ApplyBoard Students 50% More Likely to Receive Canadian Study Permit Approval

To date, ApplyBoard has assisted more than 400,000 students from over 150 countries with their study abroad journeys. We’ve worked with those students to apply to programs at our 1,500+ partner institutions across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland. Along the way, we’ve helped our students and recruitment partners understand important factors that affect a student’s visa approval.

In today’s ApplyInsights, we’ll be comparing Canadian study permit¹ approval rates for ApplyBoard students and all international students. We’ll start by looking at approval rate trends that impacted all students over the last few years. Then, we’ll dive into how ApplyBoard is driving student success, and what international students in Canada can expect going forward. 

Canadian Study Permit Approvals

From 2018 to 2020, Canadian study permit approval rates declined by 15 percentage points, hitting a low of 51% during the height of the pandemic. This was largely because international students were unable to secure the necessary documentation for study permit approval. Approval rates rebounded to 60% in 2021, but fell again in the first six months of 2022.

The chart below shows the change in the overall approval rate over the past five years:

We previously covered ApplyBoard’s success driving higher approval rates before and during the pandemic. Today, we want to showcase our performance in the Winter 2022 term, the most recent term for which we have full data. The chart below shows ApplyBoard’s approval rate and the approval rate for all students:

For Winter 2022, the average study permit approval rate for Indian students was just 46%. But ApplyBoard students were approved at a rate of 68%. Non-Indian students were approved at a similar rate on average, 47%, but ApplyBoard’s non-Indian students were approved at an even better rate of 77%.

On the aggregate, ApplyBoard students were around 50% more likely to receive study permit approval than the average student, representing our highest-ever study permit approval rate.

ApplyBoard Drives Student Success

This incredible result shows the value of our platform’s technology, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning processes to strengthen student applications. It is also a testament to the guidance provided by our recruitment partners, partner schools, and Customer Experience team. By working together to develop strong relationships with international students, we help more students pursue their Canadian study abroad dreams.

ApplyBoard works hard to ensure the success of students by revolutionizing the international student journey through technology. ApplyBoard puts quality first, by investing in resources, services and training to make the application process as seamless as possible.

Let’s take a closer look at how ApplyBoard contributes to student growth by making international education accessible for students using ApplyProof.

ApplyBoard Delivers Solutions for Students

Another key way ApplyBoard helps students achieve higher approvals is by ensuring that government officials can verify student documents through ApplyProof. Over the past three years, ApplyBoard has worked with schools, test providers, and financial institutions across Canada to expand ApplyProof to help students build stronger study permit applications. Student documents secured by ApplyProof can be verified by IRCC agents in seconds, increasing processing efficiency and building trust in student submissions.

ApplyBoard provides the security and trust of ApplyProof for three key document types needed for Canadian study permit applications:

• Proof of Acceptance: Letters of Acceptance (LOAs)
• Proof of Language Proficiency: Language Test Results
• Proof of Financial Support: Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)

Allowing IRCC officials to verify these documents can help students overcome some of the most common reasons for Canadian student visa refusals. For example, in 26% of refusal cases from 2019 to 2021, IRCC was not satisfied that the applicant would leave Canada at the end of their stay on the basis of their personal assets and financial status. With a digitally verifiable GIC, students can prove that they have the financial means to support themselves in Canada. 

ApplyProof’s technology provides a collaborative solution to a sector-wide issue. Enabling officials to verify these “proofs” benefits not only ApplyBoard students, but also our partner institutions. By helping students achieve study permit success, ApplyProof supports the recruitment efforts of our recruitment partners and institutions by increasing conversion rates. 

“Seeing the work that ApplyProof has done in making the student journey to Canada seamless and frictionless, and the new technology that they are developing, it really bodes well for all of us to be on this journey and path together.” – Amit Brahme, Senior Director of Newcomer and Cultural Client Segment at RBC

The ApplyProof team is currently working on three specific initiatives to engage partner institutions and grow ApplyProof successes in the coming year. For information on those initiatives, or if you’d like to discuss how your institution can adopt the ApplyProof solution, get in touch with us at partnerships@applyproof.com.

Looking Forward

To date, ApplyBoard has helped over 400,000 students from more than 150 countries. ApplyBoard’s overall global strategy is to enable recruitment partners worldwide to ensure international students consistently receive the best support and the most accurate information to position them for success. By bridging the gaps in the study abroad journey, ApplyBoard promotes success and works to support global economies.

ApplyBoard empowers students around the world to access the best education. By prioritizing student success, ApplyBoard continues to deliver record-breaking approval rates to students compared to all-market applicants across the globe.

About the ApplyInsights Team

FOOTNOTES:

1.The terms student visa and study permit are generally used interchangeably for Canadian international students. Rather than student visas, Canada provides accepted international students with study permits, which allow those students to enroll in classes at Canadian institutions. When a student is accepted for a study permit, they are also usually provided with a visitor visa, which allows that student to enter Canada for their studies.

2. All external data courtesy of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).