How to Track Student Visa Applications Across Australia, Canada, the UK and the US

A consultancy with 120 active students across four destinations is running four different visa processes at once. Australia wants a Genuine Student statement. Canada wants a Provincial Attestation Letter that didn't exist two years ago. The UK counts the days a bank balance has been held. The US wants an interview. The stages don't line up, the documents don't line up, and the deadlines certainly don't.

Tracking this on a spreadsheet means one tab per country and a counsellor who knows which column means what. Here is a system that works regardless of the tool — and what to look for if you want software to do it.

One pipeline, country-specific checklists

The mistake is building four pipelines. The stages are the same everywhere at the level that matters:

Enquiry → Counselling → Documents → Application Submitted → Offer Received → Visa Lodged → Visa Granted

What differs by country is what has to be true before a student moves from one stage to the next. That belongs in a checklist, not in the pipeline.

So: one board, one set of stages, and a checklist per destination that materialises when the student picks a country.

What each destination actually requires

Core documents every destination asks for: passport, photographs, academic transcripts and certificates, English test report, statement of purpose, financial evidence.

Then the country-specific layer — the items that get files rejected when missing:

Australia (Subclass 500)

• Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) — issued by the institution after the offer is accepted and deposit paid. No CoE, no lodgement.
• Genuine Student (GS) statement — replaced the GTE in 2024. Written responses, not a free-form essay.
• Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) — must cover the full visa period.
• Health examination through a panel physician.

Where files get lost: between offer and CoE. The student accepts, the deposit takes a week to clear, and nobody chases the CoE.

Canada (Study Permit)

• Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from a Designated Learning Institution.
• Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) — required for most applicants since 2024, issued through the province, with caps. This is the one that surprises consultancies.
• Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) — proof of first-year living costs.
• Upfront medical with an IRCC panel physician.

Where files get lost: the PAL. Institutions have allocations; a student with an LOA and no PAL cannot apply.

United Kingdom (Student Route)

• CAS statement from the licensed sponsor.
• Financial evidence held for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of application. Move money in late and the whole application fails.
• Tuberculosis test from a UKVI-approved clinic.
• ATAS certificate for certain science and technology programmes.

Where files get lost: the 28-day rule. Counsellors see the balance is sufficient and don't check how long it's been there.

United States (F-1)

• Form I-20 from the university.
• SEVIS I-901 fee receipt — paid before booking the interview.
• DS-160 confirmation page.
• Visa interview at the embassy; preparation is the consultancy's real job here.

Where files get lost: the interview slot. Booked late, the intake is missed.

The four fields every application needs

Whatever tool you use, every application record should carry:

1. Destination and institution — so the right checklist applies.
2. Intake — so the deadline is known.
3. Counsellor — so ownership is explicit.
4. Stage entered date — so "stuck" is measurable.

With the last one you can answer the question every owner asks: which students have not moved in more than seven days? That list, reviewed every Monday, is worth more than any dashboard.

Deadlines by intake, not by feel

Australian intakes are February and July. Canada is September, January and May. The UK is September and January. The US is August and January. Each has application windows months earlier, and each institution has its own cut-off inside the window.

Record the intake on the application, derive the deadline from it, and surface every application within 30 days of its deadline that is not yet at "Application Submitted". That single view is where late applications are caught.

What to expect from software

If you'd rather not build this in a spreadsheet, a consultancy CRM should give you all of it out of the box:

• One pipeline with country checklists that appear automatically
• Per-document expiry tracking
• A stuck-cases view based on days-in-stage
• Intake deadlines derived from the application, with alerts
• Commission linked to the same application record

Qylantis CRM ships checklists for fifteen destinations including all four above, a daily stuck-case sweep, and deadline alerts by intake. See how it handles the pipeline or start with the Australia document checklist.