Dear Libyan Students in North America,

We are writing today to provide you with a number of important updates pertaining to the status of Spring/Summer 2013 tuition and the third quarter MLA funds. Please refer to the list below to obtain further information.

Tuition

We are pleased to inform you that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research released an official letter to the Libyan Ministry of Finance authorizing the transfer of tuition funds to the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) effective immediately. We anticipate the funds to be deposited in CBIE’s account within approximately 2-4 weeks.

Once the funds are received, we will process all outstanding/overdue tuition payments for the Spring/Summer sessions. Today, CBIE has sent a message to the institutions informing them of this timeline and thanking them for their support in accommodating this long delay in payment of tuition fees.

Third Quarter (July – September) MLA Funds

As reported previously, we have been informed by the Ministry that the 3rd quarter MLA funds are currently being transferred to the Libyan Embassies in the United States and Canada. As of today, the Embassies have not yet received the funds, but we understand that the funds are expected to be received by the Embassies early next week.

Once they receive the funds, it will take a few business days for the funds to be transferred from the Embassies to CBIE, at which point the July and August MLA will be processed to all eligible students.

The Ministry’s Third Quarter MLA List

CBIE has completed our review of the Ministry’s 3rd Quarter MLA list. We have identified close to 500 students in the U.S. and 120 students in Canada who are active in CBIE’s database but who do not appear on the Ministry’s 3rd Quarter List. If your name is included in that category (i.e. active with CBIE but not active on the Ministry’s 3rd Quarter list), then you will receive a separate update from CBIE early next week informing you of your status and the next steps.

In the meantime, an urgent report with a list of students not on the 3rd Quarter MLA budget has been submitted to the Ministry, along with a follow-up list of the students who were not included on the 2nd Quarter MLA budget.

The Ministry has expressed its commitment to resolving these discrepancies as soon as possible, with the help of CBIE Liaisons who are on-the-ground in Tripoli working closely with the Scholarship Department to review these lists. CBIE will notify students as soon as any additional lists are released by the Ministry.

In the meantime, students who are active in CBIE’s database but not active on the Ministry’s 3rd Quarter MLA list will continue to receive tuition and insurance coverage, although the MLA will be placed on-hold.

Tuition and insurance benefits will also continue for Master’s students in their first 6-month extension period and for PHD students in their 1st and 2nd extension periods.

ESL/Academic Dependents who were approved by CBIE and currently do not have a decree

CBIE is unable to issue financial support letters to Dependents for Fall 2013, unless the dependent has his/her own current and valid Ministry decree, or is a chaperone brother who is required to maintain immigration status.

For those dependents enrolled in academic programs who do not have a Ministry decree but who wish to continue their studies, please contact your CBIE Academic Manager so that an individual request can be submitted to the Ministry for consideration.

For all other cases for dependents, such as ESL study or new dependent requests, please note that individual requests will not be processed at this time until the Dependent Study Policy and budgetary requirements are clarified by the Ministry.

US Immigration

We wish to inform you that many new and continuing students are encountering visa delays due to the current funding situation. We remain hopeful that once all funds are received, the visa-application process for Libyan scholarship students will resume to normal operations.

In the meantime, we encourage any students who are traveling this summer to stay in close communication with their CBIE Academic Managers regarding visa appointment dates and tentative return travel dates, as well as any delays they may be encountering.

We appreciate your patience, support and understanding during this transitional phase in the financial management of the scholarship program. We are hopeful that once these outstanding issues are rectified, new mechanisms will be put in place to ensure more consistency moving forward. As always, we will keep you apprised of any new updates.