Nigerian laments as Canadian college withholds tuition fee despite visa denial

A Canadian university “George Brown” has come under fire from a Nigerian woman by the name of Miss Precious Ademokun for refusing to reimburse the partial payment of tuition she made into the institution’s account.

Despite waiting months, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had already rejected the applicant’s application for a study visa.

Speaking with CBC News about the situation, Ademokun said that after accepting a program’s offer of admission at George Brown College in April 2022, she went on to pay CAD8,867 toward the first semester’s tuition out of the total of CAD16,872 for both semesters.

She went ahead and applied for a student visa on July 4 after being told that “the visa application procedure might take six to eight weeks.”

However, after months of waiting in Nigeria for her study permit application to be completed, the 19-year-old was denied a student visa, and the Toronto institution to which she had paid refused to refund her money.

With the IRCC failing to respond to her application, Ademokun approached the institution on September 19, but she had already missed the deadline for a refund.

The applicant got notice from the IRCC on October 6 that her study permit had been refused.

The Canadian institution, on the other hand, advised her that it could no longer return any of the funds she had paid to the school.

Ademokun filed an appeal, but the school refused to budge and explained their judgment to her in a letter dated December 15.

The George Brown College indicated in a letter to Ademokun that her petition to withdraw her $8,962 part-payment was declined because she missed the deadline.

“In George Brown College, international students who are refused a study permit are eligible for a refund or deferral, if it is requested within their deadline date,” a quick check on the institution’s website revealed.

Meanwhile, when CBC contacted the school’s registrar, Janene Christiansen, she replied in a statement that the institution values its international students and understands “it is always a huge disappointment when study permits are denied.

“The school is ‘following up directly’ with Ademokun to ‘find a resolution.'”

“Now that new information is coming to light, we are following up directly with the individual to gather more details and find a resolution,” she added.

Christiansen went on to say that, like other Ontario institutions, George Brown College follows the Ministry of Education, Colleges, and Universities’ guidelines and IRCC’s rules when it comes to its overseas withdrawal and refund policy.

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