Students hoping to be travelling to Canada to enrol on courses are suffering from visa delays more than counterparts who have chosen alternative study destinations, sector stakeholders have said.

Canada is experiencing a backlog of over 2.1 million visa applications, causing difficulties for international students to obtain study permits.

Students and agents in India are awaiting vaccine clarifications in popular study destinations, particularly around the Covaxin and Sputnik V vaccines.

In “first major signal” that 2020 will see some Indian students travel to campuses, a selection of UK VACs will reopen in India on July 6, according to VFS Global.

Manoeuvring through the student visa application process can be a trying experience and the rules constantly evolve as immigration policies change to suit the political climate. Sara Custer spoke with 20 major education agencies about the visa journey and charted their insight into the pros and cons of systems in top study destinations.