Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - February 2010
Across the country immigration groups and advocates are calling for changes after a recent Globe and Mail article detailed an RCMP investigation into the world of “ghost” immigration consultants.
Groups such as the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants want the government to step in to restrict who can legally claim to be an immigration consultant. At the moment, anyone can make that claim and sell their services for thousands of dollars to those wishing to immigrate to Canada.
“The situation is simply unacceptable. It not only threatens the integrity of our citizenship and immigration systems, but it also raises in my mind national security issues,” said John Ryan, chair of CSIC. “We know who [the ghost consultants] are and where they're operating. But law-enforcement agencies can't do anything currently to stop them.”
The government, under Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, acknowledges the gravity of the issue and say they intend to do what they can to reform the system.
Critics, however, are sceptical when it comes to follow-through, saying that any enforcement on the issue is going to cost a lot of money and manpower.
“It's extremely difficult to take measures to stop unlicensed consultants because the problem is in the shadows. The only effective measure would be strict enforcement, where you would make it illegal and subject to sanction,” said one immigration lawyer. “The problem is that enforcement is a huge expense, at a time when the resources of the RCMP are being diverted in other directions.”
Source: Globe and Mail
