@ aydewale

Hey,i really feel what you're going through,and i would pray it would be okay. Is there any news yet ? Just use people like burnin testimony as a point of contact in your prayers.
And let us know the outcome.

igbogolo:

@ azimit.

I attended the last canadian study fair in february. The CDHC representative said they only lookk at the fees for the first year in the applicants account. So for them to grant u a visa, they must be satisfied you have enough resources for the first year.
Is this your first year of admission? can u defer to next year? if yes, I will suggest you go ahead and make payment. Most schools need a commitment fee to know the number of students they expect and also to project for the academic year.
June 2 to me is a bit late. I have friends that applied in march that are yet to heat anything. This canadian embassy visa people are lazy oooo. what are they processing that wll take centuries to conclude? nawa oooh!

I'm not here to defend the Canadian embassy; apart from the fact that they may be under-staffed with respect to the number of applications they receive, over the years, Nigerians have made it difficult for Nigerians by submitting fake documents. A good %tage of applications they receive are supported with fraudulent documents, so genuine applicants tend to suffer long wait times because of (un)necessary scrutiny. Once upon a time, it was the Canadian embassy in Accra that processed all applications in West Africa. On a good day, majority applicants in the embassy were Nigerians, however you know your fate the very day you go in to submit your applicationeither you are asked to go do medicals or you are denied. Regardless, they rejected bank drafts from Nigerian banks; guess why? After a few years, they required Nigerian students to get the WAEC office to send the WAEC results directly from their office. Anyway, we make things difficult for ourselves. Travelling around the world today with a Nigerian passport is an unnecessary hustle; you could be embarassed by mere clerks in airports trying to ensure the Visas on your passport are genuine. So let's not blame anyone for our woes but ourselves. True, Africans are most times subject to ridicule and neglected, thanks to our leaders, but Nigeria is very unique case study. Now that the embassy has moved back to Lagos, I doubt the consulate in Accra suffer such long waits. I guess u folks just have to be patient. . .!

Come to think of it, in this age of info tech, should it take so long to verify?

Wouldn't it be to call the school and or send emails, same for the bank or any institution. Burnin; Home1986, can we have ur experiences? It appears that ever1 I who applied in April got it? How far?

Still waiting for their response. Over 60 days now. Over 45 working days. Shoo. Wetin dem dey verify? Wetin dem dey do? I tire. Just making me anxious and keeping my plans hanging.

@ Adewale

My broda I tire too!!!
Why cant the embasy employ local nigerians to assist with the verification?? Subjecting someone to a 4 months wait for a study permit while his documents and passport are kept, to me is terrible.
It took my organisation just 4 days to verify my document for employment. it should not be different for the embassy.
The americans insist on an interview and do not labour everyone with a wayward verification exercise. You will always know a fake student by looking at one. Just a few quetiions will bring the rookie out. Nigeriansn are not more fraudulent than canadians themselves so i wonder what all the time spent on verification is all about!!!

It is Nigerians that do the verifications and interviews.

Yomex, u appear quite knowledgeable, do u have more information for us, mine is now over 60 days and 45 working days. it is now quite annoying. Well we would keep praying and watching. I would keep everyone posted on the outcome. Thank you and God bless.

@Aydewale & Igbowolo:

Playing the devil's advocate, let's assume there are 200 applications, and it takes 4hrs (not 4 days like Igbowolo's company took them) to verify an application. This means in an 8hr day, they can only verify 2 applications. 200 applications (which is not far-fetched) will obviously take them 100 WORKING days. Assume your application was no. 160, that means you have to wait for 80working days. If you applied to Igbowolo's company, u'd probably have to wait 640 working days (that's more than 2yrs) to get employed. Guys,  relax. . !

igbogolo:

@ Adewale

My brother I tire too!!!
Why can't the embasy employ local nigerians to assist with the verification?? Subjecting someone to a 4 months wait for a study permit while his documents and passport are kept, to me is terrible.
It took my organisation just 4 days to verify my document for employment. it should not be different for the embassy.
The americans insist on an interview and do not labour everyone with a wayward verification exercise. You will always know a fake student by looking at one. Just a few quetiions will bring the rookie out. Nigeriansn are not more fraudulent than canadians themselves so i wonder what all the time spent on verification is all about!!!

Really? Some of y'all think you have a solution to every problem. . .!

@Delta,

I like ur analytical skills and sense of humour. U see why we all need Canadian education, to make us as brilliant and smart as you are, well me am quite anxious sha, I think it is all quite arbitrary and no one can say what the problem and challenge(s) really are. I know some1 no, be dem say who applied on May 14th who got a response 2 weeks ago. sho, I applied days before him and nothing yet, I wonder what the difference is or is last treated first? is there some inverse logic? just wondering and hoping for the best.

another reason why am so pissed and think its arbitrary is because I know a good standing notary public in one of the top three law firms in Nigeria earning over 12 million a year (excluding bonus/ profit sharing) who was denied a visiting visa saying they were not sure he was returning. I saw his package and I knew it was quite 'fool proof' as it contained his salary, evidence of investments, wedding pictures, everything you can think of,

I just keep wondering how they reach their decisions,

aydewale, did u submit personally or by courier. more than 45 working days is too long.

yomex4ever:

aydewale, did u submit personally or by courier. more than 45 working days is too long.

I have to agree with you. 45working days is quite a stretch. I'd be more inclined to visit the embassy at this point (again) and perhaps send them emails with a file number (if you have one).

am wondering what is at miss. I just cant fathom it. I have sent them mails and they have even stopped replying my mails. The last time I went there they just said they were still processing my application. I tire. May the good lord have mercy on me.

I submitted personally and there was attached a self addressed pre-paid courier envelop. It is really annoying. I would appreciate any other suggestion or assistance I can get in this regard.

God bless you all.

@ Delta
If I have a secretary that uses that analytical tool to arrive at a 2 year processing time, I will fire her.
Lets assume you have a file of 10 names. First you sort them out and process in batches not ONE BY ONE. I was once a guest at the US public affairs commission. When I chatted with the american repreentative, I was amazed at the data they have. They virtually know every school in nigeria and contact adress. And banks too. Organizational eficiency demands you sort the files out AND PROCESS IN BATCHES!!! You dont treat one file , run back and report then take the other file ,treat, run back and return with the third file!!!!!!!!!!! Do them all at once and treat in batches.

Having said that, the canadian embassy has been here since 1999 i think?? They should have the contacts inground at the universties et for verification. Thats how it shoud be done.

@ adewale
I once called the embassy to make enquiries and demanded to speak to any senior oficial at the canadan embassy. the nigerian guy that picked told me to call by 4pm. I called by 4 there was no one. I later found out that the embasy closes by 3.30pm . They are unhelpful and i doubt anything useful will come out from calling them

When is ur program starting?? Giveit sometime and then return to the embassy. And keep praying

@ Delta

with all due respect, I do not buy your reasoning; this isn't the first year the Canadian Embassy has had a large volume of applications to deal with, they obviously took the number of applications into consideration before setting out the 30 working days or is it 45 working days time duration.

I remember a few years ago, they would reject applications once they realise they will not be able to process such before the resumption date for the schools, so to delay for such undue periods is really worrying for the candidates. I commiserate with you all, but I insist; visiting the embassy and demanding to see someone inside is your best bet. Simply waiting for them to call you might be taking too big a risk in my opinion.

I'd advise you to forget about the 'arbitrariness' or otherwise in visa applications - if the officer feels you are in some way suspect, he will deny you the visa. It happens everywhere. Focus on getting a response from the embassy - go there!

@debosky

Thank you my brother

My program starts in August with pre-sessional activities/ orientation.

However lectures start on September 3rd, 2008. Thanks. I am hoping I can get it as soon as possible. I also hope they intend to give me and they are still verifying.

@aydewale , yea, I hope u get it
end of August is just orientation of new students/frosh week,

@Adewale

I hope you get it. Is your orientation program compulsory?
Well, that your documents has not been returned by now could mean they are considering your applkication. I think you may have the chance of getting the visa this time.
Give it a while and then return to the embassy.

Goodluck!

Tanx, God bless you,

I wish evry Nairalander in my shoes all the best,

@igbo,
I think u are taking that my "devil's advocate" scenerio too serious. I was only trying to read some sense into the delay. Like I mentioned early, 45 days is quite a stretch and just as Debosky mentioned, visiting the embassy and demanding to speak with an insider is a good approach.

@ Delta.
My brother, am just aggrieved. Its been 50 days since I applied for a study permit. This wait is breaking cos I cannot do anything till the outcome. My rent is due in 9 days. So what do i do?
My collegue flatly refused to apply with me to go to canada. She said she does not have the time to waste on canadian shakara. She left 3 days ago for her MBA in the U.S.
For those of us that are very agressive with our careers, time is everything. I cannot afford to waste a year.

I so regret not pursuing my University of Florida MBA program to its conclusion. I rather opted for canada because of my scholarship. But right now , i do not care anymore. Id rather spend my money where I know I will eventually get value for it.

I hope that people that are gearing up for a program in canada would drop it and go to the US or Uk or somewhere else. Their shakara is just too much!!!

@ this juncture, I do not know what 2 say. A close friend of mine, who got scholarship to study in Canada, just got rejected. Reasons: not sure he would come back and he is not a bonafide student.

I think these Canadians are just very wicked people because this guy has a very good job here in Nigeria. He works with a multinational and has good prospect. In fact he works with accenture. Am sori I had to mention his workplace. This is really frustrating.

It even makes me more bothered. After wasting so much time, you begin to hear such news. Its really unfair, inhuman and in my view, racist. You won't even believe that he has a car, has a mrtgage and was given full scholarship. I think its just unfair and our Government is not doing anything to change this.

I feel so discouraged and unhappy. Don't the visa officers review documents? Don't they apply some commonsense? Would I have a very good job, be on scholarship and still want to run away to wash plates? Even if I would, wouldn't Canada rather encourage such a person? I just think the visa officers are racist and very wicked or simply dull, deab and unintelligent. Its really unfair that you wait 4ever and stil get this kind of verdict. Its just unfair.

Hi Dewale,
God pass them!! Like I said before, just take am eazy! Nutin spoil. at least you got a good job here in 9JA! and that's exactly why I ain't bothered anymore. Was refused last year, but that didn't stop me from applying this year also. I have seen so much to know that it is not with the level of packaging (credentials) or Bank account or even a scholarship! With the CDHC, anything can happen. NA PRAYER O!!!

RELAX GOD IS IN CONTROL!!!

you people should let Canada rest, Chill, next time, apply to more than one country if you wish to do so. Your friend getting visa is an exception because US also reject too many people as well. They r doing their job. PERIOD

@ Ezinwannem
It's easy for you to say,you're over there. If your application was with them for 60 days,and then still rejected,i don't think you would be singing the same tune.
But it's all good.

@kadman, there is nuthing like itz because am over here. They have to do what they have to do even if it will take them 100 days. There is nuthing really any of us can do but to wait for them. Everybody can't get a student visa even if you have da best job and a  zillionaire. People are here saying why would someone with a good job wouldnt go back after studies. Believe it or not, it happens. All I can say is good luck and wait for their reply. 2 of my cuzzins r in da same mess but all I keep telling them is to chill because we can't go and beat them up.  besides, my case is different.

ha!this don tire me too.I was just contemplating make payment without waiting for the approval again as my school is harassing me as in i have gotten three letters from them saying they want my commitment as they need to take position on number of students coming and i kept pleading for time and even send their reminder to embassy but no reply.

Thank God,i have a good job and going to canada is not the end of the world,just that quality education gives you a lot of opportunities and in many organisation,you are place ahead of your contemporaries.Well,lets wait and see but Adeywale,its well.

@asimit, wat school is that? Ask them if your money will be refunded back 2 u incase b4 u make any payment.

asimit:

ha!this don tire me too.I was just contemplating make payment without waiting for the approval again as my school is harassing me as in i have gotten three letters from them saying they want my commitment as they need to take position on number of students coming and i kept pleading for time and even send their reminder to embassy but no reply.

Thank God,i have a good job and going to canada is not the end of the world,just that quality education gives you a lot of opportunities and in many organisation,you are place ahead of your contemporaries.Well,lets wait and see but Adeywale,its well.

I doubt any school will require full tuition payment at this time. They may require a non-refundable deposit to confirm your sit. . .depending on the program and your fees, that could range between $200 upwards. I dont think $200 is much of an issue with you since you have a "good" job. So, I'd advise pay it or try to buy time by calling the school directly. BTW, what program and school?

aydewale i understand d way u feel on d delay in the processing of ur application at CDHC.I'll advise you to continue to exercise patience(e'en though it's not dat easy).i also submitted my application on 15th May via courier and heard nothin from the visa office until thursday last week when they returned my passport with some documents informing me to go 4 d medicals and to report at their V/I office for an interview on 25th July.
I believe urs will sail thru and remember dat sometimes good things don't come easy!!
I've just finished my medicals,Pls anyone in the house with advice as regards the interview?what sort of info or questions would they ask? I'd apprc8 such info.

Niagara College Canada to do a postgraduate study in Environmental studies.I already paid the deposit 0f 250 canadian deposit requested and another deposit towards my homestay arrangement.I have money to pay the fee in my account but my uncle will fund the maintenance and my company approved my leave of absence with just basic salary payment.Like Adeywale,just worried that all my arrangement should not be in vain.

@nedureg01, this is  good news and am soo happy for you. I hope you will be granted a visa. Please any1 with information as regards 2 possible interview questions 2 spill it out.

My friend's sister that came in May told me these ones

1. What course are you going to study? Assuming you say Economics, they would ask you "What is Econs?"
2. What is the job of an Economist in an organization/company?
3. Why do you want to study in Canada?
4. Why do you want to study abroad?

Note: 3 and 4 are different. I will get her 2 tell me what she answered to the above questions
However, she said she read about the program she wants to study cuz they asked her sum questions about da course.

Good luck