Visa fears weigh heavy on minds of Indian students headed for Canada

Indian students in Canada and those planning to leave for their studies in the coming weeks there are a panicky lot with the India-Canada situation escalating to a bigger crisis with India suspending visa services to Canadians.

Students planning to settle in Canada are currently contacting education consultants, seeking guidance on the next steps.

“Those who have already received visas are now questioning whether they will be able to travel or not,” said Leverage Edu CEO Akshay Chaturvedi. Till Wednesday evening, around three of the last 100 calls that came into Leverage Edu’s office about studies in Canada were about the impact of the India-Canada fallout. By Thursday afternoon, calls from panicky students had spiralled nearly seven-fold.

Concerns about potential deportation or being sent back to their home countries are weighing heavily on the minds of students and parents. “They are also apprehensive about how this situation might impact their permanent residency (PR) application process, it being a big reason why they choose Canada in the first place,” Chaturvedi added.

Speculation flying also added to the anxiety. Collegify CEO and founder, Adarsh Khandelwal, said that it is being speculated that the visa services might be temporarily disrupted. According to Yocket founder Sumeet Jain, most students from India are from Punjab so there is high likelihood of sentiments getting hampered.

Siya Sabhrawal, a student preparing to apply to Canada for masters in 2024 is concerned about her safety. "I have been looking forward to studying in Canada for years, but the current situation is already making me doubt my decision. Even today, a gang-related killing has been reported. Students need proper reassurance to be able to apply to Canada."



“Tensions are running high among students, especially in the last 24 hours. Those who have gone in this session are a little afraid now, and students who are planning for the next session have already started exploring some other destinations,” said Ashwini Jain, CEO, ForeignAdmits.

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Piyush Kumar, regional Director- South Asia and Mauritius, IDP Education, which sent 20,000 students to Canada in the last 12 months, says the speed at which things have been escalating has left students really confused and concerned.

“There are students who were supposed to leave in the next three months for the spring session. Now, if the Canadian government starts putting a ban on visas, then either they will have to wait it out and see how things go or quickly start applying for other destinations,” he said.

Canada is a large destination market for Indian students. The heightened tension in the relations between India and Canada is unlikely to impact Indian students who are already in Canada and are holding valid visas, said Amitabh Jhingan, partner, EY Parthenon.

“Going forward however there could be changes in the visa policy and/or visa approval process and rates which may hurt the next batch of students heading to Canada. The current tension would also impact the destination choice of many students who are in the process of finalising their study abroad plans,” said Jhingan.

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