CIMM – Defrauded Students and Genuine Students Impacted by Fraud Task Force & Fact Sheet – October 24, 2023

Key Facts and Figures

There are several active litigations on the matter.

• Earlier this year, cases came to light in which some current and former international students began to face enforcement action following investigations into the submission of fake letters of acceptance (LOA) when they previously applied for a study permit.
  • The cases were identified via tips and intelligence probes conducted by CBSA. Over 2000 cases were initially examined. Cases included foreign nationals from India (89%), Vietnam (8%) and Peoples’ Republic of China (3%).
  • The cases involve unauthorized consultants providing their clients fraudulent letters of acceptance from various Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) in Canada, in support of study permit applications.
  • Of the 285 cases under review by the task force, 135 different immigration officers, across 9 visa offices in Canada, India, Vietnam and China, assessed the initial applications.
    • Note: Data is tracked manually and should be considered preliminary and subject to change without notice.
    • Data Source: CMB Investigations tracker, GCMS and IRCC Cognos between October 17, 2023 and October 20, 2023.
    • Please note:
      • Data are preliminary estimates and subject to change.
      • Data more recent than September 30, 2023 has not been made public.
• In June, a joint Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) taskforce was established to review these cases and ensure that genuine students would not be removed from Canada.
• As of October 12, the taskforce has reviewed 108 cases, and determined that 62 individuals overall were genuine students Of the individuals with removal orders, 18 were found not to be genuine students whereas 29 were determined to be genuine students and authorized temporary resident permits of up to 3 years.

Key Messages

• IRCC is actively working to provide certainty to genuine international students admitted to Canada with fraudulent admission letters, who were issued a deportation notice. Our goal is to identify those who took advantage of genuine students and take action against them.
• When it comes to fraud, we are primarily focused on identifying organizers of coordinated fraud. We have measures in place to detect fraud and to flag these in our systems in order to deter future fraud.
• These measures are part of a multi-pronged approach that includes conducting investigations, deploying different integrity measures, improving programs and regulations, and doing client outreach. All these efforts are coordinated to combat fraud.
• To prevent similar situations in the future, an enhanced letter of acceptance verification process is being implemented that will have LOAs validated directly by DLIs.

Supplementary Information

• IRCC works with its local and international partners to crack down on fraud, and is continuously improving its systems to detect evidence of fraud.
• When processing applications, officers review any adverse information that may be found on file and take that information into consideration. Procedural fairness is afforded to applicants to provide them with the opportunity to respond to an officer’s concerns. The onus remains on applicants to provide truthful information on their applications even if a third party is preparing it.
• All persons seeking to come to Canada whether temporarily or permanently must meet the admissibility and eligibility requirements as set out in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).
• If we find that false documents or information were provided to obtain status, an individual may have their status taken away, be removed from Canada, have a permanent record of fraud with IRCC and be forbidden to enter Canada for at least five years.
• If pressed on the task force
  • As these investigations are ongoing, and due to privacy legislation, we cannot comment on specific cases.
  • Our focus will continue to be on helping individuals assessed as genuine students as part of the task force so they can complete their studies in Canada and apply for any other temporary or permanent status they are eligible for in the future.
  • The Task Force is made up of eight senior officials, the Chair: ADM, Operations Sector, IRCC, the VP, Intelligence and Enforcement Branch, CBSA and five Director Generals from IRCC and one Director General from the CBSA.
  • There remains an active inventory with the CBSA that will need to come to a conclusion [no action on their part or referred to the IRB for a hearing]. It is expected the task force will continue to operate until those cases are finalized. No cases outside of the original three CBSA investigations have surfaced to date, but we will actively continue to monitor this space.
  • The Task Force assessed cases to be non-genuine if they were linked to ongoing criminal charges, admitting to being complicit in obtaining fraudulent documents, or having stagnant or illogical progression of studies. Other factors may have included: evidence of misrepresentation on subsequent in-Canada applications and not having begun their studies by the third academic term. Multiple cases were found to be non-genuine students based on more than one factor.
  • To date one individual assessed by the task force as being non-genuine has been removed from Canada. The individual was offered procedural fairness, however, they declined to provide additional proof of studies for the taskforce to assess. They were subsequently removed from Canada.
  • Since the last Task Force meeting, criminal charges have been laid for immigration offences against Brijesh Mishra, one of the main culprits identified in the media.
• If pressed on protecting students
  • We recognize the immense contributions that international students make to our country and we are committed to providing a path to Canada that is honest and transparent.
  • All applicants should ensure that, before applying for a study permit, they do their research, have an acceptance letter from a DLI, and refer to the official IRCC website to get information about our programs and fraud prevention. If an individual believes they have been deceived by an unscrupulous consultant, we urge them to come forward and report fraud.
• If pressed on the multi-pronged approach
  • IRCC conducts large-scale administrative investigations (LSIs) into concerns of coordinated fraud, human smuggling and trafficking across all IRCC lines of business. The information gathered is used to intercept applications in progress, deter fraud, inform decision making, and inform on emerging trends.
  • IRCC has implemented the international student compliance regime to uncover potential fraud, fraud trends, international student movement, non bona fide students and questionable institutions.
  • IRCC also launches targeted public awareness campaigns when they are warranted, such as the 2023 advertising campaign launched in India to raise awareness among prospective applicants of recent fraud trends.
  • The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants was implemented in 2021 to regulate consultants, improve oversight, strengthen enforcement and increase accountability to protect the public from dishonest consultants and other bad actors who take advantage of vulnerable people.
  • IRCC is also working with DLIs, provinces and territories, and national education associations to develop and adopt a ‘recognized’ or ‘trusted’ institution model that would identify designated learning institutions that provide top-quality support and learning experiences for the international students they welcome to Canada.
  • A broad review of the International Student Program is also underway. IRCC has engaged with provincial and territorial ministries of education and immigration to discuss potential measures to strengthen program integrity and enhance protections to address student vulnerability, unethical recruitment and non-genuine actors in the program.
• If pressed on on-going litigation
  • Clients’ counsel have been advised of the task force outcomes and their clients’ allowances as a TRP holder.
  • The clients have the choice to continue with the Federal Court judicial review process as part of a healthy democratic process.
  • IRCC’s decision to defend decisions before the Court is determined on a case-by-case basis and will be assessed based on the reasonableness of each particular decision.
• If pressed on non-genuine students
  • The removal proceedings by the CBSA will resume for students not found to be well-intentioned as part of the task force’s individualized case review. For example, cases where:
    • The individuals are subject to ongoing criminal charges.
    • The individuals were complicit in fraud to enter Canada, and previously engaged human smugglers to enter other jurisdictions.
    • The study progression is stagnant or illogical.
• If pressed on giving permanent residency to genuine students through this process
  • There is a wide variety of circumstances among the cases reviewed by the taskforce and many have other types of applications pending.
  • When the taskforce determines that the individual is a genuine student, they can be granted a TRP, and the misrepresentation finding related to the fraudulent letter of acceptance will not be considered on future applications.
  • With this in mind, any individual whose case has gone through the taskforce process and who has been granted a TRP will have the same opportunity to apply for permanent residence that they would otherwise have had.
• If pressed on taking action against bad actors
  • [Redacted]
  • On June 23, 2023, CBSA arrested the primary person of interest (Brijesh Mishra) of their investigation, on the grounds of misrepresentation (A40 (1)(a)) and overstay (A41 (a) & A29 (2)). CBSA published a news release on June 23, 2023, confirming the charges laid against the individual under IRPA by the Criminal Investigations Section:
    • Section 91(1) Unauthorized Representation or Advice for Consideration – one count
    • Section 126 Counselling Misrepresentation – one count
    • Section 127(a) Misrepresentation (Direct or Indirect Misrepresentation) – one count
    • Section 127(b) Misrepresentation (Communicating False Information) – one count
    • Section 124(1)(a) Non-Compliance with the Act – one count
  • [Redacted] Records indicate that the files were processed across five processing offices (CPC-O, CPC-E, Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore).