How To Evade Immigration Frauds

Acquiring a Visa is not easy. At these difficult times, Visa applicants generally look out for reliable Visa consultants. Mostly, people try to find cheaper yet better Visa consultants and often fall prey to immigration fraud.

Reportedly, four such fraudulent immigration cases since October 2012 have come to light, and the government is actively asking Visa aspirants to judge clearly before proceeding with any processes with Visa consultancies.

Four individuals connected to New Can Consultants and Wellong International Investments have been found guilty of immigration misrepresentations and tax evasion. These fraudulent consultants carried out criminal investigations, and CBSA and CRA have declared sentences on September 15.

CBSA recently revealed that individuals claiming to be working on behalf of New Can Consultants provided fake information to clients. The individuals offered counterfeit addresses and phone numbers, claiming to reside in Canada when, in fact, they do not.

Approximately 800 clients of the company have lost their permanent residency or citizenship status in BC after a series of measures were taken against the company.

Arrests made in New Can Consultancy Case.

In October 2012, Xun “Sunny” Wang, the company’s owner, was arrested along with three other employees. The company’s owner was sentenced to prison after being proven guilty of passport fraud, misrepresentation, forgery and tax evasion. Wang’s sentence included seven years of jail time and a penalty of $900,000.

In July 2017, a man named Che Fang issued an exclusion order from Canada for representing himself as an employee of a company. Fang deceived clients by showing them fake paycheques and T4 slips.

In August 2017, BC sentenced Tian Gary Chen and Xiao Ben Chu to 40 hours of community service after they pleaded guilty to operating as unlicensed immigration consultants.

In September 2017, BC sentenced Zhen Wen Vicky Ye to two years in jail and issued a fine of $94,532 for passport fraud, misrepresentation and tax evasion.

Assistant Director of Criminal Investigations Section at CBSA announced that they are actively looking for fake immigration consultants who are abusing the immigration system and taking necessary action against them.

As immigration fraud cases are coming into light, applicants should be aware of how fake consultancies are fooling their clients. The most used method by which fake consultancies deceive clients is by providing fake job offers.

Immigration Frauds – Fake Job Offers

Securing a job from a Canadian employer can ease the Visa process and add to the CRS score. Consultancies use this to their advantage and fool clients with fake job offers. Some Provincial Nominee Program streams only accept candidates who have a job offer from an employer.

Though a candidate doesn’t need to have a job offer before applying for PNP via Express Entry, having a job offer can also add 50-200 points in CRS for the applicant. Therefore, having a job offer will improve a candidate’s potential of receiving the ITA.

How can you verify if the Job Offer is Legitimate?

Visa applicants should research any job offer that they receive from their consultants. The first step is to look for the website and the email address that sent the offer email. A legitimate email address should look professional.

Suppose the recruiter or employer asks for a fee or deposit; this could, in turn, mean fraud. Canadian companies often interview before hiring candidates. Applicants should be aware of this and should not fall prey to such immigration fraud.