Thanks so much for your email and connecting with us about your questions.
With regard to study decisions/immigration advising, since the start of the pandemic there have been a lot of changes related to IRCC policies and programs, and we encourage students to always meet with an advisor in GEO, as the IRCC policies continue to change frequently. Our office has four regulated immigration advisors (RCIC/RISIA), who are able to provide immigration advising. We also have our FAQs page that addresses the most common concerns, but due to the rapidly changing policies impacting international students during COVID-19, students are strongly recommended to connect with our office about their situation, as student cases are individual. In terms of a resource that applies to both domestic and international students – immigration advising to international students is both case and regulation specific (study permit/IRPA/IRPR), so the considerations are different than for domestic students and our colleagues in academic advising refer international students to our office if students are considering making changes to their enrollment status.
For general information around the PGWP we have the PGWP information page and it provides an overview of the various aspects related to the PGWP eligibility, background information, IRCC PGWP website and links out to the tutorial we maintain with our colleagues in Vancouver. As noted on the link you shared, if students need to drop down to part-time status, they must ensure they are aware of this impacts their immigration status, including but not limited to PGWP (impacts work eligibility during their studies as well), so we encourage faculty and campus partners to connect them with our office. In regards to the PGWP and related documentation for IRCC, students are encouraged to keep documentation that would support their withdrawal – including a copy of their transcript that they were enrolled full-time before withdrawing and when they withdrew – so when it comes time to apply for the PGWP, they can use this documentation to support their letter of explanation. IRCC officers use their discretion to assess applications based on a student’s individual circumstance. There is additional information about this aspect here.
Our office works closely with Dr. Reid and Jennifer Janok to support students and address case-specific issues for immigration and settlement purposes. Should any concerns arise with a specific student, please let us know and we are happy to follow up with them. Our website includes helpful guides that we regularly update as immigration policies relevant to international students change as well as our contact information.
Please encourage students to contact our office as well, geo.ubco@ubc.ca and we will connect them with an advisor.
For impact on student loans for domestic students, students may contact student services or the following website. I’ll leave it to Andrew to include anything further for domestic student support, if needed.
Kind regards,
Saher
From Andrew:
Thanks for connecting with us on this. As Saher pointed out, their team has four regulated immigration advisors, so any time a student has questions regarding the PGWP, Academic Advising refers the student straight to GEO to get the most up-to-date information.
Other than that, when a student expresses that they are planning to drop a course, academic advisors will ask them if they are on loans, scholarships or any sort of funding programs that require minimum credit requirements. We also ask them if they’re in Housing, which also has minimum credit requirements.
If the student is in their third or fourth year, I also check with them to see if they are tracking towards particular grad programs. There are a few programs out there that will require applicants to demonstrate that they’ve been a full-time student taking 27 or 30 credits per year for at least two consecutive years. (This is rare, but it has come up a few times.)
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.
From Saher:
From Andrew: