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New task force will probe college enrollment scam on international students
Global News
Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said genuine applicants to the student program can stay in Canada for a period of a few years, so they can either study or work here.
A joint task force, made up of senior immigration and border security officials, will probe individual cases of international students who fell victim to a fraudulent acceptance letters scam, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser told media Wednesday.
Any pending removal orders against students will be halted while individual cases are examined.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament Hill ahead of question period on Wednesday, Fraser said the officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will be “likely at the ADM (assistant deputy minister) level.”
Members of both agencies will have their work cut out for them, with reports of potentially hundreds of international students impacted.
Fraser said CBSA will identify the individuals who have removal orders against them for entering Canada on fake admission letters, allegedly fraudulently supplied without their knowledge by an immigration consultant in India.
IRCC members will dig into their files to determine whether they are victims or accomplices in the scam.
“This task force will be required to carry out a case-by-case analysis of every individual case that is the subject of a removal order on the basis of fraudulent letters of acceptance,” Fraser said.
“In the interim, and this is particularly important for students who find themselves in this position, any pending removals will be halted and there will be a temporary permission to stay over the course of this period of consideration.”