₦airaland Forum

Please I just got a second BVL from Lagos office after a passport request and passport submission. The first BVL was from Nairobi before the passport request. Is this normal or has anyone experienced such?
Abeg before people keep asking, I didn't use fake account.

I really did not want to contribute to this being that I am waiting for my passport I submitted since on the 9th of July at VFS Abuja and it's stressing me. Let me first congratulate you on your scholarship. I am an NDDC PhD scholar as well. Only difference between the both of us is that I can use my scholarship to proceed to any foreign University of my choice and I chose Canada as soon as I got a supervisor, a procedure that took two years of constant mails and calls to this same supervisor without response. I will leave that story for another day.

My colleague at the office got the PTDF scholarship to Germany as well and he's for PhD. He has been trying to secure a supervisor for the past 3 months and he told me it's been hell. He keeps getting rejected by the supervisors. I told him to take it up with the PTDF management during the induction which he did and he said you guys were told that one Nigerian Lecturer based in Germany had promised to help. He also told me you guys were given till September 2020 to utilize the scholarship or lose it. So, I wonder if you have gotten a supervisor and if you haven't. are you willing t put all your eggs in one basket, given the tight timeframe for your PTDF scholarship?

I was a recipient of the the PTDF split-site PhD scholarship in 2017 along with some other colleagues. One of our colleagues had already started his PhD at a Nigerian University then. The split-site did not work out because of the Nigerian University arrangement (you have to do two years abroad and one year in a Nigerian University) and so, this colleague re-applied for the PTDF 2018 scholarship and got it to attend a French University for PhD. At that same time he got the US Fulbright scholarship to spend one year of his PhD in an American University. He decided to opt for the Fulbright while waiting for the supervisor nod from the French University. I can tell you that my colleague is a about rounding up in the US and I'm not sure of his supervision arrangements with the French University yet.

I did my masters in Europe under scholarship with the NDDC as well and I can tell you that at the end of three years you will wish you had taken the opportunity to leave for Canada for a second masters. From language barrier, silent racism, opposite traffic orientation, unpredictable and irregular immigration rules, non-existent jus soli, difficult access to PR, there are a host of factors for you to consider. I don't know what your present occupation is but if you're not a lecturer and your long term goal isn't in the academia, then a PhD will be useless to you after 3 years. It is a backbreaking emotional and mental roller coaster and should only be undertaken when the individual is sure that it is what he/she wants.

You might also be thinking of moving to Germany for the PhD and then move to Canada after through Express entry. At that point, it will be difficult for you to use your degree in Canada without topping it up. I have friends with PhDs who got into Canada with EE and their PhD is useless because Canada low key doesn't value degrees other that theirs and America's. This is what recruiters call Canadian experience. I really hope you think about this well and not lose a great opportunity. I would advise you take the Canadian offer and start the program while processing your PTDF supervisor agreement in parallel because I know it will take you another 6-12 months to sort that out. If by the time you finalize the PTDF arrangements, you decide to switch to Germany, then you can write CIC that you are leaving your programme and request that your study permit be cancelled (there is nothing wrong with this as students drop out for various reasons).

Ibitowaoa:
My school application is still ON. I have not withdrawn my acceptance into the school. My visa application was submitted May 26. Medical request since June 24th and haven’t done it yet. Though I have a medical at QFC for 24th Wednesday now.
With your final decision, I plan to write them letter for a 10-15 days additional time to provide medical request as the 30 days will lapse Tuesday-Wednesday of my medical.
However, if granted the visa I might not enter into Canada for 3 years as I will be at Germany, does it mean I can still use the visa approval granted 3 years ago?
Thank you sir as I await your reply

And so I had an 8 am class this morning (I am a lecturer) and after the class by past 10 am, I get to the office and see a 'Do not Reply' mail for CIC. I log into my account and behold, it's a passport request.

Application type: Re-application
Application Date: 5th of June 2019
Medical passed: 13th June, 2019
Eligibility Review: 25th June 2019
BVL: 28th June 2019
Passport Request: 2nd July 2019

Will be back with the details. Let me roll on the floor first!

You will need to calm down. A passport request will follow. Just believe.

Amahjosh:
Hello gurus

I just got a correspondence letter this morning. I applied via online route 7th of June and did biometric on the 11th and my upfront medical was updated to pass on the 13th of June. And today been the 27th of June I got a Correspondence Letter, I guess they have already reached a decision and it a refusal. Do I apply for my GCMS notes now before the final decision comes in to know how to tackle the points raised by the VO and also defer my admission to January intake 2020?

Usually, when BVL drops, it means a decision has been reached.

Chukwuemekatehi:
Gcms notes n u said a decision has been made? What do you mean by that?

Has your eligibility review started?

Chukwuemekatehi:
I don't understand why I haven't gotten a decision uptill now.
I applied on 17April
Did upfront medicals on 17th may,.
It got updated to pass on 28th may,
I got a BVL on 7th June,

Uptill now, no decision or update. I have sent several webdmforms to them yet no reply.

I didn't want to believe this until I read an article on it. Apart from the quota system, highest rejections are from:
1. Schools in the Atlantic provinces
2. College applicants and undergraduate applicants above 21 or 23 (can't remember)
3. Applicants from Nigeria, Pakistan, Cameroon

All information was backed with statistical evidence from Canadian embassy records.

Gwendollyn:
Good evening guys. I applied June 3rd. The VO that took my biometrics was really nice and he tried to make me understand that a times refusals are not necessarily about meeting the requirements or not. That they usually have a stipulated number of applicants that they are expected to accept at a period of time. And if for instance they are to accept a 100 applicants and you are the 101 applicant, there'd reject and just give you generic reasons for refusal. And also, this summer period is their peak work period so they usually encounter a number of delays. We should keep praying and hoping we pass the benchmark

A big Amen to that.

Amahjosh:
I have that in mind Stonecoldsteve, I'm hoping on God it will end in praise.

That is obvious, isn't it? I was just trying to show that there are exceptions to the 'perceived' rule.

Chukwuemekatehi:
You also need to tell him that there were people whose upfront were updated to pass and they were approved.

If you go back through thread 15, you will find people whose upfront medicals were updated to pass and still delayed. Nothing is certain until you get PPR. Just keep praying and hoping

Amahjosh:
Please, the rate at which I am seeing biometric correspondence coming before medical request or medical changing to pass is getting me scared or is it a new pattern.

I applied on the 7th of June and I did upfront medicals and got a biometric collection letter on the 8th of June then on the 13th of June my medicals was changed to Passed. Review of Eligibility has not started yet, Is this normal or a good sign?

I applied April 8th. Biometric correspondence came in May 8th. Refusal came in May 9th

Aisha77:
Agreed but do u have a recent experience?? April or May applicant?

Your brother needs a co-sponsor

oriazowan:
Good morning, please I need advise on how to tackle a refusal reason on personal assets and financial status.
NB. My bro has no landed properties or business (father’s properties out of the picture).
He submitted SOA of approx N5m with about $6k in his dollar account. Given scholarship of $5k and paid TA position in his department worth $5k per semester also.

Congratulations!

amazonrck:
APPROVAL!!! GOD ALONE BE PRAISED.
From a very silent reader who has been following the thread since Part 13 ………….

PROFILE
B.Ed (Educational Management)
M.Ed (Education Policy Studies)
PhD in Education Administration and Leadership.
First Application: Online - June 19, 2018 (Withdrawn in January after 7months with no update)
Second Application: Paper – March 25, 2019
Eligibility – April 30
Request for Medical – May 2, Done – May 8 (IOM)
Medical Passed – May 12
Biometric Validity – May 15
Approved – June 12, 2019.

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED
- Letter of Admission
- Study permit form/Questionnaire
- Temporary Residence Form (Our 2 year old son accompanying me)
- Family Form
- Letter of Funding from School (Fully funded)
- Bank statements (Hubby & Brother: Commitment of 1.2m yearly, first year transferred to my account by brother, no personal bank statement submitted)
- Well written and detailed SOP (5 pages, didn’t have anyone to help review)
- LOE (1 Page, stating reasons for withdrawing the first application)
- Letter of sponsorship & co-sponsorship from hubby and brother.
- Sponsor & Co-sponsors' bio-data pages, CAC of hubby company, Employment ID & Appointment Letter of brother e.t.c
- Letter of consent from hubby (For our son)
- Previous Visa (SA – Study Visa for my Masters)
- Copies of mails between the faculty dean and I, stating I am not required to pay any fee till registration begins in September.
- CV
- Copies of my articles in Academic journals.
- Copy of my published book by an international publisher
- Degree certificates
- Police clearance (SA only)

*** My timeline has been shared to encourage someone who is about to, or may have given up on this journey (don’t give up, your time will come in due season if you faint not).

Please, if I get you right, you applied to write your ACCA exams in Canada? Not that you intend to attend a designated learning institution?

Fame2me79:
Hello everyone, I need some advice on my application, I got my study permit refusal some days ago, I Have bsc in psychology, I work in an accounting firm. I applied to write My Acca in Canada, I need guru in the house to advice on next step. Thank you

• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, as stipulated in subsection 216(1) of the IRPR, based on the purpose of your visit.
• • I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, as stipulated in subsection 216(1) of the IRPR, base on your travel history

• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay, as stipulated in subsection 216(1) of the IRPR, Base on your personal assets and financial status

You are welcome to reapply if you feel that you can respond to these concerns and can demonstrate that your situation meets the requirements. All new applications must be accompanied by a new processing fee.
Sincerely,

Clear you cache by visiting [http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=315&top=23] and download the latest form from [https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides.html]

josmba59:
Hi Guy's,
I was applying for my study permit online. My IMM1294 form is refusing to upload. I am considering going for the paper route since online isn't forthcoming... Please I need a Checklist of all the documents I would be needing for paper route application... Urgent please... Help.

Congratulations

Hopeful2019:
Gbam!

Original Passport requesttttttttttttttttt.

Jesu! This is sillysassysally 2.0!

Please, I would like to know which country your application was processed. Other funded peeps got delays even with SOA.

I need to change my passport photograph to one where i'm smiling to catch this your kind of favour abeg.

Congratulations

Opana1:
APPROVAL ALERT.

TIMELINE

Upfront medicals. 1st May 2019
Paper submission. 10th May 2019
Medical passed. 17th May 2019
Biometric mail. 21st May 2019
Approval mail. 22nd May 2019

I am 37years going for an MA not PhD. I did not add my bank statement. I never stated how my two kids will be taken care of.

In all my application took 8working days. Isn't Good great?

Congrats

Damlovey:
Application approved guys!!!!! Thank you all I’m very grateful to you all. God bless you guys abundantly bracha, dmerciful, qudkom, kez, makano and the rest. Thank you!!!!!!!

Your sponsor has 450k USD. He should state in his letter of sponsorship that as a commitment to his sponsorship, he is transferring your one year living expenses (10000 cad) and your flight itinerary (3000cad) to your account. His SOA should also show outflows of the given funds to corroborate the story.

He should also transfer your tuition to your account if possible. His SOA should also show this transfer.

Does your sponsor operate a limited liability or a sole proprietorship? If it's the former, he has to give you a board resolution stating that he can withdraw money for your education yearly. If it's the latter, he can just state in his attestation that he is free to draw from the account as he likes as he is sole signatory.

For the land/property, get a backdated document stating that the land/property was gifted to you by your father.

nochyks87:
Morning all.

How can one upgrade his personal SOA though I have a salary account which did not have a substantial balance.

1. Can money be put and withdrawn over a period of time say 4 or 5 months? Cause I know putting a lump sum could raise red flags

OR

2. Should I create a joint account with my wife and deposit money into it as savings account. If I can, then should the statement show only the balance or show months of inflow and outflow?

Thirdly, my dad is late and owned an engineering company. My elder sis and mom were the directors of the company which has two big properties of which am residing in one with my family presently. I discussed with them yesterday after my refusal and they concluded to transfer the properties to me to serve as my personal assets. Do I need power of attorney or transfer of lease ??

Pls @ gurus and anyone with ideas or experiences your input is highly required.
God bless

Please how much was in your statement of account?
Was it a lump sum?
Did you explain it in your LOE?

nochyks87:
Documents submitted:
All CIC forms
LOE
Third party sponsorship (in-law) SOA 6months with around 450,000 USD closing balance. He has three teenage dependents.
Sponsorship letter
Tuition Deposit Receipt
Employment reference letter
Employment offer letter
Confirmation letter
Nysc
Bsc transcript
Salary SOA and pay slips
Am married with an infant daughter( home ties)
Wedding pics
Sibling pics of my sis n l
Certifications in Health and safety
Birth certificates of myself wife and child
My sisters birth certificate
Passport pages of my in-law and sister

That was why I said get a co-sponsor. All they have to do is transfer the money to your account and state in their letter of sponsorship that it's a commitment to your flight itinerary and settling expenses. If you refuse to do this you will likely get a refusal. Be guided

ohis30:
To increase to 3-5M, no easy oooo....or are u advising that i play 2 odds....lol

Everyone one keep saying "no money"

Please get a co sponsor. Increase the 1.5m to about 3-5m. Write a letter of explanation for your funding arrangements. Please do not apply until you have fixed this.

ohis30:
I need to be adviced. I am indeed very new here. What are my chances? I intend submitting a paper application on May 28th.
I am a lecturer with a federal university;
I am married with a daughter, but intend going alone;
I gained a funded PhD program in McGill;
have a support document from Quebec (CAQ);
going for upfront medicals May 27th; and
my account balance is N1.5M.

Please respond with accounts or documents I need to add...
Thanks

I NEED HELP, MY FIRST TIME

No matter how bad the conservatives feel about immigration, I don't think they will be in a hurry to change the immigration rules as it will do them more harm than good. With a land mass the size of America and a population of 35 million (compared to 350 million in America), they've got socioeconomic challenges that immigration can help them solve.

Maybe five years from now they might consider an immigration policy review.

chibertha:
I saw it coming with the number of 211g flying around in recent times.

I just pray Canada does not tighten their own knots.

I guess you can try.

Tlontin:
well did mine in qlife. Can I call them?

I did mine at IOM Abuja and they sent me a message saying that they had forwarded my test results to the Canadian embassy and that nothing was found wrong with me. I got the message the next day after my medicals. If you did yours at IOM, you should get a message.

Tlontin:
So I did my medicals yesterday and all of a sudden my bp went up to 150/100. I guess it was due to stress added with that of traveling down to Lagos. I wasn’t ask to perform ECG test. Is this normal? Can I call to ask for test result?

You have to keep praying and hope for the best.

Teslimot01:
Reapplication via online route 25th of March. My profile got updated today that both eligibility review and background check are running together tho background check as been on for a while. I also got a correspondence letter which is my major fear cause I didn’t do upfront medical and I have not gotten a medical request mail either .

Please how did you tackle item 5, lump sum with proof?

sillysassysally:
Nairaland Fam!
Thank you all for the congratulatory messages
The past couple of weeks has been an emotional rollercoaster! But knowing that we were all on a similar journey - each one at a different stage - was some sort of comfort.

My Timeline
Applied with upfront medicals – April 14th
Medical Request – May 6th (I was surprised when I got this medical request because I did upfront medicals, so I was wondering why they were still telling me to do medicals). I sent a web form with my e-medical slip attached and I also sent emails to Lagos, London, and Kenya. On May 7th (the day after receiving medical request), I went to the hospital to see the doctor who attended to me and doctor told me that he sent IRCC a message to link my upfront medical ID to my medical request ID.
Medicals passed – May 8th
Correspondence letter and Passport request – May 9th
Overall, my study permit took less than a month to be approved! Specifically, it took 25 days!

Things I believe that worked in my favour
1. The Grace of God that covered all my errors and colored all my efforts.
2. My resumption date (June 17th). I sort of feel that they give priority to people with nearer resumption dates. If you look at the timeline we have, you’d all notice that people resuming closer tend to get their decisions quickly – this does not mean that you should intentionally delay your application. At the end of the day, no one really knows the minds of these VO’s.
3. I have a strong international travel history (USA, UK, Brazil, South Africa, etc)
4. I made my submissions as organized as possible. Infact, I did a table of content for each pdf I merged so that whoever was working on my application would easily understand it.
5. I explained all lump sums with proof… (Sometimes, I see people saying things like “they’ll increase the money in their account from 5 million to 10 million” and I feel this raises eyebrows as it would question whether those funds are really available to the applicant.
6. I wrote a banging SOP… details below
7. I was truthful in my application. I have like 5 half-siblings (one living in the US and one living in the UK). I mentioned all of them in my family information form even though I was scared that it could potentially weaken my home ties.

Things I believe were the weak points of my application and how I addressed them
1. This was what I perceived to be the main weakness of my application. I was using student loans as proof of funds for my tuition. Mind you, these loans were from a reputable and internationally recognized company called Prodigy Finance. I addressed this perceived weakness by using a sponsor who was financially capable of paying off all my loans (even though most of her asset were illiquid (land and truck). Also, I believe I was able to show a strong academic and professional track record that indicated that I was financially capable of personally paying off the loans on an installment basis.
2. The name of my sponsor across all her documents was not consistent because she is a divorcee. I addressed this by submitting an affidavit of change of name with a newspaper publication

My advice to prospective PO’s
The truth is that you have to do the hard work yourself... Even though you can easily get guidance here, you still have a lot of homework to do yourself... Understand your profile – its weakness and its strengths and address them.

Documents I submitted
CAQ (Mandatory for students schooling in Quebec)
CIC Forms
Digital Photo
My passport showing all previous visas and stamps
Proof of upfront medical exam
Evidence of work requirement in study (my program comes with co-op)
Letter of Acceptance (Unconditional – though I sent the conditional one via a web form. I also begged them to process my application speedily considering my close resumption. However, my web form was never acknowledged). The other documents I merged with my Letter of Acceptance includes; acceptance deposit receipt, academic qualification documents (such as my certificate, transcript, WAEC certificate and TOEFL results), professional qualification documents (such as my CFA level 1 badge, letter of introduction from current employer, my bio page on my company’s website, work ID, and letters of employment from internships I had done in the past), then other documents (such as my NYSC certificate and my birth certificate).
Proof of financial support – Prodigy Finance loan of about CAD 36k (30K for school fees and 6k for living expenses), Paid acceptance deposit of CAD 5K, Scholarship of CAD 8.5K, Dorm account statement with living expenses of CAD 11K… These were the funds that were budgeted for my studies. Apart from the aforementioned, I had about NGN 1m in stocks, NGN 100k naira in T-bills, NGN 250k in RSA, and NGN 70K in my salary account – all of which I showed. In addition, my sponsor (who was my mother) also had NGN 1.9m in her account, NGN 5m in T-bills and NGN 4 m in RSA. I also showed my sponsors illiquid assets such as landed property with valuation worth NGN 40m and sponsors business asset ownership (trucks) worth NGN 20m. The essence of all of these other funds and documents was just to show that my sponsor could actually pay off my loan. Someone (an Indian) told me that if I was using loans as proof of funds, it was important to use a sponsor whose financial situation showed that they could handle the loan.
Finally, under client information, I included the birth certificates of my siblings, as well as the international passport data page of my sponsor (mother). I also included a letter and affidavit of sponsorship, Sponsors business certificate of incorporation and memorandum of association, and sponsors affidavit of change of name with newspaper publication. Finally, my “banging” SOP was in this section.

SOP
Unfortunately, I cannot share my SOP on this forum because I don’t want a case of copy and paste. My SOP also contains personal information… Nonetheless, I can share the structure.
- I started out with an Intro about myself, as well as my academic and professional trajectory.
- Then I moved to another paragraph I called “my purpose” where I spoke about my motivation for the course I wanted to do
- Then I moved to another paragraph I called “Why I chose McGill University” where I spoke about why I decided to opt for Mcgill as opposed to other options in Nigeria and in other countries.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Justifying the cost of my program”. This was important for me to do because – as I mentioned earlier, I was using student loans to finance my education and my school fees is freaking expensive (CAD $ 47,500) so it was important for me to “justify” the cost of my studies to the VO.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Family & Economic ties to Nigeria” where I spoke about my home ties being all my family in Nigeria. I also explained things that would make me return to my home country such as the amazing career I had started in Nigeria (evidenced by all the documents I submitted in my Letter of acceptance). I also spoke about specific things I wanted to use the Msc to achieve in Nigeria.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Funds available” where I showed a table of funds I had available.
- Finally, I finished with a section called “My responsibilities as a student” where I explained that I fully understood my responsibilities as an international student in Canada – bounded by the conditions of my student visa and by McGill University. I also wholeheartedly committed to abiding by all the rules and responsibilities that would apply to me as an International student in Canada and at McGill University.
- Then I ended SOP by telling them that their support is very essential to my dreams. I also humbly requested for the issuance of a study permit that was effective on or before the 1st of June 2019, as I wanted to travel to Canada by the 10th of June 2019 to acclimatize and get ready for my schools’ orientation on the 17th of June.

I have gotten so many emails today alone and I’m afraid that I may not be able to reply all in due time, but I would encourage us to share the questions here. There are so many amazing people on this forum that are committed to helping people! Special shout out to all the people doing this! Cc JustMellow, Bracha, etc. I can’t mention you all, but it gives me great joy when I see how selfless you all are to helping out willingly! Only God can reward you all!
On this note, I want to especially thank Frankrobbn1 - this guy is so amazing! He was so interested and committed to helping me that I started to think he was working for IRCC as a spy… I want to also specially thank AAO7 – amazing person! First time I sent her an email, we moved to WhatsApp and chatted all through the night to about 1 am. It was nice having someone to gist with and to both share all the frustrations we faced with the entire process.

Finally, I want to say a word of prayer to all TRV hopefuls…
Dear God,
You are in control of every situation of our lives and you know every one of our needs, as well as the dear desires of our heart.
I pray that in your grace, mercy, favour, and love, you would allow the application of the hopefuls of this thread to be approved quickly and without delay.
Thank You because you are a God who hears and answers the prayers of your children when we come to You with open hands and a humble heart.
I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

IT SHALL END IN PRAISE!

Congratulations! Well deserved

sillysassysally:
Nairaland Fam!
Thank you all for the congratulatory messages
The past couple of weeks has been an emotional rollercoaster! But knowing that we were all on a similar journey - each one at a different stage - was some sort of comfort.

My Timeline
Applied with upfront medicals – April 14th
Medical Request – May 6th (I was surprised when I got this medical request because I did upfront medicals, so I was wondering why they were still telling me to do medicals). I sent a web form with my e-medical slip attached and I also sent emails to Lagos, London, and Kenya. On May 7th (the day after receiving medical request), I went to the hospital to see the doctor who attended to me and doctor told me that he sent IRCC a message to link my upfront medical ID to my medical request ID.
Medicals passed – May 8th
Correspondence letter and Passport request – May 9th
Overall, my study permit took less than a month to be approved! Specifically, it took 25 days!

Things I believe that worked in my favour
1. The Grace of God that covered all my errors and colored all my efforts.
2. My resumption date (June 17th). I sort of feel that they give priority to people with nearer resumption dates. If you look at the timeline we have, you’d all notice that people resuming closer tend to get their decisions quickly – this does not mean that you should intentionally delay your application. At the end of the day, no one really knows the minds of these VO’s.
3. I have a strong international travel history (USA, UK, Brazil, South Africa, etc)
4. I made my submissions as organized as possible. Infact, I did a table of content for each pdf I merged so that whoever was working on my application would easily understand it.
5. I explained all lump sums with proof… (Sometimes, I see people saying things like “they’ll increase the money in their account from 5 million to 10 million” and I feel this raises eyebrows as it would question whether those funds are really available to the applicant.
6. I wrote a banging SOP… details below
7. I was truthful in my application. I have like 5 half-siblings (one living in the US and one living in the UK). I mentioned all of them in my family information form even though I was scared that it could potentially weaken my home ties.

Things I believe were the weak points of my application and how I addressed them
1. This was what I perceived to be the main weakness of my application. I was using student loans as proof of funds for my tuition. Mind you, these loans were from a reputable and internationally recognized company called Prodigy Finance. I addressed this perceived weakness by using a sponsor who was financially capable of paying off all my loans (even though most of her asset were illiquid (land and truck). Also, I believe I was able to show a strong academic and professional track record that indicated that I was financially capable of personally paying off the loans on an installment basis.
2. The name of my sponsor across all her documents was not consistent because she is a divorcee. I addressed this by submitting an affidavit of change of name with a newspaper publication

My advice to prospective PO’s
The truth is that you have to do the hard work yourself... Even though you can easily get guidance here, you still have a lot of homework to do yourself... Understand your profile – its weakness and its strengths and address them.

Documents I submitted
CAQ (Mandatory for students schooling in Quebec)
CIC Forms
Digital Photo
My passport showing all previous visas and stamps
Proof of upfront medical exam
Evidence of work requirement in study (my program comes with co-op)
Letter of Acceptance (Unconditional – though I sent the conditional one via a web form. I also begged them to process my application speedily considering my close resumption. However, my web form was never acknowledged). The other documents I merged with my Letter of Acceptance includes; acceptance deposit receipt, academic qualification documents (such as my certificate, transcript, WAEC certificate and TOEFL results), professional qualification documents (such as my CFA level 1 badge, letter of introduction from current employer, my bio page on my company’s website, work ID, and letters of employment from internships I had done in the past), then other documents (such as my NYSC certificate and my birth certificate).
Proof of financial support – Prodigy Finance loan of about CAD 36k (30K for school fees and 6k for living expenses), Paid acceptance deposit of CAD 5K, Scholarship of CAD 8.5K, Dorm account statement with living expenses of CAD 11K… These were the funds that were budgeted for my studies. Apart from the aforementioned, I had about NGN 1m in stocks, NGN 100k naira in T-bills, NGN 250k in RSA, and NGN 70K in my salary account – all of which I showed. In addition, my sponsor (who was my mother) also had NGN 1.9m in her account, NGN 5m in T-bills and NGN 4 m in RSA. I also showed my sponsors illiquid assets such as landed property with valuation worth NGN 40m and sponsors business asset ownership (trucks) worth NGN 20m. The essence of all of these other funds and documents was just to show that my sponsor could actually pay off my loan. Someone (an Indian) told me that if I was using loans as proof of funds, it was important to use a sponsor whose financial situation showed that they could handle the loan.
Finally, under client information, I included the birth certificates of my siblings, as well as the international passport data page of my sponsor (mother). I also included a letter and affidavit of sponsorship, Sponsors business certificate of incorporation and memorandum of association, and sponsors affidavit of change of name with newspaper publication. Finally, my “banging” SOP was in this section.

SOP
Unfortunately, I cannot share my SOP on this forum because I don’t want a case of copy and paste. My SOP also contains personal information… Nonetheless, I can share the structure.
- I started out with an Intro about myself, as well as my academic and professional trajectory.
- Then I moved to another paragraph I called “my purpose” where I spoke about my motivation for the course I wanted to do
- Then I moved to another paragraph I called “Why I chose McGill University” where I spoke about why I decided to opt for Mcgill as opposed to other options in Nigeria and in other countries.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Justifying the cost of my program”. This was important for me to do because – as I mentioned earlier, I was using student loans to finance my education and my school fees is freaking expensive (CAD $ 47,500) so it was important for me to “justify” the cost of my studies to the VO.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Family & Economic ties to Nigeria” where I spoke about my home ties being all my family in Nigeria. I also explained things that would make me return to my home country such as the amazing career I had started in Nigeria (evidenced by all the documents I submitted in my Letter of acceptance). I also spoke about specific things I wanted to use the Msc to achieve in Nigeria.
- Then I moved to another paragraph called “Funds available” where I showed a table of funds I had available.
- Finally, I finished with a section called “My responsibilities as a student” where I explained that I fully understood my responsibilities as an international student in Canada – bounded by the conditions of my student visa and by McGill University. I also wholeheartedly committed to abiding by all the rules and responsibilities that would apply to me as an International student in Canada and at McGill University.
- Then I ended SOP by telling them that their support is very essential to my dreams. I also humbly requested for the issuance of a study permit that was effective on or before the 1st of June 2019, as I wanted to travel to Canada by the 10th of June 2019 to acclimatize and get ready for my schools’ orientation on the 17th of June.

I have gotten so many emails today alone and I’m afraid that I may not be able to reply all in due time, but I would encourage us to share the questions here. There are so many amazing people on this forum that are committed to helping people! Special shout out to all the people doing this! Cc JustMellow, Bracha, etc. I can’t mention you all, but it gives me great joy when I see how selfless you all are to helping out willingly! Only God can reward you all!
On this note, I want to especially thank Frankrobbn1 - this guy is so amazing! He was so interested and committed to helping me that I started to think he was working for IRCC as a spy… I want to also specially thank AAO7 – amazing person! First time I sent her an email, we moved to WhatsApp and chatted all through the night to about 1 am. It was nice having someone to gist with and to both share all the frustrations we faced with the entire process.

Finally, I want to say a word of prayer to all TRV hopefuls…
Dear God,
You are in control of every situation of our lives and you know every one of our needs, as well as the dear desires of our heart.
I pray that in your grace, mercy, favour, and love, you would allow the application of the hopefuls of this thread to be approved quickly and without delay.
Thank You because you are a God who hears and answers the prayers of your children when we come to You with open hands and a humble heart.
I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

IT SHALL END IN PRAISE!

Try IOM

Tlontin:
Qlife is June ooo

Please are you speaking of the UK student visa? When I did my master's, they weren't really bothered how you got the funds for your living expenses so far you held it in your account one month before applying.

westlife08:
I tend to disagree with you on this. Showing the source of funds in your account will DEFINITELY strengthen your chances of getting visa approval.I got a UK visa denial about two years ago and the reason the visa officer gave was that i didn't provide evidence of transactions that resulted in the balance in my company account. Since then, i have always included those evidences in all my applications( since i have them anyway and it doesn't cost me anything to include them).

In addition, a friend recently migrated to Canada via the Entrepreneurship route, the source of all the monies he transferred were thoroughly verified before he got his approval


I am not saying one can't get approval without showing evidence of source of funds, but if you can get it pls include it in your application. It will certainly makes things easier.

I am sorry for the delay. You have got good finances as you have 7kCAD extra from your funding. There's also good educational progression. Travel history is not a must as we have seen others get TRV without one. The only impediment I see here that is cogent is your current employment situation.

AgroNACT:
TRV REFUSED! PLEASE I NEED YOUR ADVICE

I applied on the 12th of April, after 21 days, i was refused based on the following grounds: Travel history, Personal asset and financial status, Purpose of visit,
Current employment situation.

I studied Crop Science (B.Agric) and I got fully funded Msc admission to study same course, Plant Sciences at MSc level (Applied Plant Ecology and sustainable system option), U of Sask, College of Agriculture and Bioresources for Fall term September, 2019

The funding covers my Research expenses, Tuition ($6536), Living expenses ($10000) with extra balance of $7k, annually.

I will be 31years old this July. I am currently serving and i will be through with NYSC by July also.

Here are the supporting documents i submitted:
1) SOP (explaining purpose of visit, allocation of available fund, need for NYSC, reasons for lack of travel history, why i must return home, the prospects of my MSc)
2) CV
3) LOA/Funding letter
4) Data page
5) Degree certificate, Transcript and NECO
6) Passport Data page
7) IT completion (IITA)
3 recommendation letters (from USasK, Undergraduate, and IT supervisors, respectively)
9) Research publication (front page) on Int'l Journal of Plant and Soil Science
10) Birth Attestation and Certificate
11) Siblings (5) birth certificates, all married, except last one. All in Naija
12) NYSC (ID, Call up, Posting)
13) Police clearance
14) Msc Research Proposal for grant application (1st 2pages)
15) Certificate of Origin
16) Personal SOA with Balance of #1.2M (for flight itinerary)
17) Wedding Certificate (for home tie)
18) Wife birth certificate
19) Mother's last promotion letter at federal Agric Research Institute
20) Father's death certificate
21) Purchase agreement of 2 separate family lands
22) Photos (Wife and I, with some family members.

I wish to Re-apply immediately my GCMS note arrives in a month time.

PLEASE GURU I NEED YOUR CANDID AND PROFESSIONAL ADVICE ON WHAT I SHOULD ADD, REMOVE OR DO DIFFERENTLY!

Thanks for the great works always.

@Frankrobbn1 @GboyegaD @Austicus @042viber

I agree with you. There are two ways I know one can access their RSA. Either they are out of job or retired. Even when one is out of job, one has access to only 25% (I stand to be corrected). So for me I think RSA just signifies home tie. As the VOs know that there are certain conditions to be met before one can access RSA, I don't think it can be used as proof of funds.

IbikunleBukky:
if i understand you perfectly, is RSA retirement savings account? if the RSA belongs to you, thats not accessible. it can only be used for home ties. my opinion.