Canada detected fraud in international student applications

In a concerning development, over 10,000 foreign student acceptance letters submitted to Canadian colleges and universities have been flagged as potentially fraudulent this year. A leading immigration official overseeing international students disclosed this alarming figure. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has initiated enhanced verification processes aimed at uncovering fraudulent activities connected to study permit applications.

Enhanced Verification Processes

According to Bronwyn May, the director-general of the International Students Branch at the IRCC, tighter verification measures were implemented in response to previous incidents involving international students who faced deportation due to fraudulent acceptance letters provided by an unlicensed immigration consultant in India. May indicated that since the IRCC began thoroughly verifying acceptance letters over the past year, officials had successfully intercepted more than 10,000 potentially fraudulent letters.

In her comments to Members of Parliament, she noted that while 93% of the 500,000 acceptance letters checked within the past 10 months were confirmed as genuine, a concerning 2% were fake. Additionally, 1% of applicants had their offers cancelled by their respective institutions, and there were cases where colleges and universities did not respond to verification requests regarding the letters' authenticity.

Call for Accountability and Action

Annie Beaudoin, a former immigration officer and now a registered immigration consultant, expressed no surprise concerning the scale of the potential fraud. She recounted instances of questionable acceptance letters before the implementation of the more stringent checks, including a case involving several young women from Korea who all possessed identical letters from the same institution, suspected to be associated with a human trafficking operation.

In response to this issue, NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan voiced her alarm over the finding of 10,000 fake admission letters. Kwan criticized the government for permitting unscrupulous actors to exploit and deceive international students over an extended period. She emphasized the urgent need for the government to identify these actors and the institutions that may be complicit in such fraudulent schemes. Kwan asserted that it is crucial not only to protect the integrity of the Canadian student program but also to ensure that any international students who have been defrauded receive adequate protection.

Investigative Measures and Future Reforms

The Canadian government has launched an investigation into approximately 2,000 suspicious cases, primarily involving students from India, China, and Vietnam. The findings revealed that about 1,485 individuals were found to have submitted fraudulent documents to gain entry into Canada, significantly affecting their ability to secure a study permit. While some of these students were denied entry due to fake acceptance letters, others had already arrived in Canada.

Since December last year, the IRCC has mandated that colleges and universities authenticate letters of acceptance via an online portal. Starting January 30 of this year, this verification requirement was extended to all study permit applications and extensions submitted from within Canada. IRCC spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald confirmed that requiring educational institutions to verify acceptance letters is a deterrent against document fraud, thereby protecting prospective international students from exploitation.

MacDonald also noted that fraudulent letters encompass altered genuine letters, invalid documents, and completely fabricated letters. International students with such fraudulent documents risk being barred from entering Canada. Following the interception of potentially fraudulent letters, the IRCC conducts further inquiries into the cases. He assured that if it is determined that an individual is a bona fide student, they may be granted a temporary resident permit. The finding of misrepresentation surrounding the fraudulent letter will not negatively impact their future applications.

Moreover, Conservative immigration critic Tom Kmiec criticized the government for issuing many student visas without adequate oversight, highlighting the potential consequences of such lax measures. The situation calls for urgent reforms to ensure the integrity of the international student program in Canada and safeguard the rights of genuine students.