An applicant with a winding profile asked whether a Canadian college and IRCC would accept them: 10th in 2008, computer science diploma in 2011, IT work 2011–2020, a Montessori diploma in 2020, and a BCA by distance education started in 2012 but completed only in 2021 for family reasons — plus a two-year gap since 2020. Their counsellor had warned that colleges might admit but IRCC could refuse.
What members offered:
- 'Touch and go — choose a relevant course.' The candid assessment: this profile can succeed, but only with a program that clearly extends the nine years of IT experience. A course unconnected to the work history would hand the officer an easy progression refusal.
- A slow degree by itself isn't disqualifying. One member took eight years to finish engineering and still received PPR — the key difference they flagged was that theirs was a full-time university program, not distance education. Distance credentials draw more scrutiny, so the explanation matters more.
- Genuine reasons for gaps can be explained. The applicant's situation — leaving work to care for a child's health — is the kind of family reason that belongs in the SOP with a plain, honest account. The thread treated the explanation as necessary, though nobody promised it would be sufficient.
Realistic conclusion from the thread: admission is the easy part; the visa outcome hinges on course relevance to the IT background and a coherent SOP that accounts for both the stretched degree and the recent gap.