Canada’s immigration department, IRCC, recently announced impactful changes to the international student program. These changes include a new cap on study permit approvals for 2024 and the implementation of a new policy that requires a provincial attestation letter for international students applying for their study permit.
These announcements have left prospective international students with many questions about how the changes will be implemented and how it might affect their chances of obtaining a study permit for Canada. This article aims to address some of the most common queries and provide information on the details revealed by IRCC.
IRCC has implemented the new study permit cap and the attestation letter process starting from January 22nd, 2024. This means that only 360,000 study permit applications will be approved for the remainder of the year. However, the process for provincial and territorial governments to issue attestation letters has yet to be finalized, with a deadline of March 31st, 2024.
The new changes to the international student program extend to anyone who did not submit their study permit application before January 22nd, 2024. This means that even if you have received a letter of acceptance, unless you applied for your study permit before January 22nd, you will be subject to these new policies.
At the time of writing, it remains unclear whether international students will have to wait until the end of March to apply for their study permits. The responsibility now lies with Canada’s provinces and territories to develop a process for issuing attestation letters to international students, and if they can establish this framework before March 31st, international students may be able to apply for their study permits sooner.
According to IRCC, certain study permit applications will be exempt from the new changes, including minor children applying to attend primary or secondary school, students applying for post-graduate programs, and students applying to extend or renew their study permits.
The process for international students who wish to change their educational institutions in the coming year is unclear at this time, and IRCC may provide more clarity on this as the year continues.
The new international student cap and attestation letter process is a temporary measure, set to be in effect for the next two years, as announced by IRCC on January 22nd. The department will reassess the cap imposed on international students for 2025 at the end of the year. For more information and to discover your options to study in Canada, you can visit the official IRCC website.
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