As mentioned in Chapter 5, the international student visa does not permit the holder to undertake a research assistantship, teaching assistantship, or ad hoc employment on campus. All such financial assistance offered by the college is considered to be a form of employment in Canada. A work permit, in additional to the student visa, is required to undertake such employment.

Colleges in Canada do not issue immigration documents, in contrast to the issuance of the I-20 by the college in America. Your prospective college will simply issue you a letter outlining the offer of admission into a specific program. If you have been offered financial assistance by the college, in the form of research assistantship, the college would also issue a letter to that effect.

These documents, issued by the prospective college, are an essential part of the documents you are required to produce when applying for the international student visa. If you have an offer for financial assistance, you would apply for a work permit as well, at the same time. The list of required documents is provided later. Once you have all the required documents, you should visit the nearest American consulate to apply for the international student visa (and work permit, if applicable). You will be required to fill out an application form. You will then be given further instruction on the future plan of action.

Here we present the official definitions, explanations, requirements, processes, and frequently asked questions. We have restricted the information only to what is relevant to the college and university education in degree-granting institutions.

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