An applicant waiting on a January-intake decision from York University (told: 6 more weeks) asked whether to file a second application for the May intake. Members steered them to deferral instead:
- Defer the existing offer rather than filing twice. The recommended path: ask the institution to defer the offer to the next intake (January to May here) and then update IRCC with the deferred offer letter. The pending study permit application continues — no need for a parallel application for the same institution.
- Deferral timing is flexible. Asked whether a deferral requires having paid tuition first, a member answered it can be done after paying the fee or even before — institutions issue deferrals against an offer letter, so start the request as soon as the timeline looks tight.
- Calibrate expectations by lodgement date. One member pointed out IRCC had only just started processing January-intake applications, so a decision was 'too early to expect' — check when you lodged before assuming something is wrong. Reported decision times in the thread ranged from 60-84 days for many to 100+ days for some (time-bound figures from that period).
- Keep the school in the loop. The applicant had gotten a concrete '6 more weeks' estimate by writing to the university — worth doing, since the deferral conversation happens with the same office.