I am admitted to a Masters program in Big Data Analytics in Canada for September 2018 intake. I have a peculiar situation. I already hold a PhD (2007) in management. I have been working for last decade including last five years in Malaysia with my current Malaysia work permit valid till 2019 end. I am not an engineer by background.
Eligibility wise, as a student, I am entitled to bring my family along with me to Canada and my spouse is entitled for open work permit. But, I am advised on several forums that my student visa will get rejected if I apply for my family as well. I am self sponsoring my studies and not taking any loans. I have sufficient funds to support me and my family in Canada.
Is anyone here who has experience of applying for family visa for while having student permit or know someone who can share their expereince.
Hi,
Did you get any help or advice on this matter ?
I too have an admit for a PhD [Sept - 2018] in Canada and wanted to know if there are any issues to get visa for my family.
I took a low risk route and applied for my visa alone. I have been granted necessary visa. I shall apply for my family visa after I join the program. I will update once I complete the visa for my family members.
Hi there,
Did you get any further insight on why/if your spouses visa would have been approved or rejected? I have never heard of risk of rejection - an immigration consultant recently advised me to apply for a study permit with an accompanying open work permit for my spouse. Any insight or links to where you saw they would be rejected would be helpful.
The risk is immigration officer not getting convinced about your home ties or intent to return home on completing the studies. I was living outside my home country in Malaysia and did not own any properties in home country. Particularly when you are not pursuing education in your 20s in Canada, the risk of rejection is high. I was applying for study permit in my forties. The Canada Study permit rejection rate is around 36%. Every third application is rejected. Older applicants with all family members are the most vulnerable category.
Now I am living in Canada with family as I am applying in two stages.
As you mentioned correctly, I think that’s typically a low risk route for non-immigrant visa plus family combo for many countries. It, however, increases some paperwork. I remember I applied for my US Student visa alone and waited for that to get approved before I applied for dependent my wife and kid. I was living in Australia and moved directly to the USA, similar to what you have planned. It’s just easier to explain your “non-immigrant” intent if you take that route.