Canada gives second chance to 700 Indian students who were victims of fraud

The Canadian government is now taking steps to assist international students to support their case against deportation who have been the victim of fraud.

According to a LiveMint report, more than 700 Indian students received deportation notices from the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) after their admission offer letters were discovered to be fake.

Taking to Twitter, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser on Friday, May 26 said that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are actively investigating these fraudulent acceptance letters. He further stated that the focus is on identifying culprits, not penalising the victims.

Fraser in his tweet further wrote, "Victims of fraud will have an opportunity to demonstrate their situation & present evidence to support their case. We recognise the immense contributions international students bring to our country & remain committed to supporting victims of fraud as we evaluate each case. We’re also working closely with institutions to verify acceptance letters are valid at the time of application."

 

           We’re 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.

— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) May 26, 2023

According to the report, a Jalandhar-based study-abroad firm has been implicated in the case of fraudulent visa applications for nearly 700 students between 2018 and 2022. Students upon their arrival in Canada learned that they were denied admission to their chosen colleges and were instead enrolled in lesser-known institutions.

Once the students completed their courses and fulfilled the work requirements, they proceeded to apply for permanent residency, following which complications arose as CBSA  scrutinised them upon  finding the admission offer letters to be fraudulent.  Deportation notices were then issued to all the students, although they have been given a chance to present their cases at a hearing.

Reports also suggest that CBSA cited a lack of evidence to prove that the Jalandhar-based study firm was responsible for this and did not accept students' claim of innocence. CBSA officials also denied any failure on the part of the Canadian visa and airport officials, who issued visas and allowed entry without thoroughly verifying the authenticity of the documents.