The Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) has issued deportation notices to over 700 Indian students after their admission offer letters from educational institutions were found to be fake. These fake offer letters were used to get a Canadian visa on the pretext of entering for studies.
The racket came to light when these students applied for permanent residence in Canada after the completion of the duration of their course.
As per reports, about 700 students applied for study visas through Education Migration Services, Jalandhar, headed by one Brijesh Mishra. These visa applications were filed from 2018 to 2022.
Each student was charged between 16 to 20 lakh rupees for all expenses, including admission fees for a premier institute. Air tickets and security deposits were not included in the payment to the agent.
One of the students, Chaman Singh Batth told IndiaNarrative, “After the students landed in Toronto and were heading to Humber college, they received a telephone call from Mishra telling them that all seats in the courses offered to them got filled, adding that they would now have to wait till the start of the next semester after 6 months or else they could get admission to some other college.”
However, Mishra returned their Humber college fee which further made students believe his genuineness. Unsuspecting students did what Mishra had asked them to do, they went to another college, and took admission in available 2-year diploma courses. The classes started and after completing their respective courses, these students got work permits. On becoming eligible for permanent resident status in Canada, the students, as per the rule, submitted relevant documents to the immigration department.
Batth further adds, “The trouble started when CBSA scrutinised the documents on the basis of which visa was granted to the students and found admission offer letters to be fake. Deportation notices were issued to all the students after granting them an opportunity for a hearing.”
Many of these students are now facing an uncertain future after investing significant time and money in Canada. Some have also expressed anger at the fact that they were not aware of the fraudulent nature of their visas, and are now paying the price for the actions of others.
The CBSA has refused to consider the students as victims because they do not have any evidence to prove that they were duped by Mishra.
When the parents of cheated students tried to contact the agent in Jalandhar, his office was found locked and the calls to his number went unanswered.
