In recent years, with the surge in immigration, cautionary tales have emerged about individuals facing financial losses and legal consequences due to hiring illegal immigration consultants. The recent Kaur v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) 2023 FC 1454 case highlights the importance of choosing a trustworthy immigration lawyer or duly registered consultant to avoid such repercussions.
The Kaur case involved Ms. Kaur, an Indian national deemed inadmissible to Canada due to misrepresentation in her study permit application. Her immigration consultant had included a fraudulent letter of acceptance from Loyalist College without her knowledge. The case raised questions about the innocent misrepresentation exception, which applies only if the applicant believed they were not misrepresenting a material fact, their belief was reasonable, and knowledge of the misrepresentation was beyond their control.
Chief Justice Crampton concluded that while Ms. Kaur honestly believed she wasn’t making a misrepresentation, she failed to satisfy the remaining two parts of the exception. First, it was deemed unreasonable for her to blindly trust the consultant without verifying its authenticity through a more thorough process. Second, she could have taken steps to review the application package before submission, making her unawareness within her control. The court emphasized the need for applicants to assume full responsibility for their consultants’ actions to maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
The moral of the story from the Kaur case is clear: if you plan to hire a third party for your immigration application, avoid blindly trusting the consultant. To prevent misrepresentation, consider hiring a Canadian lawyer registered with a law society or a duly registered Canadian consultant to guide you through the lawful immigration application process.
Kaur v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) 2023 FC 1454 at Para 26.
