Fraudsters drag tens of thousands of Indians into immigration and job scams. Many people who are desperate to live or work in Canada easily fall prey to unauthorized consultants. There has been an unprecedented mushrooming of immigration agencies in India wherein fake immigration consultants deceive many of their hard-earned money. Most agencies pretend to be authorized by Canadian authorities and charge lakhs of rupees for bad or wrong advice. Most perilously, some agencies offer fake jobs and steal huge money unscrupulously. The alarming rise in the number of reported scams and unauthorized consultancies can be for two reasons. Firstly, the services of licensed Canadian legal professionals are not easily available in India. Secondly, there is no proper legal framework in India to regulate immigration consultancy services.
In India, there is no proper legal framework to regulate foreign immigration. No licensing procedure has yet been laid down for setting up such consultancies. Anyone, however under-educated and ill-experienced one may be, can start immigration consultancy in India. Law societies in each country regulate foreign immigration law practice. According to Canadian law, only Canadian legal professionals can apply for immigration on behalf of their clients. By law, a non-lawyer should be licensed by ICCRC after completing an immigration practitioner’s program. Indian lawyers, consultants and other agents are not authorized to submit immigration applications for their clients. Providing Canadian immigration services without a license for a fee or other consideration is an offence punishable by law.
An applicant can submit a visa application himself/herself. Unauthorized consultants misuse this provision. Since s/he is not authorized to file an application, s/he files applications using the email id created for clients and present the package as an applicant submits it. In this case, very clearly, an application is not represented by an authorized consultant or lawyer. The risk involved in such ghost consultancy is twofold. Firstly, the ghost consultants are not trained in preparing applications or consulting applicants. Ghost consultants give wrong advice, and many errors and false statements creep into the file. Not only the application gets spoiled and thus rejected, but the applicant will be held liable for the mistakes and misleading statements therein. IRCC doesn’t have jurisdiction to punish an unauthorized consultant in India. Hence, it punishes the applicant for the wrong and fraudulent statements a ghost consultant makes. Receiving advice or help from an unlicensed consultant is an offence, and an applicant will receive a ban for several years for approaching illegal consultants.
On the one hand, thousands of immigration applicants from India are getting looted by fraudulent agencies. And, on the other, these applicants receive bad or wrong immigration advice and their applications get damaged by the unauthorized consultants. Many innocent applicants lose their dream of immigrating to Canada when Canada bans them from submitting any further application. Even a licensed Canadian Immigration lawyer can save such applicants from an awkward situation.
Recently, Canada Government recognized the fact that unauthorized consultants and agents in India are undermining the public confidence in the Canadian Immigration system. As Canadian Immigration Department spokesperson Shannon Ker puts it: “As more Indian nationals choose to come to visit, study and work in Canada, more people are falling victim to unethical consultant practices. Many are spending their hard-earned dollars and, in some cases, their life savings on consultant services where they don’t even end up with a visa in the end”.
Canada Government responded very well, announcing an information campaign in India to warn prospective immigrants not to use immigration consultants and agents in India. Immigration Department realized that its regular caution notes against unauthorized consultants were not practical, and it announced its first paid media campaign. The campaign aims at educating people in India about the advantages of hiring licensed legal professionals and about the dangers of using unauthorized consultants.
Indians constitute a vast majority of migrants to Canada. It includes skilled labours, students and professionals. However, despite many government cautions, Indians remain the biggest victims of unethical consultants and job scammers. Unauthorized consultants are the primary reason why a large proportion of applicants from India are not successful in obtaining a visa. The high rejection rate of visa applications is disheartening for applicants from India. The Immigration Department hopes that the paid- advertisement campaign in India, through newspapers, radio, and social media platforms, will have the intended result in making applicants aware of the dangers involved in using unauthorized consultants.
The candidates must be aware that only licensed legal professionals can offer immigration consultancy services. The assistance of a licensed immigration lawyer will aid you in obtaining a visa without any troubles. They will also protect you from ghost consultants and job scammers.
Always engage licensed Canadian immigration lawyers to apply for migrating to Canada. Contact Immilaw Global, the best Canada immigration lawyers & consultants in Kerala, to know more.
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