An international student facing deportation to India says he had no interest in studying business but that his education agent told him it would give him a better shot at getting a visa and he could switch to another program upon arrival in Canada.
At an admissibility hearing Friday, Amritraj Singh Batth testified he hired Brijesh Mishra, owner of EMSA, a consulting firm in Jalandhar, to get a visa to study in Canada but had no idea the Humber College admission letter the agent used for the application was doctored.
“If I would have gotten to know prior to coming to Canada, I would never have entered Canada,” the Brampton man told immigration tribunal adjudicator Karina Henrique through a Punjabi interpreter.
“I never intended to come to Canada illegally. I wanted to have proper legal documentation to come here.”
Bhatt, who arrived here in 2018, has been deemed inadmissible by Canada Border Services Agency for misrepresentation as a result of using a fake acceptance letter to obtain his study permit. If the finding is upheld, he will have to leave Canada and will be banned from re-entering the country for five years.
The 25-year-old is among a group of international students from India who applied for student visas through the same agent and are facing the same allegation by border agents. Some of them have been in Canada since 2017, have completed their studies, been issued work permits and had been on the path to permanent residence.
Under cross examination, Bhatt said a relative referred his parents to Mishra in 2018 and he didn’t know if the agent was a registered lawyer or immigration consultant in Canada.
Only licensed lawyers and consultants registered with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants can legally offer immigration advice and services at a fee. Education agents are not licensed in Canada. Neither the Law Society of Ontario nor the consultants’ college show any records on their websites indicating Mishra was a member.
Bhatt admitted that it was his signature on all the paperwork for his application and he did not review the documents allegedly compiled by Mishra because he was in a rush to submit it to the Canadian visa post just 30 minutes before it closed for the day.
“I resided in a city that’s far from (Jalandhar), where the Canadian embassy is located. The embassy is pretty busy. There’s a particular day we’re supposed to go,” he explained.
“In your own words, what’s the purpose of you signing an application?” asked Nathan Reid, lawyer for the border agency.
“By signing this application I see that this application is being submitted from me and I have completed all the things,” replied Batth, who said he came from a village that didn’t have access to the internet other than through his 2G cellphone.
Batth said his family paid Mishra about $27,000 in total for the fees of handling the college and visa applications, as well as the tuition fee for the first semester of study.
He said he’d told the agent he would like to study nutrition or something to do with computers in Ontario but was convinced that Mishra would help him get into another program once he arrived in the country.
During his testimony, Batth presented a copy of his communication with Mishra on WhatsApp that dated back to June 2018 after their first meeting in Jalandhar as evidence of the agent’s involvement in his study plan.
In one entry on Aug. 31, 2018, the agent, under the user name “Brijesh Jlndhr,” advises Batth not to go to Humber because his student account had not been activated yet.
On the school’s registration deadline on Sept. 4, 2018, according to the WhatsApp records, a nervous Batth messaged the agent, raising concerns if he could still get a seat in the food and nutrition program.
“My friend, do not worry. I will do that myself and send you a message. Once that is done then go to college,” said a reply at 8:37 a.m. that day. “There will be no issue.”
When the agent stopped responding to his messages, Batth said he started looking at other schools but it was too late to enrol in a fall program. Meanwhile, his parents reached out to Mishra in India and managed to get a refund that fall in the amount of $9,000 out of the initial $27,000.
“You parents were OK to take the loss?” Henrique, the tribunal adjudicator, interjected.
“Most of the time Indian transactions take place in the form of cash payments. We do not have any proof that we have given that amount of money to him. So for that reason, that’s the money he refunded us,” responded Batth, who now works as a truck driver.
In April 2019, through an immigration consultant in Canada, he enrolled in a web design and programming diploma course at CDI College in Montreal. His initial study permit was extended and he received a postgraduate work permit in 2022, all without a hitch.
Batth said he had no idea the Humber college admission letter was bogus until he was contacted by border officials last year for an interview. If he had known it was fake, he said he would have reported it to Canadian immigration authorities.
Earlier on Friday, Batth’s lawyer Jaswant Mangat had requested the proceedings be adjourned after he received reports from police and local authorities in Jalandhar against Mishra. The lawyer asked for time to have the reports translated and certified, but the tribunal decided to look at the new evidence in the next hearing in April.
Mishra did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.
Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeungSHARE:
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)
Sign In
Register
Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.
Source
