Students Genuinely Victimized Won’t Be Deported: Canada

India-West Staff Reporter

OTTAWA – Recognizing the contribution of international students, and the students from Punjab who have been facing deportation over fake documents, Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser on June 14 in a statement said the focus is on identifying those who are responsible for the fraudulent activity and not on penalizing those who may have been affected by fraud.

He said genuinely defrauded students would be issued a Temporary Resident Permit.

“We are committed to providing a path to Canada that is honest and transparent,” Fraser said.

Calling on future students applicants to be alert and not 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 Institution, and refer to official websites to get information.

“If you believe you have been deceived by an unscrupulous consultant, we urge you to come forward and report fraud.”

There are other foreign nationals who had no intention of pursuing higher education and used fraudulent acceptance letters to take advantage of Canada’s immigration system, Fraser said. Within this cohort of individuals, some have even been involved in organized crime.

“I want to make it clear that international students who are not found to be involved in fraud will not face deportation,” Fraser clarified.

They filed visa applications from 2018 onwards till 2022 through Jalandhar-based Education Migration Services headed by one Brijesh Mishra, who is on the run and has shut all his operations in Jalandhar. He is also accused of cheating students of tens of thousands of dollars.

The students had gone to Canada on a study visa, but the fraud came to light after they applied for permanent residency (PR) recently.