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What happens to your approved study permit if you change your DLI before entering Canada and get refused?

Canada • Study Permit • study 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Step-by-Step

Changing your Designated Learning Institution (DLI) before you've physically entered Canada carries real risk that group members flagged clearly:

  1. If you haven't yet entered Canada and want to change your DLI, you must submit a brand-new study permit application — you can't just amend the existing approved one.

  2. The new application effectively replaces the old one. If the new (DLI-change) application gets refused, your previously approved study permit does not remain valid as a fallback — group consensus was that once you apply to change DLI pre-entry, the earlier approval is no longer usable.

  3. This makes the decision to change DLI before entering Canada a real gamble: weigh the reason for switching schools against the risk of losing your already-approved permit entirely if the new application is refused.


Because this can vary by individual case circumstances, if you're considering a pre-entry DLI change, it's worth getting case-specific advice from a licensed immigration consultant before applying, given how much is at stake.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Don't: Don't assume your original approved study permit stays valid if a pre-entry DLI-change application gets refused — it generally doesn't.
  • Tip: Get case-specific advice before changing your DLI pre-entry, since the consequences of a refusal are significant.

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