<p>Does anyone here have experience with getting a Canadian visa? About how long does it take?</p>
<p>It’s a bit more complicated for McGill (and other Quebec universities) because Quebec maintains its own immigration programme separate from the Federal one. To learn more about it, you can check their website. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca%5B/url%5D”>http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca</a></p>
<p>You have to be able to prove that you have enough money to pay your tuition as well as provide for yourself without resorting to Government Social Services (welfare, medicare, etc.), and then swear that your main purpose in Quebec will be your studies. </p>
<p>You then have to get an application from their website, and along with a passport photo, application fee, copies of your passport id page, certified copy of your letter of admission, and proof of financial capacity (see above), send it to the Service aux etudiants etrangers in Monteral, at the address listed below:</p>
<p>G-15-285 rue Notre-Dame ouest
Montreal QC H2Y 1T8
Canada</p>
<p>It takes a few months, so apply as soon as possible after getting your acceptance. If they approve your application, they’ll send you your CAQ. Take that along with your proof of finances and passport. When you cross the border into Canada, show all three to the Immigration/Customs officer, and they’ll issue you your Student Visa. There’s no need to apply at a Consulate, though you can.</p>
<p>It’s all a bit complicated, but there are some benefits. It’s certainly faster than just applying straight through the Federal Government (which you have to do if you’re going to another province).</p>
<p>When you pay your acceptance deposit, McGill will send you very detailed information on the visa process. glendalais 89 gave an excellent description.
The McGill info lays out, step by step what you are required to do. It seems complicated, and you will need your parents financial information, so start early on the CAQ. Get a passport now if you dont have one.</p>
<p>Remember, thousands of students have been thru it already and they all figured it out and got it done. Just a little reminder that you really are in another country as a U.S. citizen.</p>