The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has flagged over 10,000 fraudulent foreign student acceptance letters this year. These numbers mark a notable 30% rise in fraudulent foreign student acceptance letters compared to the previous year.
These letters, submitted as part of study permit applications, have come under rigorous scrutiny following enhanced checks by Canadian immigration authorities, as reported by The Globe and Mail.
Bronwyn May, the Director-General of the IRCC’s International Students Branch, noted that the verification process has revealed extensive misuse of fraudulent documents.
“Since we began verifying acceptance letters from colleges and universities over the past year, we have intercepted more than 10,000 potentially fraudulent letters,” May said in a statement to the House of Commons immigration committee last week.
Recent investigations have revealed an alarming rise in fraudulent foreign student acceptance letters, prompting action from Canadian authorities. Over the past 10 months, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) checked 500,000 acceptance letters, confirming that 93 per cent were genuine.
However, 2 per cent of these letters were found to be entirely fake, and 1 per cent of applicants had their placements at Canadian institutions cancelled.
Several factors contribute to this increase in fraudulent documents. Firstly, IRCC has intensified its scrutiny of applications, making it more challenging for fraudulent documents to go unnoticed. Secondly, Canada’s growing popularity as a leading study destination has led to a surge in international student applications, creating more opportunities for scammers.