In a big blow to international students, including Indian students, Canada on Friday closed its Student Direct Stream (SDS) program, effective immediately.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will no longer accept applications under its fast-track study permit process, which had helped plenty of international students secure visas quickly.
According to a notice from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Friday, SDS was launched in 2018 to “provide faster processing for eligible post-secondary students” and “eventually opened to legal residents” of 14 nations including India.
It said that “Canada’s goal is to strengthen program integrity, address student vulnerability, and give all students equal and fair access to the application process, as well as a positive academic experience’ and to “meet this commitment” the SDS was scrapped on November 8.
The official website stated, “Canada is committed to giving all international students equal and fair access to the application process for study permits.” This implies that all applications received till 2:00 pm ET on November 8 will be processed under the scheme, whereas all applications sent after this deadline will be processed under the regular study permit stream.
The program had higher approval rates and faster processing times. With the discontinuation of this program, students from India and 13 other countries will have to undergo more lengthy visa processes.
