The Visa Issue: Canada

The Visa Issue: Canada

Canadian Flag

Certainly, if you want to go on exchange to Canada, you will have to consider the “visa issue”.  The student visa in Canada is known as “Study Permit”. You need to obtain a Canadian study permit, if you are a student from one of the following countries:

Afghanistan,  Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, North Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Macao S.A.R., Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives Islands, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia States, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda Sao Tome e Principe, Saudi Arab, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovak Rep., Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Don’t get scared! There are a number of criteria for students who are not required to get a Canadian study permit to study in Canada.  These criteria are the following:

• Students from Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Republic of Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa don't require to have Canadian student visa to study in Canada.
• Students who are the permanent resident of United States who hold a Green Card or can present any evidence which show they belong permanently to USA.
• Students who are the citizens of United Kingdom, either they are in UK or are staying abroad but legally can return back and stay in UK.
• Students who have a valid Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong.

So, if you meet any of these criteria, you should not worry about the obtaining visa procedure!

Application procedure

Documents required for obtaining Canadian study permits:

Of course, if you have to get a Canadian visa, some documents should be presented to prove that you are eligible. These documents include:

• Completed Application for Study permits;
• A valid passport;
• Two photos of the students and each of the family members. The photograph must not be more that six month old. Back of the photo, the name and date of birth of the person appearing in the photo should be written;
• Proof that shows the educational institution has accepted the student for admission in their institution;
• Evidence of sufficient funds to overcome all the living expenses and study costs in Canada;
• Bank transaction statement of last four months;
• Proof of payment of fee in acceptable format. This format varies according to country and region. However, the most general method is presenting it through Bank Draft;
• Evidence that show students have no criminal records;
• Students from some nations may even need to present medical reports (see the list below);
• Any other documents that may help for obtaining a Student visa for Canada.

Medical records:

You have to provide the authorities with your medical record, if you are studying in one of the following countries:

Admiralty Islands, Afghanistan, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Ascension, Austral Islands, Azerbaijan, Azores, Bahamas, Bahrain, Balearic Islands, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belau, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bora Bora, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, CambodiaCameroon Canary Islands, Cap Vert, Central African Rep. , Chad, Chagos Archipelago,China, Cook Islands, Cooz Islands, Colombia, Comoros - Islamic Federal Republic, Congo - Democratic Republic (Kinshasa), Christmas Island, Congo Republic, Croatia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Easter Island, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Gambier Islands, Georgia, Paris, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Huahine Island, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Loyalty Islands, Marquesas Islands, Marshall Islands, Midway Islands, New Guinea Islands, Ivory Coast, Johnston Atoll, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kerguelen Islands, Kiribati, Kosrae, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar , Madeira, Maio, Makatea, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali Republic, Maupiti, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Moorea, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Britain, New Caledonia, New Guinea Mainland, New Hebrides, New Ireland, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue Island, North Korea, Northern Mariana, Northern Sinai, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Ponape, Portugal, Raiatea, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sabah, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sao Tome e Principe, Sarawak, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Society ArchipelagoSolomon Islands, Somali Republic, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Helena, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Syria, Tahaa, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Tokelau Islands, Togo, Tonga, Tristan Da Cunha, Truk Island, Tuamotu Archipelago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, U.S. Trust Territory of Pacific Island, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Western Sahara, Western Samoa, Yap Islands, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Canadian Student visa application fee:

You need to pay $125 for your application.

Processing time:

It is recommended that you submit your application for Canadian study permit at least several months before the start of the academic year so that you can make sure that your visa will be ready on time. The visa processing time usually varies depending on the individual cases. Thus, obtaining Canadian visa might take from a week to a couple of months. 

The Visa Issue: Singapore

The Visa Issue: Singapore

The student visa in Singapore is known as “Student’s Pass”. If you want to study in Singapore, you need to obtain a student pass. However, the application procedure for such a visa varies depending on the education institution where you intend to study. We will provide you with some information about the application process for the following universities in Singapore:

Application procedure:

You need to submit your application for a Student’s Pass at least one or two months before the beginning of the academic year through the Student’s Pass On-Line Application & Registration (SOLAR) system.  However, before the submission of the application through SOLAR you need to be registered in SOLAR by the education institution in Singapore. Therefore, you should provide the university where you are going to study with the following information:

• Name, date of birth, gender and nationality of the student (as appear in travel document);
• Course details, course commencement and course end dates; and
• SOLAR application reference number.

After your successful registration in SOLAR by the university, you have to login to the system and submit eForm 16 and provide the following data:

• A registration acknowledgement notice with the login information provided by the education institution;
• Travel document/passport details (including travel document/passport number, date of expiry, etc);
• NRIC/FIN of parents if the student’s parents are Singaporeans or foreigners who are working or residing in Singapore;
• Singapore’s address and contact details (if not available, please provide the school’s registered address); and
• Applicant’s email address.
• One recent passport-sized colour photograph (to be pasted on the top-right corner of eForm 16) and must meet the following requirements:
• Image must be taken within the last 3 months
• Photograph should be in colour, must be taken against a white background with a matt or semi-matt finish
• Image must show the full face and without headgear (headgear worn in accordance with religious or racial customs is acceptable but must not hide the facial features

Upon the submission of the eForm 16 through SOLAR, you have to print a copy of the  eForm so that you could submit it to the Student's Pass Unit (ICA) and complete the formalities for the issuance of the Student's Pass.

Completion of Formalities:

You will be issued with an in-principle approval (IPA) letter by the Student's Pass Unit through the university where you intend to study. You are allowed to enter Singapore by presenting the IPA letter to the authorities at the checkpoints.

You need to provide the following documents for completion of formalities:

• Your valid passport. A copy of the passport particulars page must be submitted;
• The Disembarkation/Embarkation card, granted on entry into Singapore. If you are currently residing in Singapore on other long term passes, you are required to bring along that pass;
• One recent colour passport-sized photograph (taken on white background);
• The printout of eForm 16 submitted through SOLAR (duly signed by the applicant);
• A copy of the in-principle approval letter; and
• A medical report in the prescribed format (available on ICA’s website).

Offsite enrolment for Student's passes issuance:

The  Student's Pass Unit, in collaboration with the university where you are going to do your exchange, conducts offsite enrolment for the issuance of student's passes. The institution will advise you on the date, time and venue for the offsite enrolment.  When you arrive in Singapore, you have to report for offsite enrolment as scheduled for the issuance of a Student's pass. If you do not have an appointment for offsite enrolment, you are required to go to the Visitor Services Centre, 4th Storey, ICA Building for completion of formality.

Onsite enrollment for Student's passes issuance:

Since the completion of formalities can be done by appointement only, you have to use the e-appointment facility to select the preferred date and time to complete formalities. On the date of the appointment, proceed to the Self-Service Ticketing Kiosk 3 located at Visitor Services Centre, 4th Storey, ICA Building to obtain a queue ticket.

Also, when arrive in Singapore, you are required to report to the Student’s Pass Unit, 4th floor, ICA Building, for completion of formalities for the issuance of a Student’s Pass within the duration of the social visit pass granted at the checkpoint.

 You need to take the following steps of the application:

Application Fee:

When you submit your application through SOLAR, you are required to pay a processing fee of  S$30 by credit/debit cardor internet banking. Furthermore, you need to pay an issuance fee of S$60 so that the Student's Pass can be issued.  Keep in mind that prior to collection of Student's Pass, you have to bring along  a signed copy of the Terms & Conditions of Issue for Long Term Pass (LTP) Card that can be downloaded if you click here

Processing Time:

The processing time is within 5 to 10 working days. However, some applications may take a longer time to process. Keep in mind that during the July/August peak period, applications may take a longer time to process. Thus, you are strongly advised to submit your applications early.

Press release: UniFactory's First Event!

As the academic year is coming to its end, students all over the world might be considering going abroad for an exchange period. The excessive amount of dispersed information online can be overwhelming for a lot of people and that is where Unifactory comes in!  The Rotterdam-based company offers an online platform where students with diverse backgrounds and different academic aspirations can find the perfect university for that once in a lifetime experience. So are you still unsure about where to spend your time on exchange? Unifactory’s first offline event should definitely answer some of your burning questions.

What and Where?

The people at Unifactory are working hard to broaden their online reach. However, the desire to operate offline is still present in the minds of the company’s founders. One of the founders stated that their aim is ‘to strike the perfect balance between online and offline consultancy, for those students who feel more at ease with a face-to-face  interactive consult’. So how will this event take place? Unifactory, being a Rotterdam-based company, has arranged to host their first event at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Not only will the students have the comfort of talking to Unifactory’s exchange consultants, but they can also converse with the exchange coordinators of several universities from different parts of the world (e.g. Singapore, Canada and Finland). More importantly, students are brought in contact with students who have already been on exchange to gain that inside information nobody else can provide them.

When?

This special event will be held on the 12^th of April from 17.00 till 19.00. Any student that is interested can attend, as it not solely for Erasmus University students. All you have to do is click on the ‘join’ button on the Unifactory’s Facebook event called: Exchange Experiences Event.

https://www.facebook.com/events/128591590603190/

A little surprise

But wait there is more. During the Exchange Experiences Event, one lucky person will win a scholarship with the whopping amount of 1000 euro. So click on the ‘join’ button, be there on the 12^th of April, have fun and who knows maybe you will leave with a 1000 euro scholarship!  

UniFactory: Connecting great minds with great places

Interview with the President of ESN Rotterdam

Shopping: Albert Heijn, open markets and Beijenkorf

Rookworst and stamppot

When I first moved to Rotterdam, I had to ask around for at least 5 days before someone could properly tell what were the names of the grocery stores in Rotterdam. Turns out I lived right behind an Albert Heijn, the supposedly high-quality grocery store of Holland. As my diet for 5 days constituted of stale bread and water, I was quite delighted to find out that Dutch people also ate normal food. Well, food that could pass for normal, that is. I also discovered that Albert Heijn was a dangerous place, filled with prepubescent teenagers filling shelves with strange products such as the rookworst (smoked sausage with overpowering taste, usually eaten with mashed potatoes), satésaus (peanut paste, eaten with fries) and different tastes of vla (some sort of heavy custard, eaten alone).

Albert Heijn store

Then again, I was also greeted with delicacies such as the stroopwaffels (thin waffles with heavy syrup inside), roombotterkoekjes (small cubes of what seems to be only butter and flour) and bitterballen (a fried snack with beef, flour and butter inside, in the shape of a small ball), even though some people seem to disagree about it being a delicacy. It seems the Dutch are quite good with pastries. Other names for groceries stores you might stumble upon are: Coop, C1000, Plus, Hema, etc. Small parenthesis about Hema: while not really a grocery store, they pretty much sell anything you can buy, making it the best store to find something you don’t need, but absolutely have to own.

You’ve been warned.

Stroopwaffels

Another great place to go shopping for food and other items is the open market of Blaak. Usually starting early in the morning and lasting until late in the afternoon, the open market is a great place to buy produce and other fresh items for much cheaper. Buying directly from the producers also helps to maintaing the local economy while making sure to eat products that are much fresher than anything bought in the supermarket. The market is also a great place to find miscellaneous items such as phone cases, books, DVDs, etc. The market makes for a great bowl of air as well, and spending a little bit of time in the city, enjoying the company of friends or roommate to do your shopping with.

Market on Blaak

If you feel like shopping for clothes, candy, chocolate or other non-essential goodie, you can always drop by the Beijenkorf, the huge shopping mall situated in the centre of Rotterdam. Standing high with multiple floors, the mall is the best place to find things that are completely useless but definitely need to own. You can find radios in the shape of fruits, phones in the shape of burgers and other funny things. The mall is also a great to shop for clothes, but the high prices might discourage some. If your price range is a little bit lower, as any student’s budget is tight, you can always go to Hema, which is located not so far from the Beijenkorf. One of the entrance of the Hema is situated in the Koopgoot, an underground street filled with stores, eateries and other shops. Be careful though, lying down in the middle of the Koopgoot might anger some security guards (cf. video).

Events While In Toronto

Shopping

Unless you have a car you will probably do all of your groceries shopping in one of the many small supermarkets. Or you will find a friend who has a car :)  In that case you should note that when driving you can turn right on red. Other kinds of shopping can be done at Dundas Square which has a really big mall. The mall has all the shops needed for pretty clothes shopping.

Dundas Square at night!

Events

There is a website for special events in Toronto http://www.ttc.ca/Trip_planner/index.jsp. The website contains lot of information about some very cool things going down in Toronto.

 If you like art and you would like to enjoy it for free visit the Art gallery of Ontario on Wednesday night from 6pm to 8:30pm.  There is also a student discount admission to Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) on Friday nights starting at 4.30pm.

Toronto!!!

Night life

You definitely do not want to miss out on the wild night life Toronto has to offer. Check this out – the places such as bars are open as long as 2am! And in case you are already tired earlier you are lucky because the last metro takes you home at 1:30am. Therefore we would advise you to go house parties. There parties are much better since by the time you get to the party in town (it takes about an hour to get there) it’s time to go home (if you are decided to take public transport). And not to lie to you, since we are all students – house parties are also much much cheaper.

If you want to drink in bars and clubs in Canada you must be at least 19 years old. Again, go house parties! J No public drinking is permitted and it is not possible to buy alcohol in supermarkets. The alcohol store is very very far from the village or campus so think carefully when you are stocking up.

Still, if you decide to go out for a couple of drinks remember to visit the Hard Rock Café for some cocktails and some really nice atmosphere. London tap house is another must-stop. It is a really nice club to go to at night with a terrace that you simply must see. The best view of Toronto that there is!!!

The kind of cocktails you can order. Party Time!!!

 Going out for dinner

 There are 3 places that we can recommend if you get tired of all the delicious home-cooked student food: 

• Sushi place with a great deal: all you can eat for 20 bucks 
• Eggspectation is a good egg place but kind of fancy at Dundas Square 
• Little Italy is a really good  Mexican place

Special thanks for this article goes to Xenia Fink a 3^rd year IBA student who went on exchange to Toronto and was so kind as to provide us with all of this first-hand information. 

-- Maja V