Congrats bro!!!!! I'm happy that it finally came to be.

richcasey:
Very Long Post Alert

"It's outrageous you had to go through that, did you record it on video so you could report them?" was what my fiancee asked me over a call at 20:47 hrs on Tuesday 11 June, 2019.



Thanks to God Almighty for the gift of life
@Thesoj it's my time now bro.
Thank you everyone here.

JustMellow:

The bolded might not necessarily be the case. The PA wasn't convincing/constructive enough

You are correct on the bolded. The thing though is that visa applications are as much about perception as they are about facts.

It's entirely possible that the eight-page SOP was really good, but if I was a VO presented with such an SOP I'd immediately assume that the writer hasn't been able to distill his/her reasons for visiting Canada into clear reasons. This essentially becomes a perception issue -- VOs are really busy people and expecting a VO to read an eight-page treatise shows a lack of empathy for the busy VO. Such a lengthy writeup creates a significant burden for the VO, and introduces negative emotions in the VO's mind even before they start reading the document.

In summary, you are entirely correct. My view however is that an application for a visa should present the information from the VO's perspective, and an eight-page SOP does the opposite -- it immediately creates the impression that the applicant is a rambler (even if untrue).

My general rule is that a visa application mostly requires the art of persuasion, requiring a combination of logical arguments as well as empathy for the counterparty (the VO).

I'm really sorry but I can't respond to PMs at this time.
All the information and advice that I have about getting a student visa are in my comment history.

Staodi:
good day bro @thesoj ,please how can I get to pm you...? I need some advice from you if you please don’t mind.thanks

Haha thanks!

Frankrobbn1:


The boss himself thesoj, I officially welcome you back to the thread.

A TL DR refers to a short summary written for the reader who may not feel like reading your full writeup. It's another way to refer to the summary section of an article or writeup.

alao1981:
laughs! If only I can write like the great Chimamanda! Point taken, but not sure I understand the terms "TL DR". Whilst I do not plan to write another 8page SOP, it will be good for future reference to know what it means. Google says it is abbreviation for "too long didn't read" notations, but not sure that was the context you used it.

You are welcome . Glad it helped!

ralfudoh:
Ancient of days. I salute. Special mention to you sir. Thanks for the SOP reviews and criticism. My application has been approved and passport stamped and returned. Thanks once again.

alao1981:
Dear All, initial application in March refused on the sole basis of "purpose of visit". From the support on this platform, I have since realized that the reason is probably the SOP (8 pages and complicated). GCMS notes just showed up and the explanation is that "The applicant's Plan of studies appears vague and poorly documented". I wanted to confirm that this is indeed about the format of the SOP and not mean something else. Thank you.

An eight-page SOP is just too long and the VO probably didn't read it, or got confused reading it. In my view, the only way a VO would read such a lengthy SOP is (a) you have a concise TL DR on the first page OR (b) your writing is like Chimamanda prose.

An eight-page SOP is a sign to the VO that you have not yet figured out your reasons for wanting to study in Canada.

victree007:

Hello it's Berliner1
Do a search again. Berliner1

Thanks! Berlin is beautiful and full of so much history. Wow. I'm impressed.

Twallace:

Baba. Nice to see you here. Can you search for a contributor to this thread with username "Berliner". I think he is in Berlin.

Thanks! I did a search but Berliner has an empty profile with no posts ( www.nairaland.com/berliner ). Did you mean a different moniker?

Random post. Anybody in Berlin and wanna hang out or show me around?

I was a silent reader of this thread in 2015-2016, but a major contributor to the Canadian student visa thread. I'm visiting Berlin for three days, from the US.

I remember you sent a few emails my way earlier in the year but I couldn't help as promised -- been unbelievably busy this year.
But I am very happy to hear that your well put-together application (I went through the files you sent me) scaled through.

Phocusjosh:
Thanks boss. You are the real MVP

Phocusjosh:
Long Post Alert

Visa Approval after 16 weeks of application

...

Nevertheless, I read more of thread 7,8, 9, 13 and more of @Thesoj post for hints

Congratulations!

Hello World!

jnyuwa02, great work on the thread bro. More power to your elbows, and I'm looking forward to hearing news about your successful TRV application.

hoeludayo39:
@Jahluv, honestly, there is no correlation between Industrial Mathematics and scientific Computing. This can only fly if you are working in a computing firm and you want to gain more knowledge to be able to come back to improve the firm.

Besides, you already have Msc. Why do you want to have another Msc in a different field? Did you explain all these in you SOP?

If you had chosen a course in education, it would have been better with a good SOP considering the fact that you did education in your Bsc and also teaching.

Order for your GCMS notes, tackle the reasons and refire.

Good luck bro.

The bolded is incorrect. There is a very strong link between math and scientific computing. Scientific computing is literally at the intersection using computers to mathematically formulate and efficiently solve numerical problems across scientific disciplines.

Scientific computing = efficiently using computers to solve difficult math problems. Cest fini.

Themechanic:
Hello house please if you have a research assiatantship will you need upload the evidence of work requirement in study?
Cc thesoj

No. A research assistantship is considered a part of your studies and isn't a job, from an immigration/VO standpoint.

Congrats Alantobie!

10shuare:
@thesoj all the gurus in the house pls look into this�

Defer your admission. Why do you think the VO will treat your application in a special way and respond to your application in less than half the average processing time?

Also, why do you think the VO will treat your application drastically different if you are age 25 vs if you are age 26 at the time of application?

Either way, rushing to reapply doesn't help your cause of addressing all the issues from your previous application.

Per your question about your non-parent sponsor I already answered you about it in the past. Plus, this topic is probably the most highly discussed topic on the thread.

I'm afraid that you risk being denied for insufficient funds again if you are not willing to make the meagre investment of reading a few pages of the thread to identify how to address your previous insufficient funds denial.

jnyuwa02:

...Normally TA or RA position should suffice as part of the overall funding. But recent observation compels the believe that CIC does not treat RA and TA funding as a full scholarship or even part of an applicant's funding package. The recipe you recommended won't work. Why do I say so? Because it has been tried by an applicant right here on this forum. He had "full funding" comprising TA and RA position at Simon Frazier University....

I fully disagree with your speculation turned fact, as described above. This is not the first time that VOs would deny applicants with funding but didn't make it abundantly clear. Even if he wrote "full funding" it doesn't mean that the funding letter was clear and showed all the amounts necessary; if I remember correctly another applicant on this thread said he got full funding but his funding letter didn't state the amount (and was denied for insufficient funds). This is likely the application you are referring to.

I also can't understand how you make the logical leap that the applicant was denied because he had a research assistantship and not a scholarship.

Research assistantships are scholarships for funding purposes.

I'm afraid I have to agree with the poster above. Stating your position authoritatively without being open to being challenged is very bad for the thread, and doesn't help future readers whatsoever. And this defeats the purpose of the thread, and causes unnecessary confusion to readers.

WEIRDPC:


How can I upload two documents in one row for the online route. ? Each time I try to upload a second document for the same row, it deletes the previous

cc: thesoj

If I understand the question correctly, you will merge all the documents that you upload into each section and then upload that single file

WEIRDPC:
Thanks boss. How long before they send my passport back to nigeria?

I don't know.

WEIRDPC:


I wrote 62k cad. I assumed the 12 mil was worth 42k

Where does the additional 20k come from? Was this obvious to the VO?

In your next application, I'd suggest you add a table showing a summary of your tuition & living expenses as well as your sources of funds. Each line item would have a description.

Sorry about your denial, but you will be able to fix this.

In your next application, assume that the VO is lazy. Make everything crisp and abundantly clear.

Yep. To the VO, the info on your CIC form is a very important summary of your application. If your CIC form showed no inkling of your sponsorship, and your admission letter mentioned nothing of your funding, then it wouldn't be surprising for the VO's eyes to have glazed over the funding letter.

You need to make the VO's job as easy as possible. Put the most strategic information in the most important places.

Also, what did you write in the "Funds available for your stay" box?

WEIRDPC:


Thanks.
I stated my uncle and mum as sponsor in the cic form.

My tuition wasn't stated in the admission letter .

An additional letter was provided for my RA. it wasn't stated on my admission letter.

I provide an additional documents that states the fee information for my studies. This letter was attached with my admission letter

WEIRDPC:

A graduate of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering,
going for my masters in civil and environmental engineering.
Cgpa of 4.38,
completed school in 2016,
observed my NYSC from 2016 to 2017,
used my uncle as a sponsor, inflow of 257mil and outflow of 251 over last 6 months,
My mum as a co-sponsor, total savings a little above 6 million,
RA of 20k dolls,
She is a Civil servant,
uncle is a businessman,


denied based on purpose of visit, insufficient funds to pay tuition and family ties

Cc: Jnyuwa02

What did you fill as the sponsor in the CIC form? If you wrote any other thing than "scholarship" or "research assistantship" (or something making it 100% obvious that you are fully funded) then the VO will not know to look for your funding letter.

Was your funding amount (exact numbers) and length clearly stated in your admission letter?

Contrary to what others have said, a research assistantship is treated as a scholarship for funding purposes. Several applicants in the past have gotten their TRV with N2m-N4m in their accounts given that they had full funding (something like N5m in an account would be best tho). VOs treat full funding the same, whether it be via a traditional scholarship or full research assistantship.

If you had full funding, there is zero reason to pay your fees beforehand. You need to provide significant clarity to the VO about your funding.

Please answer the above questions about what you filled in the forms and the amount and length of your funding as stated on the school documents you submitted to the VO.

Funding letters from Canadian schools are a much more credible form of sponsorship than your parents or any sponsor you can find. Canadian universities are not at risk of defaulting on your tuition payment. I couldn't emphasize this enough. Of course it's still important to have your own sponsor to show that you have funds for your transportation, or in case you lose your funding at a future date.

@osemigho your help is needed here.

Hello brother! Hope the Ontario Colleges strike ends soon. lol.

hayqinsbFX:
Two hands up.....

I am so busy these days and I rarely accept PMs. I hope you understand.

Please ask your question publicly here so that other readers can benefit.

Also I read through your comment history and see that you are applying for an undergraduate program. An additional recommendation I'd provide is that your sponsor show strong sources of income, as well as a bank statement with significant balance even after paying for tuition & living expenses.

You say your school fees & other expenses are approximately N7.5m. I'd suggest that your sponsor show a balance of much more than that amount even after paying your school fees & other expenses (because your program is four years long). Also, if your sponsor has dependents, the VO will not consider it credible that the sponsor will spend all of his/her savings on you. So your sponsor's bank statement balance must be more than enough to cover his/her dependents and your educational expenses.

Assuming your sponsor has a spouse and two kids, I'd suggest he/she show a bank statement balance of at least N15m (this is just my opinion) in order to show that he/she can comfortably sponsor you. As mentioned above, the sponsor would also provide proof of income and pay one year of your expenses ahead of time.

An undergraduate program is four years long and the VO needs to know that your sponsor is financially able to fund each of the four years.

10shuare:
@thesoj brotherly I am waiting for ur mail o....pls

You are right, and I generally hold your exact opinion.
And this is the reason why I think that every applicant should prepare his TRV app with the assumption that the VO will be drunk and grouchy when reviewing his/her TRV application. As a result, my view is that the applicant should make everything abundantly clear to a fault. And this may mean repeating the most critical information more than once, in strategic documents & explanations within the application.

jnyuwa02:

You give VOs too much credit and goodwill. When the fact of the matter is that many of them do such a shoddy work reviewing people's application. From so many application of people I have seen, it is abundantly clear to me that VOs don't take the time to carefully review the totality of the evidence before them and read carefully people's letter of explanations. In so doing, they miss vital information and deny an application that otherwise should have been granted. Sometimes I wanna shout foul and charge them with dereliction of duty were it possible. In the present case for example, they stated that he seemed to be sponsored by "himself, a parent or third party." This tires me. Which one is it? A straight look at the column on the form that asks the question of who will be responsible for his educational expenses, should have given the VO a clue or the answer to who exactly is sponsoring the candidate. See what I am talking about?

tommee:
Hi, Please can you share the email address of accra and probably assist with a format of how the mail should go
Regards

Read my posts on this page.

For their email, just do a simple Google search for "CIC Accra email address" and the first link gives you the answer.
Google is your friend!

tommee:


Hi @jnyuwa02,

There was no part where the sponsor letter or my SOP specifically mentioned 4.6mill because there were various lodgment in the account we printed 6 months from march to august and in march there was a lodgment of 2mill in may there 1.8mill and then july the 4.6mill the lodgment comes in annually and theres a line in the sponsor letter that states this. i never taught the V.O will see it as lump sum. I also attached every rent receipt that was paid into the amount from march to august from as low as 250k to 750k till it got to the 4.6mill please see below lines from the sponsor letter that is pointing to the rent do you think the below is enough to re-open my application and what are the procedure to re-open app....

Forgive me for being blunt, but you can't blame the VO for not understanding the source of the lumped sums given that you didn't explain it to them. It is not reasonable to expect the VO to make the connection between your rent receipts and the lumped sums in your account(s), especially given that you probably had a ton of other financial documents that they had to look through and make sense of. You need to tell the VO exactly what you want him/her to know. VOs aren't mind readers.

I personally think that the job of a VO is boring, and s/he won't rack her brain to make sense of your application if you don't help him/her help you. Apologies if I sound rude, because I don't mean to. Hope this helps.

jnyuwa02:


These statements made suffices as an explanation as to the origin of the lump sum and you may ask for a reopening of your case. Make sure to quote in verbatim the same statement you made before explaining the lump sum that you think the VO missed. Send an email to Accra with subject, "motion to reopen case based on error of fact." Then proceed to explain in body of email the factual error missed by the CAC, appealing graciously and respectfully that your case be reopened and reconsidered. Don't introduce any new evidence. Just a statement of explanation will do. Good luck!

Chai, this guy . Your suggestion (in bold) is sweet, concise, and is music to the ears.

10shuare:
Somebody pls help me o I am so confused right now and don't know what to do. I was denied my Canada study permit. Reasons:
Insufficient funds without working in Canada to pay tuition fees, to maintain myself and to transport myself . I applied through maple education as my agent. But my agent now is saying even if am applying again I cannot use my Jan admission letter. I have to defer to get may admission letter to apply again because of d tym. And am 25 now and will be 26 next yr. A family friend is sponsoring me with 8million in his account. My school fees is 4million other expenses is about 3.5million. Tho I didn't pay any of my fees when I applied before. Pls wat should I do?

Again my agent gave anoda suggestion to apply to hungary to get a student visa nd i resume in jamuary to do nursing which is my choice of course because I was given biology in my previous admission to Canada.

Pls which step should I go with. Should I wait for Canada or go with Hungary?

I'm sorry for your visa denial.

Based on your question in bold, I would encourage you to not make a desperate decision.
A student visa denial solely based on insufficient funds is probably the most solvable denial possible.
To be blunt, Canada would be a better decision than Hungary.
But if you don't have the funds to go to Canada, then go to Hungary or wherever you can afford.

The main issue with your Canada app is that you applied using a family friend sponsor and VOs (visa officers) are usually skeptical because third-party sponsors aren't necessarily credible. A more credible sponsor is your dad or mom or even sibling. When your sponsor isn't a parent then you need to be extra convincing that the sponsorship is credible. One way to show credibility of sponsorship is for the third-party sponsor to pay your one-year tuition (attach the receipt to your visa application) and also deposit the CIC minimum living expenses amount to an account in your name (USD equivalent of 10,000CAD transferred to a dom account in your name); you would also attach this evidence.

This thread has discussed the "insufficient funds" topic over and over. I'd recommend you don't make a desperate decision. My advice is that you should ditch your agent and apply by yourself next time. For more info, read this thread from page 0 of Part 13; I know it sounds daunting but you will be making this minimal investment for your future. The returns on that investment are very high. (Also, read my several posts on this page about addressing insufficient funds denials.)