Krishan Jogia sought assistance from an immigration consultancy before arriving in Toronto in 2023, only to discover later that he had been dealing with an illegal consultancy operating under the name Canada Global Migration Consultants (GMC). Despite successfully obtaining a visitor visa for his wife through GMC, they faced challenges with her spousal visa application. The consultancy appeared professional on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, but Jogia later found out that their consultant had disappeared. Despite efforts to seek a refund of the approximately $12,000 they paid to GMC, the company ignored their requests.
Canada GMC, not listed as an authorized consultancy in Canada, did not respond to inquiries. Jogia and his wife reported their experience to the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). The couple also engaged legal assistance to address the issue, but the company remained unresponsive. Similarly, Lorre Denise Schneer, a resident of New York, also experienced challenges with Canada GMC when her family’s immigration application was mishandled.
The issue of unauthorized immigration consultants, known as ghost consultants, is on the rise, with cases like H&S Immigration in Windsor. Hussein Zarif from Canada By Choice highlighted the vulnerability of newcomers to fraudulent consultants. The lack of immigration lawyers exacerbates the problem, leaving individuals susceptible to exploitation by unscrupulous consultants promising pathways to permanent residency that do not exist.
The CICC has received numerous reports of unauthorized practitioners, with ongoing efforts to address the issue. Shelley Gilbert from Legal Assistance of Windsor emphasized the importance of educating newcomers to prevent them from falling victim to fraudulent consultants. Immigration lawyer Andrew Koltun called for legislative changes to protect individuals defrauded by ghost consultants, citing the fear of deportation as a barrier to seeking legal recourse against scammers.