Repercussions of Misrepresentation While Submitting Visa Applications

Abhishek Rai
[Published 11 Apr, 2022 | 11:19 AM]
About Author - 8 min read
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The five renowned immigration destinations for immigrants namely Canada, the US, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand have entered a security alliance known as Five Eyes. They have pledged to jointly collaborate on border/national security, immigration, intelligence, cyber securities, and terrorism.

The security and intelligence agencies of these 5 nations share confidential and sensitive intelligence information. These also cooperate in the fight against global crimes and transactional activity.

The rate of illegal immigration has increased steadily over the past few years. Thus, the Five Eyes nations have implemented stringent policies and punishments for dealing with individuals that misrepresent documents and file false information.

All these five nations are heavily reliant on immigration for their economic advancement and prosperity. It is thus evident that some level of illegal immigration occurs every year. Overall, the governments of these nations have been liberal over the issue of illegal immigration.

Nevertheless, time and again demands have been made for instant attention, modification, and drastic adjustment in their immigration programs. This is even while various events occur and leaders voice their concerns on political platforms.

Here we discuss the manner in which the Five Eyes nations manage illegal immigration including penalties and punishment for curbing the issue with a special focus on Canada.

What is unlawful immigration?

Unlawful immigration implies the act of immigrating to a nation by violating its immigration policies. It is inclusive of overseas nationals arriving unlawfully in a nation via forged Passports, Visas, unlawfully crossing the borders, usage of false, fraudulent, or altered documents, or providing misleading or false information in the Visa applications for arriving at a nation. People are lured by unlawful immigration due to the lucrative prospects and desire to reside and work there.

Nevertheless, they are regarded as violators of law who enter devoid of suitable pathways or stay devoid of formal status. The punishment in various nations for illegal immigration is as follows:

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Australia

You are barred from arriving in Australia for a minimum of 3 years. In some cases, it can also be a permanent ban. The maximum penalty for the crime of illegal immigration is imprisonment of 10 years. The unlawful immigrants can be punished with a further ban on re-entry after they have been held and deported.

New Zealand

Unlawful immigrants can be detained for a maximum of 7 years. They can also be imposed with a penalty of NZD 1000,000. Individuals who make use of immigration fraud for becoming Permanent Residents in New Zealand can be deported. They can lose their Citizenship if they have used the same means for becoming citizens of New Zealand.

The United States of America

If an individual arrives in the US unlawfully through marriage fraud, they can be levied a fine of a maximum of $ 250,000.

Unlawful immigrants can be deported or removed from the US.

United Kingdom

Unlawful immigrants can be refused entry into the UK at the borders and banned from arrival for a maximum of 10 years.

Detainees are normally held at STHFs - Short-Term Holding Facilities, IRCs - Immigration Removal Centers, and prisons.

Employers can also be detained for 5 years if found to have employed unlawful immigrants.

Canada

An individual found to have committed misrepresentation in any category of Canada Visa application cannot arrive in Canada for a minimum of 5 years.

The Government of Canada can remove one’s status as a Canada PR Visa holder or Citizen of Canada at a later date also if it is found that the residency or citizenship was earlier obtained through misrepresentation of documents.

Unlawful immigrants are also required to make payment of a fine or undergo some kind of punishment like getting detained. They will be finally deported to their home nation even after they complete the period of detainment.

Deportation and elimination are the final punishment for unlawful immigrants in Canada. Deportation implies sending the illegal immigrant back to their nation of citizenship.

Identifying those who have previously misrepresented themselves

The IRPA - Immigration and Refugee Protection Act specify that an overseas citizen or permanent resident can be regarded to have misrepresented for several reasons a few of which are as follows:

Offering information to IRCC - Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada or CBSA - Canada Border Services Agency that is incomplete, inaccurate, or inconsistent, and that subsequently has or can induce a mistake in the administration of the IRPA Denying evidential facts from CBSA or IRCC that are applicable to the issue and which subsequently has or can induce a mistake in the administration of the IRPA

Receiving sponsorship from a person who is learned to be prohibited for misrepresentation

Following the vacation of a verdict allowing an application or claim for protection as a refugee

Following termination of citizenship based on determining that the status was received through fraud or false representation, or intentionally hiding material circumstances

Instances of material misrepresentations inducing error can be:

• Failure to announce that your Visa application for another nation was rejected
• Offering a document for a Canada Visa application online that is found to be unauthentic
• Failure to declare a member of the family
• Declaring false work experience
• Engaging in a sham marriage

Instances of non-material misrepresentations not inducing error or of restricted relevance can be in specific circumstances:

• Altering the month and date of birth on an application
• Declaring marital status as single while being widowed
• Offering consistent and accurate information in several forms excluding one

Misrepresented data can be offered or be misplaced by the primary applicant, a member of the family, or the representative. In all these instances, it is the primary applicant who is deemed to have committed the error irrespective of them being unaware of the occurrence of misrepresentation.

Deciding misrepresentation

The procedure of identifying an immigrant unacceptable for immigration misrepresentation specifies that the overseas citizen or permanent resident is first offered the chance to reply to the allegations. This must be through an interview with the authority for decision-making or in a PFL - Procedural Fairness Letter. The overseas citizen or permanent resident will be offered a fixed time for responding through papers or in rare conditions through an interview if the allegations are defined in a PFL.

The overseas citizen or permanent resident has to offer a reply to the Visa Officer who found the prospective misrepresentation if the application was filed from overseas. The final decision will be arrived at by the Visa Officer after assessing the submissions.

The applicant will be banned from re-applying for 5 years if the findings of the misrepresentation are proven. Meanwhile, the overseas citizen or permanent resident has to provide their response to IRCC or CBSA in some cases if they made the application from within Canada.

The overseas citizen or Canada PR Visa holder may be required to appear for an interview with the CBSA or IRCC if the officer upholds the belief that the applicant has been misrepresented even after assessing the submissions. It can be followed in specific situations with a hearing with the Immigration Division that can issue an order for removal.

In some instances, Canada PR Visa holders can appeal this order for removal with the IAD. Rest all can challenge the order for removal in the Federal Court. The ban for 5 years starts from the date the overseas citizen or permanent resident is removed from Canada.

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Opt for only lawful immigration routes

You must also select a lawful pathway for obtaining Canada PR Visa or Citizenship in an overseas nation. Several immigration pathways are present for immigrating to any of these 5 nations. Always keep in mind that unlawful immigration can never be a solution for any of your current problems.

Do not permit anyone to deceive you and paint a rosy image that can hamper your future.

Only lawful immigration can assist you in utilizing the opportunities provided by these nations in the long term.

Misrepresentation is never a solution, never.

A lawful Visa pathway does exist for every reason, residency, study, visit, or citizenship.

How Nationwide Visas can help you?

Findings of misrepresentation procedures will have a major effect on all future correspondence with IRCC, CBSA, and also ESDC - Employment Development and Skills Canada. It is thus highly essential that you address all the allegations cautiously through assistance from experts.

We at Nationwide Visas have assisted our clients in addressing allegations of misrepresentation in several ways. In the first place, we work highly diligently and cautiously for pre-emptive assurance of avoiding the scenario of any misrepresentation.

However, if IRCC has already raised the issue of misrepresentation, we can still help inclusive of assessing likely defenses such as materiality, an innocent mistake, or absence of misrepresentation. Lastly, if the verdict for inadmissibility has been pronounced by the CBSA or IRCC, Nationwide Visas can help in challenging the verdict.