Be wary of cheating in Immigration Consulting Industry to Canada

Canada’s Immigration Ministry is dedicating tto highlighting the risks of fraud as part of a government-wide education campaign on the issue.

In a statement, Canada’s Immigration Minister, Ahmed Hussen, said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will undertake a number of activities to promote awareness on topics like immigration scams and fraudulent websites and how to choose an immigration or citizenship consultant.

Reason for those efforts, The Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) is not doing its job – which is to ensure only licensed consultants are providing paid advice to immigration candidates.

Rogue consultants are being allowed to slip through the net, undermining those who set out with integrity to give clients the best possible chance of achieving their Canadian immigration dream.

Those were among the conclusions of a parliamentary committee set up to investigate the ICCRC, with the fundamental recommendation being that the entire organization be disbanded in favour of direct government regulation.

Persistent problems abound. A central concern is the number of unlicensed rogue “ghost” consultants who continue to offer immigration related consulting services, inside Canada and overseas, in defiance of Canadian law.  Additionally, the barriers to entry are so low that new consultants can easily obtain a license to practice after completing a 320-hour course of instruction and passing a multiple-choice test, without any supervised period of working experience in the field. To verify whether your Immigration consultant is licensee or not, ICCRC provides the link to identify the regulated consultants here. Only RCIC and RISIAs whom are licensed by ICCRC are allowed to provide the immigration consultant to clients with fees. 

The following examples of  things all immigration candidates should keep in mind:

• Canada’s immigration system is based on fairness and applications are processed on a case-by-case basis. No one has special connections and no one can promise your application will be given special treatment or guarantee that it will be approved.
• Immigration candidates are not required to hire a representative to help you with your immigration or citizenship application. However, if you decide to hire a representative, choose carefully and make sure that your representative is authorized.
• It is a serious crime to misrepresent yourself by making false statements or submitting false documents when dealing with the Government of Canada and doing so can jeopardize your application or immigration status.