India Fake College Admission Letters Implications
The current avalanche of news reports from Canada about some students from India who face deportation because they submitted fake college admission letters, has many layers.
First of all, the system is faulty. That’s why they were not detected. Secondly, maybe they slipped through because foreign students are treasured. They contribute to cities’ economic well being. They rent accommodation, buy second hand cars, bus or train tickets, heavy boots and clothing, food etc. Maybe that’s why the system was lax in the initial probe.
But how did the government discover the problem? When they applied to stay permanently in Canada. Students from India form more than 40% of all student visa applications. Most of them have no intention of going back, judging from previous Stats Canada figures. This is nothing new. Other groups have been doing it for years. Send kids to Canada. They graduate, get jobs and bring parents over.
Students say they are innocent. They didn’t know the admission letters were fake. How will they convince the government they didn’t? The fake letters came from one immigration consultant. Was there word of mouth about his achievements? Did he convince his clients that the main thing was to land in Canada, and worry about future problems later?
The government is asking questions. It wants solid answers because people who want to stay in Canada or any other country have lied in the past. I was once called by the immigration department about a man who claimed to be South African. He wanted asylum because apartheid persecuted him for being black. I vetted him. He did not speak Xhosa, Zulu, Sepedi or any other African language and did not know anything about the country. He was from West Africa, judging by his accent.
The government will probably look at the India case one student at a time, not as a group. It might also try and work with authorities in India to find the immigration consultant, and ask him some questions. Did he have accomplices in Canada to prepare the fake admission letters?
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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