Canadian Dream Of Over 700 Indian Students Shattered As They Face Deportation Over Fake Documents
Some 700 Indians who migrated to Canada, mostly from Punjab, on student visas are facing deportation from the country after their admission offer letters to educational institutions were found to be fake.
According to reports, the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) has issued deportation notices to the students who reached the country through a Jalandhar-based agency.
Paid Rs 20 lakhs for admission
These visa applications were filed from 2018 onwards till 2022.
The students had paid anywhere between Rs 16 to Rs 20 lakh for all expenses, including admission fees for Humber college.
In addition, the students had to shell out lakhs more for air tickets, security deposits, and other expenses.
Got admitted to another college?
Chaman Singh Batth, one of the affected students, said that after he and others reached Canada, Brijesh Mishra, the owner of Education Migration Services, Jalandhar informed them that all seats in the courses offered to them at Humber college got filled.
Mishra then allegedly told the students that they would either have to wait till the start of the next semester after 6 months or else they could get admission to another college.
Mishra also returned their Humber college fee, which made students believe his genuineness.
As advised by Mishra, the students contacted another less-known college and took admission to available 2-year diploma courses.?The classes commenced and after completion of the courses, students got work permits after completing the courses.?
Documents turned out to be fake
But they were left shocked after they submitted relevant documents to the immigration department for permanent resident status in Canada.
"All trouble started when CBSA scrutinised the documents on the basis which visa was granted to the students and found admission offer letters fake. Deportation notices were issued to all the students after granting them an opportunity for a hearing," Batth said.
Made students apply themselves?
He further alleged that when the parents of cheated students tried to contact the agent in Jalandhar, his office was found to be locked.
According to Batth, Mishra had kept himself out of the application process by not signing the visa files and making the students do it themselves, giving the impression that a self-applicant did it without hiring the services of any agent.
Can't prove innocence?
The cheated students say the CBSA officials were not accepting the claims of innocence of the "victims" as there was no evidence to prove that an agent was involved in the process.
According to them, the only remedy for the students is challenging the deportation notices in court, where proceedings may continue for 3 to 4 years.?
Canadian dream to nightmare
Thanks to the country's favourable immigration policies and the prospects of getting permanent residency and citizenship, Canada has been one of the most sought-after countries for Indian students for higher studies.
However, many also end up in the nets of human traffickers and fake agents, promising visas to Canada, only to realise later that they have been cheated.
In 2022, some 2,000 Indian students were left in the lurch after three institutions -- M College in Montreal, CDE College in Sherbrooke, and CCSQ College in Longueuil, announced that they were shutting down.
Just before the announcement, the colleges had asked the students to deposit outstanding fees ranging from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 17.70 lakh.
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