, it took a long period to receive a response. In my opinion, you might consider reapplying and ordering an ATIP to gain more insight into the specific reasons for the initial refusal. My husband's ATIP mentioned that he had included information about his work experiences as a Chemical Process Engineer, but no supporting documents were provided. Strangely, they didn't even request him to submit additional documents; they simply refused the application. In any case, I would recommend seriously considering the submission of a new application rather than waiting. Their process is both slow and problematic.

Here is a summary of our situation:

First application: We applied on June 6, 2023, but it was rejected on July 25. At that time, he omitted optional documents like client information, as he believed they were not obligatory, but his friend applied with the same set of documents and received approval.

Second application: We reapplied on July 25, 2023. After seven weeks had passed, we submitted several webforms, but we are still waiting for a response. It has now been two months since our second application.

For this semester, my husband enrolled in two online courses. He contacted IRCC regarding the requirement to take an exam in October and provide proof of lab activities in October as well. However, they responded that they did not have information about the finalization date. This situation has caused him immense stress, as he feels he is waiting in vain. Currently, he is considering deferring to the next term. I truly understand how exhausting this situation can be

 

[Nightwalker]

thanks for the replies.

I understand the suggestion to reapply and I do wonder myself if that is the best course of action, but the reason I asked for reconsideration was because that is what the University of Toronto itself advised me to do (the immigration advisor office), probably because they believe I have a strong case due to what the letter of acceptance of the University of Toronto says, and well, I did get two replies from the IRCC, although not the thing I want to hear yet. I felt that I had no choice but to follow their advice, after all, they are the University I will go to and the biggest one in Canada so one had to trust they know what they were talking about, and if anything happens later on I can at least say I followed their advice, but deep down I do fear this may not be the best choice.

I contacted the University of toronto again, asking if it is okay for me to send another form, this time talking about optional/extra documents, which were not asked of me in my original application, but I do have them and will send them so they have even more proof, beyond all said in the mandatory documents, that prove I will indeed return to Brazil. My fear with this is sending another form may delay the process, and that they may complain I am sending documents outside of those of my original application and unrequested.

 

[hiizoechan]

thanks for the replies.

I understand the suggestion to reapply and I do wonder myself if that is the best course of action, but the reason I asked for reconsideration was because that is what the University of Toronto itself advised me to do (the immigration advisor office), probably because they believe I have a strong case due to what the letter of acceptance of the University of Toronto says, and well, I did get two replies from the IRCC, although not the thing I want to hear yet. I felt that I had no choice but to follow their advice, after all, they are the University I will go to and the biggest one in Canada so one had to trust they know what they were talking about, and if anything happens later on I can at least say I followed their advice, but deep down I do fear this may not be the best choice.

I contacted the University of toronto again, asking if it is okay for me to send another form, this time talking about optional/extra documents, which were not asked of me in my original application, but I do have them and will send them so they have even more proof, beyond all said in the mandatory documents, that prove I will indeed return to Brazil. My fear with this is sending another form may delay the process, and that they may complain I am sending documents outside of those of my original application and unrequested.

IRCC’s decision and the school’s decision are unrelated because IRCC does not differentiate visa types based on study levels, resulting in no priority, regardless of your school's reputation or your professional abilities. Even though you've sent new proof or additional information, they are still slow in processing it, and there is no priority.
Initially, my husband felt disappointed and found it unfair since he successfully passed the school's rigorous interviews and reviews but faced rejection for reasons deemed unreasonable like insufficient funds and a lack of intent to return. I've searched several cases where reconsideration letters were submitted, resulting to the reopening then an approve, but they all share the common aspect of long waiting times and the success rate is quite low and also ambiguous.

Here are my recommendations:

1. Request an ATIP now; it's totally free.
2. Consider whether to continue waiting or submit a new application if you've been waiting for a significant amount of time but there is no move.
3. Prepare for the worst scenario, ask your school about deferring your term.

I hope you soon navigate through this challenging situation.