Here we are near mid-May and well life still has really no normal here in Canada. The outbreak has once again made Canada restrictions tighten up and here in Manitoba almost everything is closed to personal shopping and entertainment.

Yes, you can order in food and can go to the grocery store for purchasing food but with restricted access.

Now let’s talk about education. Right now, Canada is preparing to open up the DLI across Canada for International Students for fall intake (August and September starting dates).

This is a very badly needed injection of money to the Canadian economy and the future of our educational programs. They estimate the injection of money from international students is in excess of 2 billion dollars per year into the economy. They figure there are around 500,000 students at any one time going to school here and this of course is really big business.

This Saturday May the 15^th is the last day the Immigration Canada will guarantee that they will process applications for International students who want to attend a DLI in Canada for this fall intake. If you miss this deadline then you should start looking at January intake. Nothing worse then coming to Canada to go to school in January. What a really wakeup for a person who has never experience truly cold weather, but that is another topic all together.

Now, this brings me onto another topic and it is one that I bring up all the time but it cannot be discussed often enough.

Scammers and fake or as we call ghost consultants/lawyers. In the last week I have been approached by two people one who has applied to get a job here in Canada and one who is planning on attending school here in Canada.

The first person has gone through months and months of paperwork on getting a work permit from Canada from a firm. Well, this firm is a fake firm and she has now paid out over $8000.00 US to a company that does not exist and does not even have anything to show for it but some fake documents and an empty bank account.

The second I am thankful was sent to me by a friend to discuss some concerns he had before she went any further. Well, thankfully he did. It was a fake company again. The problem is these people are getting better and better at this and are getting harder to spot all the time. This person was getting ready to transfer $20,000 dollars to these people and would not have any chance of recovering this money ever.

Now, I cannot say it enough do your research on who you are working with. One of the easiest ways to ensure is check their registration. How do you do that you ask. Well for immigration consultants who are registered to do immigration work you can go to the iccrc web site and check to ensure you are hiring a licensed professional Find an Immigration Professional – ICCRC-CRCIC. This link takes you to the site of licensed professionals. Now one other thing to consider and this personally has happened to me. Make sure once you look up the individual send them an email. Some of these scrupulous people will still use their name and number to fake you out. The one thing they cannot do is fake an email address. Just tell them you are sending them an email and are checking they are the person they say they are. If they do not reply to the email, you have sent them then look into this deeper. If like me I get a random email asking me a question about a program you are asking about or asking if this is who I am, I will certainly want to find out more.

Remember its your money. Also working with agents who are not registered is not a good idea either make sure they are licensed and are affiliated with an immigration lawyer or consultant who is registered with Canada.

Some people may feel it is too expensive to hire a professional to do the work but you can’t afford not to. If you have been guaranteed that you would be approved for a job or visa or any other program then this is probably the biggest flag of all. People want to migrate knowing they will be guaranteed to get an approved application or job but as a professional in the industry I cannot.

Why? Because I do not make the final decision. Immigration Canada does. My job is to do the best possible application for you to immigration. You do have the recourses to do your own application that is right and it is your right to do this.

What is the difference between me and you when it comes to your application?

Well, the biggest difference is I have been trained to ensure for one everything is done in the fashion that is expected by Immigration Canada, we look at the details. I will not allow you to file false information. If you ask, I will say no.

If you file false information, you likely will find yourself on the side of a misrepresentation ban for 5 years from Immigration Canada. That will include every aspect from work, visit, education and so on. Many people figure that they can make substitutions in their application or something that immigration asks for is not that important. Simple example is a photo. If you do a photo to submit yourself that is like a passport photo, I can almost be sure it will result in a rejection of your application.

So, anyway I can go on this subject for hours and it still will not stop people from going to fakes people.

Stay safe and be safe

Gerard Haggett RCIC