How long does it take for OSAP to be approved?
I put my online application in on Tuesday of last week. The website said 24-48 hours. I waited and nothing happened. On friday I went to the site and it said to check back in 2-3 days. I checked today (Tuesday) and says the same thing.
I’m really on edge here, I can’t do anything about getting a student loan untill I know for sure whether or not I’ve been approved. As long as I know I’ve been accepted, that’s all that matters. The other 8 weeks or whatever of administrative stuff I’m not too worried about.
You are not reading the website properly.
First, within the first 24 to 48 hours OSAP does what are called “third party checks”. They run a credit report on you, they check CRA, they check your SIN details, and they run you through MTO to see if you own or lease any vehicles.
So the first thing that it says is “check back after 48 hours”. Then it says “your application is being processed” — that’s when you get the message about checking back in 2 to 3 days.
When it says that, it usually means that there was no problem with the third party checks. So now what is happening is that they are waiting to receive your supporting documentation. On the Check Status page, you should see “Checklist” and under that a link that says “student must provide supporting documentation”. If the link is there, click on it and see what OSAP is looking for. If there is no “Checklist” then your application is being processed – which means that they are confirming the details in the supporting documentation.
The next thing you could see is “your application has processed” and a table showing your funding. Or you could see “your application is on hold until items under Checklist are resolved. If there are no items under Checklist then OSAP is verifying your information. Check back in 2 to 3 weeks.” Don’t panic — it doesn’t normally take that long.
OSAP warns that processing of applications can take up to 10 weeks. In most cases, processing takes anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks. This time of year it may take a little longer as they are very busy.
Most people run into problems during the first 48 hours because they fail the credit check. It sounds as though you are past that point. If all of the information you gave checks out, you should not have a problem with the rest of the process.
