Ghost Consultants and their Menace: Beware

“Unethical immigration consultants provide expensive and fraudulent immigration services to the public while giving undependable advice and exorbitant. We have witnessed the disastrous impact of this practice on some of our clients. The proposed changes to the regulatory regime are a welcome step in the right direction.”

– Naveed Chaudhry, Executive Director, Peel Multicultural Council.

Canada is taking definitive and determinative action to hold immigration and citizenship consultants to account by checking the lapse, and dereliction, strengthening enforcement and increasing accountability to protect the public from dishonest and fraud consultants who take benefits of vulnerable people.

According to law, to provide immigration advice as a non-lawyer, one must become licensed as a consultant through the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (“ICCRC”). The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (“IRCC”) facilitates the arrival of immigrants, provides protection to refugees and offers programming to help newcomers settle in Canada. It also grants citizenship and issues passports and other travel documents.

Who is a Ghost Consultant?

Despite the existence of the ICCRC, unauthorized consultants continue to operate in several communities across Canada. Ghost consultants provide immigration services to clients without proper education, training, and license. They pose themselves as immigration consultants fraudulently. They cannot represent a client in immigration or apply on the Client’s behalf. A person or a company who has offered unauthorized/ unregistered/ unregulated immigration consultations is known as a “ghost consultant.” Ghost consulting is illegal and must be reported to the Canadian government when someone comes in contact with individuals in such practice. They defraud the Canadian Immigration system to make millions of dollars. They promise to provide work and study opportunities to vulnerable clients in Canada. This, in the end, leads to shattered dreams, huge money losses, loans and pawned properties by the clients.

For instance, Alfredo Arrojado of Winnipeg was a well-known case of a ghost consultant. In 2017, he was accused of three offences for collecting $91,000 worth of consultancy fees without a license. Another such ghost consultant, Richmond B.C. man Xun Wang, was given a seven-year sentence for what authorities called the most prominent immigration fraud in Canadian history.

Diane Campos, a consultant with Equality Immigration Services, estimates that 20 percent of her clients were victims of ghost consultants.

One must beware of traps and seek help, support, and guidance to fulfil their dream of being in a country which offers a conducive environment for study, work and overall growth of an individual from a licensed and authorized immigration lawyer. IRCC warns the public that using an unauthorized representative may lead to the rejection of the application.

IRCC warns the public and lays down a few pointers to identify such unauthorized representatives:

• Representing oneself as an attorney or immigration consultant when one is not qualified or not registered under IRCC.
• Filing unnecessary applications.
• Misrepresent information in the form.
• Charging for services that were never conducted.
• Asking for money to be sent to a personal bank account.
• Promising something that does not sound to be true.
• Getting signatures on documents and forms in haste without understanding them completely and clearly.
• Beware of the consultant who encourages clients to produce wrong facts in the forms and fake documents.
• Charges of fees which are not justified.

There already is a regulatory body designed to track down fraudulent consultants. The ICCRC was launched in 2011 to do that precisely. In addition, all immigration consultants who are not lawyers must register with the IRCC to practice their profession.

Creating awareness about the importance of using an authorized consultant/ Lawyer for the immigration process

Federal regulators must promote the use of authorized immigration consultants and warn applicants about scammers and crooks. One must strictly avoid an unauthorized agent. To sail smoothly through the immigration process, it is advised to seek help from a lawyer who can represent you throughout the process. The chances of visa success increase significantly when prospective candidates hire the services of a Canadian immigration lawyer. There is a retainer agreement between the Client and the immigration lawyer. This is a written contract between the Member and the Client that sets out the terms of the business arrangement between them for the provision of immigration and citizenship service. It also sets clear expectations regarding the cost involved and services offered.

While applying for immigration, the applicant must ask for the retainer agreement and verify the licence of the lawyer or the consultant. A lawyer does not need registration under IRCC to represent the Client, whereas the non-lawyer consultant must be registered under IRCC.
The measures that can be taken are suggested by the report of June 2017 by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. The committee recommends more public education and awareness about the Canadian immigration consultancy profession.

This will promote the benefits of using authorized Canadian immigration consultants and warn would-be applicants about the severe consequences of hiring scammers and crooks. To steer a person through the process of legally entering and remaining in Canada requires the work of a legally trained professional.

As part of the 2019 Budget Implementation Act, the Government of Canada has introduced legislation to strengthen oversight of consultants and enhance compliance and enforcement procedures. Under the newly established College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, this bill would create a new statutory framework to regulate immigration and citizenship consultants (dubbed “the College”). The purpose of the College is to regulate immigration and citizenship consultants in the public interest. It will lay down qualification standards, standards of practice and continuing education requirements, ensuring compliance with the professional code of conduct; and undertaking public awareness campaigns. The measures taken by this regulatory authority will result in more excellent public protection and help to support the integrity of Canada’s immigration and citizenship system and the professions of good-standing consultants. Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA “) now ensures that no person can knowingly represent or advise a person for consideration or offer to do so in connection with an immigration proceeding unless the person is a member in good standing of a law society, a paralegal in certain jurisdictions or a licensed immigration consultant. So, to avoid rejection of the visa application, the assistance of a reputed lawyer representing as an authorized consultant is paramount.

To begin your journey, do seek help and support from eminent lawyers authorized to represent you through the right platform, as per the legal norms, affordable fees: Immilaw Global, a trustworthy, reliable Foreign Immigration Law Firm, you can bank upon to keep your bank balance intact and undisturbed.