B.C. immigration consultant discovers forged foreign worker documents — with her name on them

In a shocking turn of events, Surrey immigration consultant Neera Agnihotri recently discovered that her firm, Agnihotri Immigration Consulting Inc., was listed on forged Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) for foreign workers supposedly bound for British Columbia. This discovery came as a complete surprise to Agnihotri, as she had never heard of any of the prospective workers or the businesses wanting to hire them.

Upon reviewing the forged documents, Agnihotri noticed several red flags that indicated forgery. These included alterations in the font, typos in the name of her firm, and discrepancies in the details resembling official documents from Employment and Social Development Canada. The LMIAs, which are meant to show that a foreign worker is needed to fill a specific job, were being used by fraudsters to prey on unsuspecting foreign nationals seeking to work in Canada.

The scam involves selling fraudulent LMIAs to foreign nationals for exorbitant amounts of money, falsely promising them the opportunity to legally live and work in Canada. In some cases, scammers have been known to charge up to $45,000 for these fake documents. This exploitation of desperate individuals looking for job opportunities in Canada is a growing concern for immigration consultants like Cassandra Fultz, who have encountered numerous cases of individuals falling victim to these scams.

In Agnihotri’s case, her consulting firm was listed as a third-party representative on behalf of two businesses – an Okanagan construction company and an Abbotsford trucking business – neither of which she had any knowledge of. Both businesses denied any involvement with the forged LMIAs. Agnihotri suspects that legitimate LMIAs may have been replicated by a bad actor and used as templates for fake documents, raising concerns about the extent of the fraud.

The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) has been actively combating unauthorized practitioners who pose as licensed consultants and try to sell immigration documents. In recent enforcement blitzes, over 5,000 web and social media pages advertising unauthorized practitioners have been shut down. These unauthorized practitioners often target foreign workers with fake job offers in exchange for hefty sums of money.

Cassandra Fultz, a registered consultant at Doherty Fultz Immigration in Toronto, highlights the risks and financial losses faced by individuals who fall victim to these scams. She emphasizes the need for Ottawa to step in and investigate fraud claims brought forward by immigration consultants to protect the credibility of regulated professionals in the industry.

As the prevalence of LMIA fraud continues to rise, it is crucial for foreign workers and prospective immigrants to be vigilant and seek assistance from licensed immigration consultants to avoid falling prey to these costly schemes. The efforts of organizations like the CICC and immigration consultants like Fultz are instrumental in combating fraud and ensuring the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.