At least 100 foreign students hoping to study in B.C. this year will not be able to start school until January because of visa processing delays, the University of British Columbia has confirmed.

Michelle Suderman, UBC's associate director of international student development, said the slowdown is due to the federal government's closure of visa services in Germany, Japan, Iran, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

She said while some students may have to delay studies until January, others may be stuck until next September.

"We are seeing some students actually who are still sitting at home, or in some cases sitting in Canada, waiting for that immigration document to make sure that they can start classes on Tuesday, which is not very long from now," she said.

She added that although some of those who have been held up are graduate students, who are supposed to be teaching classes next week, UBC will still be offering those classes.