Chinese students take Ottawa to the court to delay the study permit

Dozens of Chinese graduate students accuse Ottawa of discrimination because their study permits applications have been left for forgetting for several months, which prevents them from starting their advanced certificates in Canadian universities.

Yixin Cheng, a 27 -year -old PhD student in UBC, told CBC News from Hangzhao, China.

Cheng is one of a group of 25 students who filed a federal court against immigration, refugees and citizenship in Canada (IRCC), who claimed that their files had been fairly stopped in the security examination stage. All of them were admitted to programs at the graduate levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at universities including UBC, McGill and Waterloo University.

All 25 are still in China where the new school year started this week.

“Basically, IRCC pressed the temporary suspension button for my life for more than one year,” said Cheng.

Cheng applied for a study permit in May 2024, and stopped a high -fee job because he expected to be in UBC in the past fall. IRCC on the Internet says that the time for students from China is four weeks.

He said, referring to his previous annual salary: “IRCC makes me lose like $ 170,000,” referring to his previous annual salary.

“If we receive the decision before the end of October, I still have an opportunity to register,” he said. “But I only have one month.”

“Maybe I will lose this opportunity.”

IRCC confirmed that it received its last papers on June 20, 2024, but Cheng has not received an update since then.

Likewise, Li Zhen resigned from his job in Microsoft to follow a PhD in Polytechnique Montréal. He has a master’s degree in Concordia.

But with the suspension of his life, he says he is concerned about paying the price of things like rent and medical insurance.

And Beijing said: “All these things that I need to pay (opposite) without income.”

He said that the delay had affected his family’s mental health, and that he constantly sees a psychiatrist to deal with stress.

Chen says he does not understand the delay of IRCC, and that he “trusts my background is really transparent.”

It says it is a pattern between Chinese students

“When they see this person from China, they leave this issue for a longer period,” he said.

The 25 students want to force IRCC to process their permits faster.

“Something serious happens”

Their lawyer, Fakas Pilsen, based in Toronto, says that the similarities between them-all Chinese citizens, and all of them are looking for postgraduate programs in STEM-made him think “There is something dangerous that happens.”

He says that the lack of transparency is particularly frustrating, saying that four or five weeks of submitting some students have submitted their requests, the IRCC application follower said that the agency had just started examining the background.

“We still do not understand why a detailed and necessary security examination is necessary in this specific circumstance for these students,” he said.

“It is committed to a fair and non-discriminatory application of immigration procedures. All applicants who seek to come to Canada-regardless of their country of origin or the program under which they are undergoing the same examination.”

She says that the web site only provides a general idea of ​​the period that the process may take, and all people who are looking to enter the country must meet the acceptable requirements, including the security examination.

“With security tests by IRCC agencies, we cannot save average treatment time.”

Many student professors delivered messages to Bilsin, detailed the impact of these delays on their programs.

Professor En Hoy Yang of the University of Waterloo wrote, “unreasonable delays” caused severe and continuous damage.

They also put huge personal losses on a doctorate student. “The waiting period has indefinitely caused him to huge psychological and financial pressure, which led to the erosion of his academic willingness,” he wrote.

“Not surprising”

But according to the former director of CSIS, the delay and scrutiny of these study permits reflects real security risks in Canada, especially for STEM students.

“All this takes time. This does not happen overnight,” said Ward Elkuk. The spy agency, along with IRCC and the Canadian Border Services Agency, deal with security checks.

“I am not really surprised because Chinese students in STEM are examining very carefully,” he said, noting the 2019 security scandal at the National Laboratory of Microbiology in Winyge.

“Students have the right to complain, but it is not necessarily the right to go to the Canadian University – this is subject to a security examination.”

“Large quantities of applications awaiting security, which” are working hard to evaluate, “said a spokesman for the CSIS in a statement.

For Cheng and Zhen, every day of waiting is a personal setback.

“I cannot sleep,” Chen said, adding that he was a struggle for him just for a smile, and he does not want to put more negativity on his parents.

Cheng hopes that the situation does not constitute his perception of Canada.

He says if you ask for his impression of Canada, his experience with IRCC will make him say that he is “completely negative and disappointment.”

“But for other people, they are nice,” he said, adding that he really wants to visit Canada before giving his true feelings.

Pilsen, the lawyer, says getting clarity from IRCC will be very important.

“What I hope is to receive a decision on these study permit requests to my customers as soon as possible, and I hope they decide to settle this case.”

But until this happens, students are in a state of forgetfulness, saying that their professional and financial lives and mental health are suspended in balance.