International students looking to study in Kamloops could face delays after closures of immigration offices in several cities.
Image Credit: School District 73
August 26, 2013 - 9:51 AM
KAMLOOPS – Delays for international students wanting to study in Kamloops have the board of education concerned as closures of offices in several key cities are negatively affecting the ability to apply for study permits.
Several years ago School District 73 rolled out a program offering international students a chance to be fully immersed in English Canadian culture. The students, aged 13 to 18, can join one of six different Kamloops schools for a period of three months through three years.
With the closure of Canadian Immigration Center offices in Seoul, Tokyo and Berlin students are experiencing delays in receiving permits, which leads to missed flights and delays in orientation and classes, vice chair Kathleen Karpuk says.
Job action by office staff has affected students throughout Europe and Mainland China in particular, Karpuk says in a letter to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Difficulty applying online because of language barriers has added to the difficult process of applying for student visas. Karpuk says this creates a negative perception of Canada being a destination for education.
The immigration office says they regularly evaluate the network of offices to be more 'effective and efficient' and that by shifting everything online the processing times will be better, once the entire system is transferred online and stabilized.
Last September 93 students landed in Kamloops to take part in the international studies program.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2013