Students Studying in Canada POA, PAL, and Deposit Process

Starting in 2024, the Government of Canada introduced the Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL), a new requirement for international students applying for a study permit to begin graduate studies in Fall 2025 and Spring/Winter 2026. For more details, visit the Government of Canada website.  

If you are applying to study at one of Northeastern University’s Canadian campuses, you will need to submit a PAL along with your Proof of Acceptance (POA) when applying for a study permit. This requirement applies to all study permit applications submitted on or after January 22, 2025. Admitted students who applied for their study permit before this date are exempt from the PAL requirement.  

How to be Considered for a PAL

Important Note: You’ll receive updates about your admission and PAL offer at the personal email address you used when applying to Northeastern. If you are selected for a PAL, the deposit instructions will be sent to your Northeastern student email.  

1. Confirm Your Enrolment

• After receiving your admission decision, review your admission offer letter. Then, complete the enrolment form via your applicant portal. 

• If you deferred your studies and already submitted the “Decision Reply Form” when you were first admitted, you may have already completed the enrolment form, and no further action is needed. 

• Where will updates be sent?: All updates regarding your admission offer will be sent to your personal email (the one you used to apply). 

• Who handles this step?: The Northeastern University Admissions/Enrolment team.

• Where to check for updates?: Your application portal. 
• Once the enrolment form is successfully completed, your application will be reviewed to determine eligibility for a PAL. 

 Questions about the enrolment form?: Reach out to the Admissions team through the inquiry form.

2. Submit the PAL Deposit

• If selected for a PAL, you’ll receive an email from Northeastern University Admissions confirming your selection. 

• What will you see in your application portal?: A PAL Confirmation Letter, which confirms your PAL eligibility and includes deposit details. 
  • Important Note: This letter is NOT your PAL and should NOT be used in your study permit application. It only confirms that you’ve been selected to receive a PAL. 

• What’s next?: You must pay a deposit of $3,000 (CAD) to receive your PAL. Deposit payment instructions will be sent to your Northeastern student email within 2-3 business days after receiving the PAL Confirmation Letter. You will receive the email from a Northeastern email address and the subject line will be “Northeastern University Student Bill“.

• Who handles this step?: The Student Financial Services team will issue the PAL deposit invoice. 

• Where can you find the deposit link?: An email with payment instructions will be sent to your Northeastern student email.
  • How to set up my Northeastern Student account?
  • How do I claim my student account?

Questions about the deposit?: Reach out to the Student Accounts Canada team through the inquiry form. 

3. POA and PAL Issuance

• After your $3,000 CAD deposit is received, your PAL and POA will be issued electronically through your application portal within five business days of your deposit being received by the university. 
• The POA and PAL will be available for download in your application portal, and you’ll receive an email notification to your personal email when they are ready for download. This may not happen at the same time so please wait at least five (5) business days to receive your PAL. 
  • Please ensure you download BOTH your POA and your PAL before applying for your study permit! You need BOTH documents for your application.
• Important Reminder: If you don’t pay the deposit by the deadline on your PAL Confirmation Letter, it may affect your ability to get a study permit and attend your program. 

Questions about the issuance of your PAL/POA?: Reach out to the Admissions team through the inquiry form.

4. Apply for Your Study Permit

• Find the instructions for applying for your study permit on the Applying for a Study Permit page. 

• To help with the application, the Office of Global Services (OGS) offers virtual preparation sessions. It’s recommended you attend one before submitting your study permit application. For more details, visit the OGS Canada Information Sessions webpage. 
• Ensure that you have set up your Northeastern student account and you have your Northeastern Student email set up in Outlook. You will need to monitor this email as all further information from the Office of Global Services will be sent to your Northeastern student email.

Questions about your study permit application?: Contact OGS Canada using the inquiry form. 

I am a student who deferred their offer from a previous term.

How do I know if I filled out the Enrolment Intention Form? Is there any way to see this in my portal? 

• If you have already confirmed your offer, you do not need to reconfirm. If you have not yet confirmed your offer, you will be prompted to indicate if you wish to request a PAL, acknowledging that, if you are selected to receive a PAL, you will need to make a $3,000 deposit before the PAL can be issued.

What will happen to the $500 deposit I already paid?  

• Students who applied for a study permit on or before January 21st will retain their $500 CAD deposit, which will be applied to your first-year fees.  
• Students who did not apply for their study permit on or before January 21st will receive a refund of the $500 CAD deposit and will need to pay the full $3,000 CAD PAL deposit to proceed with the new PAL process. Ideally, refunds for the $500 CAD deposit will be processed within a week for affected students.  

What will be the timeline for the refund?  

• Refunds are being processed as soon as possible. If you don’t receive your refund by mid- April, please submit an inquiry to the Student Accounts Canada Team at https://service.northeastern.edu/sfs 

Will I need to pay the $3,000 deposit before the $500 is refunded? 

• You should have the refund for your initial $500 prior to paying the $3,000 deposit, but if you haven’t received the refund, please submit an inquiry to the Student Accounts Canada Team at https://service.northeastern.edu/sfs 

 What is the timeline to receive a decision about if I am eligible for a PAL?   

• The admissions team is currently going through all applicants and reviewing as quickly as possible, students will receive notifications on their eligibility status throughout April and May.

What are my next steps if I already have an approved study permit? Do I need any documents from NU? Do I still need to pay the $3,000 tuition deposit?  

• Please submit an inquiry through the OGS Canada portal. You may need an updated POA, however the OGS Canada team can advise you on this: https://service.northeastern.edu/ogs 

I have a POA that says it expired on January 22, 2025 but I haven’t applied for a study permit yet. How do I get a new POA?  

• We will not issue a new POA until it has been determined you are PAL eligible. At that time, you will need to pay the $3,000 deposit to receive the POA/PAL. If you have already previously paid the $500 deposit and did not apply for a visa prior to January 22, 2025, that will be refunded.  

I am a student who was admitted for Fall 2025.

Where do I find the Enrolment Intention Form?  

• The Enrolment Intention Form is in your program application portal.  

What are the eligibility requirements for being selected for a PAL? 

• Once you receive and confirm your program admission, your application will undergo Foreign Credential Evaluation. Your application will only be forwarded for PAL screening once the FCE is completed. PAL screening considers a number of factors related to eligibility for a Study Permit.  

How long will it take to inform me about if I am eligible for a PAL? What is the timeline for receiving a decision?  

• The admissions team is currently going through all applicants and reviewing as quickly as possible, students will receive notifications on their eligibility status throughout April and May.

If I am not selected to receive a PAL, when and how will I be notified of this? What will be my next steps? Can I appeal the decision? 

• You will have the option to request your program acceptance be transferred to a US Campus, or you may reapply for a future term to be considered again for a PAL.  

If I want to switch to a US campus, what do I do?  

• To update your application for a US campus, please complete this form: https://enroll.northeastern.edu/register/campus_change 

I am a student who was previously refused their Study Permit application, submitted prior to January 22nd, 2025.

My visa was submitted prior to January 22nd and it has been refused, what are my next steps? 

• Submit an inquiry form to OGS Canada and attach your refusal letter.
• Update the Study Permit Status Update form in your application portal. 

Will Northeastern still give PALs to students who were previously refused a study permit? What are my chances of getting a PAL?  

• If the student has revisited their study permit application reasons for refusal, and have made appropriate updates to warrant a reapplication (such as improving their English language test scores, academic upgrading etc.) then they may be considered for a PAL. If a student receives a refusal on a Study Permit application after receiving a PAL, they will need to reapply to their program to be considered for another PAL.  

I already paid the first-year tuition fees via SDS however my visa was refused. Will I get a full refund of the tuition fees? Would I still need to pay the $3,000 deposit to get a PAL? 

• Students who did not apply for a study permit on or before January 21, 2025, or had received a study permit refusal for Fall 2025, will be automatically refunded their SDS amounts. If you are selected to receive a PAL, you will be invoiced the $3,000 PAL deposit.  

PAL Deposits/Payments

Will the $3,000 deposit go towards my tuition?  

• Yes, the deposit will be credited to your first term fees.  

I have been approved for a loan from MPower, am I still required to pay the $3,000? Can I use this loan to pay the $3,000?  

• You are still required to make the $3,000 deposit to secure your PAL. Your MPower loan is not paid out until you are inside Canada engaged in your studies.  

Is the $3,000 deposit refundable?  

• The deposit is refundable upon showing proof of a study permit refusal, by decision of the IRCC officer. The deposit will not be refunded once the PAL is issued, except for a study permit refusal.  
• Students will need to upload their IRCC refusal letter to their MyOGS portal. Once that is done, SFS will be notified to initiate the refund. 

Are the $500 deposit and $3,000 deposit separate payments? 

• Yes, they are separate payments. If you paid the $500 deposit previously, it will be refunded to you.  

I received confirmation for a PAL but my Student Hub has not been updated with billing information.  

• Students will receive instructions on how to pay their deposit via their Northeastern student email within the 2-3 business days of becoming PAL eligible.  

Can I get an extension to pay the $3,000? 

• No, unfortunately we cannot give extensions to pay the deposit. 

Proof of Acceptance (POA)

POA letters will be generated in your application portal for download once you are eligible for the PAL and you have paid the PAL deposit.

Your admission decision letter is NOT your Proof of Acceptance, and it should NOT be used to apply for your study permit. 

OGS Canada does not directly issue POAs. The are located in your admissions portal. 

The POA contains information you have provided in your application to Northeastern University. If there is an error, such as your name is misspelled, or your date of birth is incorrect, then please connect back to the admissions team to correct this information:

• You can submit an inquiry form from your application portal. To login to your portal click here: http://enroll.northeastern.edu/apply/status
• At the top of the page, you will see a tab called Manage Your Application
• Here you will click on Make a request and then click on the the available link to Submit an Inquiry/Submit a Request. 

Deposits

Deposit instructions are sent via email from the Student Accounts Canada team to your Northeastern student email. You must ensure that you have claimed your Northeastern student account and you’ve proceeded to set up your Northeastern student email and you have access to Outlook to monitor your emails. If you’re not sure about how to claim your account, please find the instructions here.

For more information about deposits and billing, please see the Student Accounts Canada webpage here.

For information about payments, please see here.

Refunds

Northeastern University’s refund policies can be found on the Student Accounts Canada webpage or on the Student Financial Services page.

Other Questions?

For other questions related to payments, deposit and refund policies, submit an inquiry to Student Accounts Canada here.