A gap in education complicates mature student’s study permit process

Jenny Rokhline
August 26, 2022
It is significantly harder to prove you are a genuine student when you completed your first education many years ago.

Lisa always wanted to go to university. Once she graduated from high school she applied and was admitted to her local college. She was very excited to graduate and to start her professional life as an adult. During her last school year she met Tony and fell in love. They married shortly after and Lisa delivered their first child right after graduating. There was no time to start building a career; Lisa decided to stay at home and raise her children. Soon after, she also gave birth to two more children. Tony was their sole breadwinner.

Once Lisa turned 40 she decided to change something in her life. Her children were adults now and they no longer needed her to be at home. Lisa decided to fulfil her long time dream to become a professional. She decided to pursue her higher education in Canada and applied for a study permit. This permit was refused. The deciding officer found that Lisa was too mature (aka “old”) to pursue higher education and that she already had a degree, but never worker in her profession. Lisa came to us for help.

We helped Lisa to put together a more compelling study permit application, arguing that a woman should not be penalized for her choices to raise a family. This application was refused on the identical grounds as the first one. With our help Lisa went to Court. The matter was then quickly settled, and Lisa’s application was sent back for a new review.

The new review led again to a refusal. The officer did not believe that now 41 year old Lisa genuinely wanted to study in Canada. We had to go to Court again, this time going all the way to the hearing. Lisa’s case was approved by the Court and her application was once again sent for a new review.


So what happened?

Lisa’s application was approved within days. She will be starting her program this upcoming fall.

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