Source:littleabout.com
Toronto, Feb 9 : Ghost immigration consultants have become a big threat to the immigration process in Canada which lets in more than 250,000 newcomers each year, a large number of them from Punjab.
According to figures, there are about 2,000 ghost immigration consultants as against just 1,655 registered by the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. Operating out of the purview of law, these 'ghost' immigration consultants fleece thousands of prospective immigrants each year, defrauding them from $1,200 to $30,000 each.
Since India is the second largest source of immigration into Canada after China, the "ghost" problem is even deeper in the Indo-Canadian community as people here want to bring their relatives from India by hook or by crook.
The depth of the problem can be gauged from the following advertisement that appeared in a Chandigarh newspaper recently:
"JOB VACANCY IN CANADIAN HOTEL CANADA: Ominicity Hotel Director wish to advertise through this medium that the Following Job Vacancy in our Hotel. We need both men and females workers to fill in different categories of job openings. Currently, if your interested in working with us you can contact us back E-mail Address: ottawahotelss_canada@yahoo.ca Our Hotel Director shall connect you with our Canadian immigration director during your visa processing, SIGN BY DIRECTOR MRS RESOLING ANNA."
But inquiries revealed that there was no hotel by this name in Ottawa.
"Hundreds of such fly-by-night immigration operators have set shop in India to prey upon people desperate to move to Canada," Sheetal Jhuti, an Indo-Canadian immigration consultant based in Mississauga on the outskirts of Toronto, told IANS.
"These people go to Punjab and anywhere in India to scam the poor gullible people waiting to get any opportunity to get out of India," she says.
Jhuti adds, "Since an immigration consultant here has to pay high fees to the regulatory Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC), many of these so-called consultants choose to operate out of Canada in their native countries where they don't come under any supervision. That's what is happening in India."
Once you are operating outside the system, anyone can call himself or herself an immigration consultant, she says.
The modus operandi of these 'ghost' immigration consultants, she explains, is to open offices in Chandigarh or Jalandhar and appoint some people to fill up immigration forms for them.
Since these 'ghost' operators are not under jurisdiction of the Canadian regulatory body, they can advertise for jobs that don't exist. When people respond, they charge huge sums of money to fill up their forms and then vanish, sayimmigration sources here.
"Thousands of these ghost consultants advertise daily, thousands of so-called education consultancies lie and cheat in the name of getting student visas to the UK, Canada, and Australia," says Jhuti.
"So, while people like me are paying through our nose to get our licences to run a model consultancy, my neighbourhood pizza store owner is making more money than me by just providing form filling services," she adds.
"The situation is simply unacceptable. It not only threatens the integrity of our citizenship and immigration systems but it also raises in my mind national security issues," John Ryan, chair of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, told the Globe and Mail newspaper last week.
"We know who (the ghost consultants) are and where they're operating. But law enforcement agencies can't do anything currently to stop them," he said.
The cheating is equally rampant in immigration from China, Pakistan and the Philippines - the other major sources of immigration into Canada.
Copyright Indo Asian News
Time to exorcise ghost immigration consultants
Some bilk newcomers, jeopardize national security
Vancouver SunFebruary 9, 2010
Many immigrants, leaving less than ideal circumstances in their own countries, choose to come to Canada in search of a better life. It's sad, then, that the first experience many of these vulnerable people have in Canada is one of exploitation.
The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants drew attention to this problem last week, with the announcement of a $1-million advertising campaign. The campaign, which features the image of a shark attacking a seal, draws attention to the fact the unscrupulous, unaccredited immigration consultants -- known as "ghost" consultants -- treat prospective immigrants as prey. The ads will appear in a number of languages and will include a toll-free line to help immigrants find an accredited consultant.
The society, which was created in 2004, accredits and educates consultants, and by law, members are only allowed to take money in exchange for help in the immigration process. The problem, however, is that consultants need not be members of the society, and those who aren't frequently fleece prospective immigrants out of thousands of dollars.
For example, a Surrey woman recently claimed more than $50,000 had been illegally transferred from an account she had set up on the advice of Fereydoun Hadad, a West Vancouver immigration consultant. Hadad pleaded guilty in January to charges of fraud and uttering a forged document, and he will be sentenced in March.
And just last week it was revealed that the RCMP is investigating a case in which 300 people claimed to be living at the same address, This is not a unique situation, as shady agents often attempt to get around residency requirements by advising prospective immigrants to falsely claim they've been living in Canada.
In fact, these few examples don't convey the likely scope of this problem. The society notes that there are more ghost agents than there are accredited ones: While there are a total of 1,655 registered members, the society has identified some 1,920 ghost agents.
Not all of these ghosts are involved in illegal activities, but their sheer volume, and the fact that they operate in an entirely unregulated atmosphere, virtually guarantees that unscrupulous agents can quietly bilk people out of their life savings -- and put Canada's national security in jeopardy.
And this could become an even bigger problem, given that many Haitians are attempting to immigrate to Canada, particularly Quebec, where there are just 150 registered consultants.
Clearly, this is an area in need of significant reform.
The society was created in an effort to solve some problems associated with the immigration system, but given that membership in the society is entirely voluntary, the problems remain.
The society is calling on the federal government to crack down on ghost agents, something that has been promised for more than a year.
In response to the recent controversy, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said regulatory reforms will be announced this year.
It's about time to exorcise these ghosts. Our international reputation, and our national security, depend on it.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Vancouver SunFebruary 9, 2010
Many immigrants, leaving less than ideal circumstances in their own countries, choose to come to Canada in search of a better life. It's sad, then, that the first experience many of these vulnerable people have in Canada is one of exploitation.
The Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants drew attention to this problem last week, with the announcement of a $1-million advertising campaign. The campaign, which features the image of a shark attacking a seal, draws attention to the fact the unscrupulous, unaccredited immigration consultants -- known as "ghost" consultants -- treat prospective immigrants as prey. The ads will appear in a number of languages and will include a toll-free line to help immigrants find an accredited consultant.
The society, which was created in 2004, accredits and educates consultants, and by law, members are only allowed to take money in exchange for help in the immigration process. The problem, however, is that consultants need not be members of the society, and those who aren't frequently fleece prospective immigrants out of thousands of dollars.
For example, a Surrey woman recently claimed more than $50,000 had been illegally transferred from an account she had set up on the advice of Fereydoun Hadad, a West Vancouver immigration consultant. Hadad pleaded guilty in January to charges of fraud and uttering a forged document, and he will be sentenced in March.
And just last week it was revealed that the RCMP is investigating a case in which 300 people claimed to be living at the same address, This is not a unique situation, as shady agents often attempt to get around residency requirements by advising prospective immigrants to falsely claim they've been living in Canada.
In fact, these few examples don't convey the likely scope of this problem. The society notes that there are more ghost agents than there are accredited ones: While there are a total of 1,655 registered members, the society has identified some 1,920 ghost agents.
Not all of these ghosts are involved in illegal activities, but their sheer volume, and the fact that they operate in an entirely unregulated atmosphere, virtually guarantees that unscrupulous agents can quietly bilk people out of their life savings -- and put Canada's national security in jeopardy.
And this could become an even bigger problem, given that many Haitians are attempting to immigrate to Canada, particularly Quebec, where there are just 150 registered consultants.
Clearly, this is an area in need of significant reform.
The society was created in an effort to solve some problems associated with the immigration system, but given that membership in the society is entirely voluntary, the problems remain.
The society is calling on the federal government to crack down on ghost agents, something that has been promised for more than a year.
In response to the recent controversy, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said regulatory reforms will be announced this year.
It's about time to exorcise these ghosts. Our international reputation, and our national security, depend on it.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
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