In September, the Federal Court decided the case of Mr. Wang Hui. In this case, Mr. Hui’s immigration application was refused because the visa office concluded that he provided fraudulent information regarding his work experience.
While Mr. Hui lost his court case, the case is interesting in that it provides a glimpse as to how Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Anti-Fraud Unit works.
What is the Anti-Fraud Unit?
Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Anti-fraud Unit is a group that provides quality assurance verification of information and documents that potential immigrants to Canada submit. Essentially, the unit makes sure everything in the application package is truthful.
The Anti-Fraud Unit works closely with – and for some intents and purposes functions the same as – Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Migration Integrity Unity.
How does Citizenship and Immigration Canada fight fraud?
Citizenship and Immigration Canada fights fraud through telephone verification, document verification, and personal interviews. In addition, Citizenship and Immigration Canada monitors questionable educational institutions and immigration consultants and also maintains contact with local law enforcement agencies.
Anti-Fraud work is not only done by the Anti-Fraud unit. It is also done by all immigration officers in the course of their duties.
What did the Anti-Fraud Unit do in the Mr. Hui’s case?
In Mr. Hui case, the immigration officer who reviewed his application became suspicious about his employment claims. Because of these suspicions, the officer sent an anti-fraud unit investigator to go to Mr. Hui’s workplace to speak with a number of people there. The anti-fraud unit investigator found that there was no record of Mr. Hui’s employment at that company.
After going to Mr. Hui’s workplace, the anti-fraud unit investigator called Mr. Hui. Mr. Hui provided the investigator with information that was inconsistent with what the investigator found at the workplace visit. The findings of the investigator were given to the officer in charge of Mr. Hui’s file and Mr. Hui was given a chance to explain himself. Eventually, the visa officer found that Mr. Hui made a misrepresentation and refused his application.
How can I avoid being investigated by the anti-fraud unit?
While there is no way to avoid being investigated by the anti-fraud unit, if all questions answered in an immigration application and all documents submitted to support that application are truthful, an anti-fraud unit investigation will not turn up anything negative.
If it is found that I committed immigration fraud, what is the penalty?
In most cases, immigration fraud will lead to the refusal of an immigration application and a bar to applying to immigrate to Canada for some time. However, in some cases, individuals guilty of immigration fraud have been jailed and fined.
If I make an innocent error in my application, is that fraud?
There is always a chance that a person makes an innocent error in an application. Depending on the error, your application may or may not be affected.
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Before submitting any immigration application, it is important to carefully review everything that is being sent in. If there is information in the application package that is not clear, it is important to clarify that in the application package.
This Article is prepared for general information purposes only and is intended to provide comments for readers and friends of the Filipino Journal. The contents should not be viewed as legal advice or opinion.
Reis is a lawyer with Aikins Law and practices in the areas of immigration law. His direct line is 957-4640. If you would like to know more about Reis or Aikins you can visit the firm’s web page at www.aikins.com, follow Reis on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/ImmigrationReis, or connect with him on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/reispagtakhan
