An international student is at risk of deportation to Pakistan, a country to which she has never been, due to an expired student visa. Although she is eligible to graduate, she must pay $5705.08 of overdue tuition fees in order to receive her diploma and to be able to apply for status to stay in Canada.
The student, who requested to remain anonymous, was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and initially came to study at Memorial University with the financial support of her parents. This changed in 2022 when her parents stopped supporting her.
At first, it was because the family was experiencing financial difficulties. Eventually, however, it became clear that the reason was because they disagreed with her decision to seek medical care for a mental disability. After speaking with a therapist she realized that her parents’ behaviour toward her was abusive.
“When I started going to therapy and started talking about my problems, I learned that my family had been very physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive my whole life,” said the student in an interview with the Muse.
The student’s study permit expired on December 9th, after having to miss several semesters due to lack of funds. “I’m applying for status while being out of status so that means that if that gets rejected, then I would get a removal order.”
A removal order would mean that the student would have to go to the country in which she has status- Pakistan. As she is no longer in contact with her parents, she is unable to return to Saudi Arabia.
“The only country that I have any legal ties to is Pakistan, so they would send me there, and it’s a very dangerous country to be a single woman,” said the student.
Daniel Miller, Treasurer of the Social Justice Co-operative of Newfoundland and Labrador set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money to pay for the overdue tuition, due to the University on February 4th, 2025.
Additionally, the fundraiser hopes to pay for an immigration lawyer who could help the student apply for refugee status if her application for a Post-Graduate Work Visa is rejected. At the time of reporting, the GoFundMe has raised nearly $4,000 of its $9,000 goal.
