So, if you intend to become a permanent resident and stay in the host country indefinitely, and the consulate officials learn about your intentions, your student visa application will be rejected.

Does this mean that you have to lie? Well, not quite if you re-think your intentions. How about rethinking your intentions in the following manner? Breakdown your thinking into two stages: before leaving for America or Canada, and after arriving in America or Canada.

Before leaning for America or Canada, you simply intend to go to there for studies and return upon graduation, period! Stop your thinking right there. Do not go beyond this point, until you have arrived in the host country.

Later on, when you are living in the host country - having arrived in America or Canada - you can "indulge" in an evolution of your thinking, as it relates to your future plans. You of course have the right - in free countries like America and Canada - to change your mind about whether you wish to stay permanently in the host country. If you wish to stay permanently in the host country - of course, you would make this determination only after having arrived - you can take appropriate actions at that time. You would have to apply to obtain a new visa, for your new intentions. But, you are not applying for that visa at this time. So, you just don’t need to indulge in planning too far into the future for now. Insofar as you are concerned - in the here and now mode - your future plans are pure speculation for a time in the future; for now, you simply want to go for your studies and return to India upon graduation.

What does this imply when you are applying for the international student visa? You will be well advised to focus on the here and now; that is, focus on your education only. Leave the future plan for sometime in the future, as in after having arrived in America or Canada. Since you now know that if the consulate officials surmise, from your explicit or implicit statements in your documents or through the interview, that you intend to stay in the country permanently, your visa application will be rejected. Are you lying in adhering to the here and now only? Think for yourself. We have just exposed a land mine to you; it is your choice if and/or how you want to deal with it.

In summary, you must not forget the nature of your trip to America or Canada as an international student. You are required to return to India upon the completion of your studies. But your intentions might be different and you know that, and so do the American and Canadian consulate officials in India. They have seen many of these cases before. They know that most international students, at the very least, try to stay in the country permanently. It is "a wink and a nod" game. You must stick to the line that you intend to go to America or Canada temporarily. Any indication to the contrary and you would be denied an international student visa. America and Canada are free countries, and you have the right to change your mind or plans once you have arrived in the host country.

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