An SDS applicant (September 2021 filing, data analytics program at an Ontario college) had waited more than 30 weeks with no decision, had already completed the first semester online from abroad, and was getting only auto-replies from IRCC offices. Withdrawal wasn't an option: the college would refund fees only on a visa refusal. The thread's two concrete recommendations:
- Take a semester break rather than continuing to burn semesters online. The advice the family adopted: pause enrolment until the decision arrives. Continuing to study online from abroad on a pending application risks sinking more fees into a program you may never be allowed to attend in person — and (post-COVID rules) online semesters from abroad can also affect PGWP eligibility.
- Order GCMS notes while you wait. The second recommendation: apply for GCMS notes to see where the file actually stands — whether security/eligibility stages are cleared, and whether anything is flagged. This turns an information vacuum into a basis for decisions (keep waiting, escalate, or prepare for refusal).
Context from the thread worth noting: repeated emails to visa offices produced only auto-generated replies, so members treated GCMS notes — not more emails — as the way to get real information. Webforms and MP queries were the standard escalation ladder of that era.
Historical note: this is a 2021–2022 backlog-era thread; SDS processing was far outside its advertised 20-day standard at the time. The fee-refund-only-on-refusal policy is college-specific — check yours before assuming the same constraint.