India-Canada standoff fails to get in the way of student visas

“We applied for a student visa for a Jalandhar-based resident on October 3 and got it in 11 days on October 14. Even a student with an IELTS score of 4.5 got his visa which is a big surprise for us too. The success rate exceeds 95%, and in most cases, visas are arriving within 15 to 25 days,” said Tirath Singh of Jalandhar-based Pinnacle Immigration, which has an office in Amritsar too. There was an influx of over a dozen visas processed between October 14 and October 22, he told The Indian Express.

“Despite the closure of consulates and the withdrawal of diplomats by Canada, we remained undeterred and ensured that visa success was not hit. Delays, if any, observed were minor, not exceeding more than five days compared to the period preceding the diplomatic row,” Tirath Singh said, adding that there is a substantial rush for the January intake.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Gurpreet Singh, a Kapurthala-based consultant, mentioned about a student receiving his study visa and spouse visa within two weeks of sending applications simultaneously. “Previously, spouse visas often came later, but in this case, they were obtained concurrently,” he said, adding that there’s been no decline in the visa success rate.

“VFS (Visa Facilitation Services) Global – responsible for managing visa applications for various governments, including Canada – ensured normal operations in 10 Indian cities despite the diplomatic shift on October 20. As a result, there was minimal impact on Canadian student visa application process,” said Gurpreet Singh. He added that a significant number of Canadian visas fall under study, work, and visitor categories handled by VFS, which had clarified on the same day when diplomats had left Indian soil that its Canada-centric visa application centres would continue to operate normally in 10 Indian cities, and from this clarification, it was evident that there would be no major impact on seeking student visa in Canada.

“Canada continues to welcome Indian students despite strained India-Canada relations following the murder of a Sikh separatist leader (pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar) on Canadian soil and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s subsequent statement that claimed Indian government behind the killing of Nijjar,” said Jalandhar-based immigration consultant Harnidh Singh.

Tirath Singh said the recent visa approvals include students scoring between 4.5 and 5 bands in International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam and obtaining marks between 52 and 56 in the Pearson Test of English (PTE) exam, despite the benchmark being 6 bands and 60 marks in IELTS and PTE exams, respectively.