The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which is the federal authority for immigration decisions in the country has announced that it would process student visa applications within 20 calendar days if the student is eligible for and applies through the Student Direct Stream. Students who are legal residents or hold citizenship of India, Vietnam China, and Philippines are eligible to apply under the student direct stream. They are required to submit their applications electronically.
SDS Applications for Study in Canada Processing Time to Be Reduced.
The IRCC made this announcement in its latest update last week. According to the update, all students who apply under the student direct stream or SDS would be eligible to enjoy the reduced application processing time, with one caveat however. The student will have submitted a duly filled and completed electronic application, accompanied by biometrics details as well as all the other required documentation. If any details are missing or if the application is incomplete in any way, then the student may find his application being delayed.
The IRCC stated that it will continue to process paper based student visa applications under the Student Direct Stream or SDS until the 15th of May 2019. For the uninitiated, the Student Direct Stream is an exclusive and expedited student visa application processing program that is available to legal residents and citizens of India, Philippines China, or Vietnam who aspire to study in Canada(https://globaltree.in/services/abroad-education/study-in-canada/) at any university, college or post-secondary Canadian Designated Learning Institution (DLI) and who meet all the specific requirements of the application by furnishing their documentation upfront. Students who wish to be eligible for applying through the Student Direct Stream, will need to apply for and obtain a letter of acceptance from a Designated Learning Institute in Canada. They will also have to provide proof that they have paid tuition fees for the first year of their course by purchasing a Guaranteed Investment Certificate, and complete their medical examination. The student will also have to score a band of 6 or higher in IELTS and/or score a CLB of 7 or higher for French. The government of Canada had introduced the Student Direct Stream, in order to streamline the student visa process for international students who wish to study in Canada