26 March 2009

Kenney warns prospective Canadian visa applicants of fraudulent migration agents

After the Australian Government promised this week to protect those emigrating to Australia, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney followed suit by warning Canadian visa applicants of dishonest and unregistered migration agents when applying to move to Canada.

Following news of the Australian Government uncovering a racket involving ‘migration agents’ and Australian student visa holders this week, the Australian Government has been urged by registered migration agents to clamp down on the problem and protect those emigrating to Australia.

In a similar move, the Canadian Government has released warning advertisements this week intended to make potential Canadian visa applicants aware of how to protect themselves from illegally operating migration agents. 

"This government takes a tough stance against dishonest immigration consultants who make false promises, or counsel immigrants to lie or cheat to come to Canada," said Minister Kenney.

"We want immigrants to know how to protect themselves against fraud. We want immigration consultants, in Canada and overseas, to know that we will do everything we can to protect the integrity of the Canadian immigration system."

The advertising campaign will involve mainstream and ethnic Internet press that will direct people to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website.  Here, potential Canada visa holders can use information to find registered migration agents and lawyers.

This campaign will run simultaneously with a video posting that contains multilingual warnings, which will be posted on YouTube, the Canadian and Immigration website and overseas missions.

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