When bringing a family along — a spouse on a Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) and children on their own visas — a common question is whether to submit everyone's applications together, or get the main study permit approved first before applying for the rest.
What group members advised:- Applying together is generally seen as the stronger approach, with members reporting greater approval chances when the whole family's applications are submitted as a package rather than staggered.
- This pattern was echoed by multiple members' recent experience, describing a number of approvals for combined-family applications submitted together.
- A strong SOP matters even more when applying together, especially under the SDS route — since the family's shared narrative (why you're studying, why they're accompanying you, ties to home) needs to hold together coherently across all the applications.
While members' shared experience favoured applying together, individual circumstances (funds, timing, program start dates) can still make a staggered approach more practical in some cases — so weigh this general trend against your own specific situation.