Global Courant 2023-05-20 18:48:03
An Edmonton woman is being expelled from Canada this month after a university admissions letter that secured her entry into the country five years ago turned out to be fake.
Although 25-year-old Karamjeet Kaur was unaware that the letter was fraudulent, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has ruled that she must be deported on May 29.
That decision is likely to affect potentially hundreds of other international students in Canada who allegedly received similar fake admission letters from the same education agent in India — a situation that points to a lack of accountability from border and immigration authorities, according to lawyers and activists who spoke with The Canadian Press.
Kaur, whose poor rural Indian family gave up all their savings to be the first of them to study and work abroad, now works as a supervisor for a company in Edmonton. She is married to a Canadian citizen, volunteers regularly, has a work permit valid until November, and was on her way to becoming a permanent resident.
Avnish Nanda Van Law firm Nanda & Company, who has taken on Kaur’s case, said she is the type of person Canada wants. “She has contributed so much, and she has the kind of dedication to this country that we look for in young immigrants.”
It wasn’t until 2021, during the final phase of Kaur’s permanent residency application, that the Canada Border Services Agency informed her about the letter of admission from Toronto Seneca Collegethe way she secured her student visa was fake.
Kaur said that upon her arrival in Canada, the agent in India only told her that her spot at Seneca was no longer available. Kaur eventually went to NorQuest College in Edmonton, where she graduated in 2020 from a management program for business administration and administration.
“We thought the immigration process is very strict and they verify everything when they issue the visa,” Kaur said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “I was really shocked. I’ve been here for five years. Canada is now my country.”
Nanda said immigration officials in both India and Canada believed Kaur’s letter of admission was legitimate.
The same education agent gave as many as 700 students fraudulent admission letters to Canadian post-secondary schools, according to those trying to help the students now being expelled from Canada. The education agent is now reportedly facing charges in India.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed in an email to The Canadian Press that “there are a number of active Immigration and Refugee Act (IRPA) investigate cases of misrepresentation, including those related to study permits.”
The CBSA did not provide further details, citing ongoing investigations, and said it would not comment on specific cases.
The Immigration and Refugee Council of Canada said it is mandatory to hold an eligibility hearing in cases where the CBSA claims someone is ineligible to enter or remain in Canada.
In January 2023, a federal court judge rejected Kaur’s request for judicial review of the Immigration Department’s deportation order. The judge ruled that Kaur “sincerely believed” she had been accepted into Seneca College, but noted that she never took any action to verify her acceptance and never contacted the university to ask why her alleged acceptance was withdrawn .
Kaur’s expulsion order sets an implicit legal precedent for other students awaiting their hearing, Nanda said. She has since applied for permanent residency in Canada on humanitarian, compassionate and sponsorship grounds.
Kaur and more than a dozen others protested outside Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino’s constituency in Toronto on May 3 to claim blame for the initial acceptance of their false letters by Canadian immigration officials. An online petition against the deportations of affected students, launched by Migrant Workers Alliance the following day, has since garnered more than 940 signatures.
“We are international students. We are contributing millions of dollars to the Canadian economy…we have ramped up (as essential workers) in COVID. We are victims of fraud. (Canada) should do a proper investigation,” said Lovepreet Singh, a victim of the same admission letter fraud, at the protest. “If we had to go back, it would be an outrageous injustice to us.”
Jaswant Mangat, representing about 40 students at various stages of their admissibility hearings before the Immigration Department, said his clients’ visa processing was happening too quickly, often within a week. “There was no oversight or verification system,” he said.
“If agents know that (Canada’s immigration) system can’t detect fraud, they will continue to commit fraud,” Mangat said.
Responding to claims that incoming students’ permits and visa documents were not adequately reviewed, the CBSA said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is responsible for receiving and reviewing applications for study permits. They have neither confirmed nor denied the number of potentially fraudulent acceptance letters flagged in 2018. IRCC has not responded to questions about those claims at the time of publication.
Nanda said Mendicino and Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser should use the powers of their offices to mandate a process to determine whether all students involved were unaware of the letter fraud, as Kaur proved at her court hearing.
“The government can address this issue in a compassionate way today and recognize our domestic migration goals, but also the daily lives of these people who have sacrificed everything to come to this country,” Nanda said.
The Immigration and Refugee Board said it decides each case “on its merits, based on the law and the evidence and arguments presented by the parties”.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 20, 2023
