VIDEO – How To Apply On The IRCC Online Portal For Study Visa (Using the GCKey) – The Older Method

Get a step by step guide to apply for your study permit online using the GCKey method

For this method, you need to fill out the IMM forms and you have a 4MB space per document upload (which is great)

You can apply for ALL visa types using this method

Should I Use The Old Or New Portal?

I get this question so much…..and I can understand the apprehension

So which one you should use depends on you and one is not superior to the other TBH

Now there are a few differences between the new and old application portals

1. On the new portal, you only have 2MB of space while the old portal (GCKey) has a 4MB space per document. So if you have a lot of documents, then the old portal is the way to go

2. The new portal is for study and visitor visas – you will not find the spousal open work permit there

3. In the new portal, you will need to state if your family will be coming to join you later – and I know people are skeptical especially if they want to use family as home ties.

So there is no right or wrong answer here but its possible that you would need to show enough funds for any accompanying family members in the application at the time of applying.

The old portal does not ask this question

4. The old portal requires you to complete the IMM forms but this is not a requirement for the new portal 

5. Apart from the above, both portals basically require the same documents (apart from the IMM forms)

However, if you are unsure or confused, please stick with the old GCKey portal

Hope this answers the question if you have been wondering….