Canada legislates against rogue immigration consultants
There’s an interesting article about this in the Daily Telegraph.
Basically the Canadian government is telling people to be careful who they pay money to for immigration help. With the immigration process being quite complex and at times very lengthy, it’s understandable that people would wish to take whatever steps they can to speed things up or to make the process easier on themselves. After all, who wants to put their lives on hold for four years? But promises of visas and to speed up the immigration process are invariably false promises. These so-called consultants prey on the vulnerable.
I think the Canadian government has taken a step in the right direction by clamping down on the cheats who try to take advantage of these sometimes desperate people. Other countries have already passed similar or even more stringent legislation. New Zealand, for example, refuses to handle applications from unlicensed immigration advisers, and providing immigration advice without a licence – even if you’re not doing it for gain – can land you with a fine of up to NZ$100,000 or seven years in prison.
We have a busy British Expat discussion forum and we often see these kind of rogues show up. They don’t last long on our place. Many of them pretend to befriend people and offer help, but it usually doesn’t take long before they’re touting for business. Then when we try to curb them they get all indignant about it. Gee, it’s hard to run a forum sometimes.
Anyone wanting to emigrate to Canada should make sure to keep in touch with all that’s happening by regularly visiting the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website. If you want to emigrate to Canada, the CIC is a goldmine of information.
Leave a Reply