Canada will give international students who have been victims of fraud a chance to support their case against deportation.
This comes months after the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) issued deportation notices to over 700 Indian students whose admission offer letters to educational institutions were found to be fake.
Immigration minister Sean Fraser has said that the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) was actively investigating recent reports of fraudulent acceptance letters.
“To be clear: Our focus is on identifying culprits, not penalizing victims. Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation & present evidence to support their case,” Fraser said in a tweet.
“We recognize the immense contributions international students bring to our country & remain committed to supporting victims of fraud as we evaluate each case,” he added.
« Back to recommendation stories
Canada is also working closely with institutions to verify acceptance letters are valid at the time of application.
Several reports have found a Jalandhar-based study abroad firm to have files about 700 fraudulent visa applications for students between 2018 and 2022.Once the students landed in Canada, students were denied seats, and had to gain admission in lesser-known colleges.
The students, upon completion of courses and work requirements, went on to apply for Canadian permanent residency, and submitted supporting documents.
Trouble started when CBSA scrutinised the documents on the basis which visa was granted to the students and found admission offer letters fake. Deportation notices were issued to all the students after grantingthem an opportunity for a hearing
Reports said CBSA officials were not accepting the claims of innocence of the “victims” as there was no evidence to prove that the agent prepared and arranged all documents.
The CBSA also refused to accept the failure of the Canadian visa and airport authorities that issued visas and allowed them entry by checking the authenticity of all documents.
Want to study in Canada? Keep these in mind
- International students must apply for a study permit before they go to Canada. IRCC is responsible for receiving and reviewing the applications and then approving the study permit requests made from overseas, thereby allowing the international student to travel to Canada
- IRCC is also responsible for compliance monitoring of students enrolled at designated learning institutions once a study permit has been issued
- Upon arrival at a Canadian port of entry, travellers must demonstrate to a CBSA officer that they meet the requirements for entry into Canada
- A study permit is not a visa and it does not automatically allow an individual to enter Canada. International students may also need a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorisation (eTA)
- When assessing admissibility, CBSA officers consider all relevant factors before making a decision, including the purpose of the travel to Canada
- Travellers must have documentation that will provide details of the reason for their travel and any other information that may be relevant (i.e. an acceptance letter from designated learning institution) and demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to pay their tuition and support themselves and any dependents
- Border services officers can opt not to issue a permit at the port of entry if information related to admissibility arises. Foreign nationals can be inadmissible for security, health or financial reasons
- The agency has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals and permanent residents who are inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and who have a removal order in force
- The process for determining inadmissibility begins with the issuance of a 44 report that outlines the inadmissibility and referral of the report to an authorised decision-maker – minister’s delegate or an immigration division member for an admissibility hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) where a determination is made on whether to issue a removal order
- Prior to initiating an enforcement action against any individual, the CBSA reviews all relevant factors related to a case
