OTTAWA (Pajhwok): Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser has said international students not found to be involved in fraud will not face deportation.
In a statement on Wednesday, Fraser recognized the contribution of international students and said the focus was on identifying those who are responsible for the fraudulent activity and not on penalizing those who may have been affected by fraud.
Going humanitarian, he announced that the genuine students would be issued a Temporary Resident Permit.
“We recognise the immense contributions that international students make to our country, and we are committed to providing a path to Canada that is honest and transparent,” Fraser said in the statement.
Asking students to be alert and not to become the victims of fraud, he said all applicants must continue to ensure that, before applying for a study permit, they do their research, have an acceptance letter from a Designated Learning Institutions (DLI), and refer to the official website to get information about our programs.
“If you believe you have been deceived by an unscrupulous consultant, we urge you to come forward and report fraud.”
The Canadian minister said there have been recent reports of international students and graduates facing removal from Canada, after letters of acceptance submitted as part of their study permit application were determined to be fraudulent.
Many of these international students, he said, sincerely came to Canada to pursue their studies at some of “our world-class institutions and were duped by bad actors who claimed to be helping them in their immigration application process”.
Other foreign nationals had no intent of pursuing higher education, and used fraudulent acceptance letters to take advantage of Canada’s immigration system. Within this cohort of individuals, some have been involved in organized crime.
“I understand that this situation is distressing for those affected by unscrupulous actors, and I want to assure them that their well-being is of paramount importance. As a result, I have already struck a taskforce of my officials and have asked them to work closely with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to identify the victims of fraud; that is, those students who came to study here in Canada and did exactly that.
“The Immigration Refugee Protection Act offers me discretionary authority which I believe should be exercised in the present context.
“Therefore, if the facts of an individual case are clear that an international student came to Canada with a genuine intent to study, and without knowledge of the use of fraudulent documentation, I have provided instructions for officers to issue a Temporary Resident Permit to that individual.
“This will ensure that these well-intentioned students and graduates can remain in Canada, and ensure that they are not subject to the five-year ban from re-entering Canada that normally follows in cases of misrepresentation.
He also said they were taking every opportunity to crack down on dishonest and fraudulent consultants who seek to abuse Canada’s immigration system and take advantage of those seeking to visit, work, study or settle here in Canada.
Earlier, the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) has issued deportation notices to students whose admission offer letters to educational institutions were found to be fake.
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