A family applied together under SDS: the wife (principal applicant, admitted to a master's program at a major public university) was approved, but the spouse's open work permit (SOWP) and both children's visas were refused. The mother could not travel alone with an infant left behind, so the family asked: reapply, reconsideration, or judicial review?
The most substantive member advice:
- Apply for reconsideration for the refused dependents ASAP. Since the principal applicant was approved, the family's core eligibility was accepted; reconsideration explaining the family situation was recommended as the first move.
- Do NOT reapply at the same time as the reconsideration. The key warning: a parallel reapplication gives the officer a clean reason to close the reconsideration ('you've reapplied'). Passport numbers and UCI link all your applications, so simultaneous filings are always visible.
- If reconsideration fails, defer and reapply. The university allowed deferral by up to two semesters. The suggested sequence: reconsideration first; if it fails, defer one term and reapply for the spouse and children with a full explanation of the situation.
- Check the dependents' file quality. Members probed two common causes of split outcomes: whether all applications went through one account/GC key (they did), and whether separate proof of funds was shown for each dependent - worth auditing before any reapplication.
Judicial review was not recommended by anyone in the thread as a first step; it is slow and costly relative to reconsideration or a clean reapplication.