In a major breakthrough, Canadian Police arrested Brijesh Mishra who was trying to sneak into Canada on Friday. Brijesh Mishra is the immigration agent of Jalandhar, Punjab who allegedly issued fake Canadian college admission which was unearthed when 700 Indian students living in Canada were issued notice of deportation. Notably, Mishra was missing ever since the fake Canadian college admission letters scandal broke out. Mishra used to run an immigration agency in Jalandhar was also summoned by the DC, however, he did not appear. As a result, the Jalandhar District Administration suspended his license. With Brijesh Mishra's arrest, it is said that the Canadian authorities will now look to bring out the information and names of influential people involved in the immigration scandal. It is also said that 'influential people' involved in the immigration scandal use to dodge Police action by opting for unethical means. Now, it will be interesting to see how the people involved in the scam will dodge the Canadian Police investigation.
Coming to Brijesh Mishra's arrest, he is now facing multiple criminal charges in Canada. On Friday, the Canada Border Services Agency took action against Brijesh Mishra, charging him with offering immigration advice without a license and counseling others to misrepresent or withhold information from authorities. Furthermore, the tainted travel agent was discovered to be inadmissible when attempting to enter Canada, leading to his arrest. He remained in custody until Friday when charges were officially filed against him for his alleged role in issuing fraudulent letters of acceptance to prospective Indian students seeking admission to Canadian post-secondary institutions.
Notably, deportation is looming for over 700 Indian students in Canada due to the fake admission letter issued by him. Not only this, the Indian students started a peaceful protest against the Canadian deportation notice and sought justice from the Justin Trudeau government. On the other hand in India, Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the state government will provide free legal assistance to nearly 700 Indian students who are facing deportation from Canada having fallen prey to fake college admission letters offered by fraudulent consultants in India.
After the Indian students protest grabbed the global headlines, the Canadian authorities decided not to immediately deport the Indian students who were trapped in an alleged immigration scam and had reached the country with fake university admission letters. Canada's immigration minister, Sean Fraser stated that 'a task force has been formed to look into each case and help the victims of the fraud'
I issued a statement regarding the distressing situation faced by international students with fraudulent acceptance letters. Your well-being remains our priority, and we’re taking action to address this issue. https://t.co/ofd3r8IDqG See below for a summary of our measures. pic.twitter.com/E0ILgmRaZL
— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) June 14, 2023
For the unversed, around 700 students went to Canada on a study basis in year 2018-19. When they went to the University for studies, it stated that seats are full and they have to take admission somewhere else. Students by paying their own money took admission in other colleges, got work permits as well but came under scrutiny during PR verification. When these students applied for PR in Canada, it turned out that documents based on which the visas were issued to the students and ‘admission offer letters' were fake. Post this CBSA-issued letter of deportation to the following students.
Why thousands of Indian students are protesting against Canadian authorities? Explained in 21 points
How did the students fall into scam?
The Education Migration Services situated in Jalandhar and headed by Brijesh Mishra assured students of study visas. During the whole process, the immigration officer asked students to pay college fees to them and not to the college directly. Post this, they took the money and made a fake college ‘appointment letter’ for students. When the students went there, they were told that seats are full. This compelled them to take admission in another university. But when the students applied for PR their Study visa appointment letter and college in which they were studying were different. Further investigation revealed that the appointment letter was fake and students have been scammed.
Who is Brijesh Mishra?
Brijesh Mishra hails from Bihar and he started his consultancy firm in 2014. Notably, a year before Brijesh was even arrested for forging documents to send students abroad. During his arrest tenure, Brijesh used to run a consultancy firm named- 'Easy Way Immigration Consultancy'. It was raided in 2013 and the Police had seized cash and passports. It is pertinent to mention here that Rahul Bhargava was also the director of 'Easy Way Immigration Consultancy'. As per the Police officials, Mishra had also taken the franchise of a Delhi-based consultancy, which facilitates student visas for Canada.
Reportedly, Mishra charged more than Rs 16 lakh per student, including admission fees to Humber College in Ontario, but excluded air tickets and security deposits. Sources from the company claimed that Mishra kept Rs 5-6 lakh per student, and returned the remaining money when they took admission in some other colleges in Canada. However, most of the students were provided with offer letters for colleges where they did not study after landing in Canada. They were either shifted to other colleges or asked to wait for the next semester.