Travel Update
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canadian agency responsible for processing applications of immigrants and refugees, has urged Nigerians applying for the country’s visa to make sure all information provided is accurate as false information can attract a five-year ban from applying for the visa of not only Canada but also United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand and Australia.
Nancy Caron, the spokesperson of IRCC told Neusroom in an email that Nigerians should be wary of agents who claim to have the power to help speed up their visa applications as they do not.
In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of young Nigerians seeking to move out of the country in search of greener pastures. The United Kingdom, the United States and Canada rank high among their top destinations. However, a recent report by Quartz Africa says 12,600 Nigerians gained permanent residence in 2019, which represents a tripling of Nigerian immigration to Canada since 2015., placing the North American country ahead of the US and UK as Nigerians’ desired destination.
The African Polling Institute says rising unemployment, insecurity and a better future for their children are some of the factors responsible for migration.
This mass movement of mostly skilled young Nigerians to Europe and America has popularised a parlance ‘japa’ which literally means to abscond. It has also led to a rise in the number of visa agents and agencies promising to assist Nigerians with their applications for a fee while guaranteeing them speedy approval. However, some of these agents deploy several crooked means during the application process that could jeopardise their dreams of travelling out of Nigeria for a long time.
This has also led to a rise in the number of visa agents and agencies promising to assist Nigerians with their applications for a fee guaranteeing them speedy approval. However, some of these agents deploy several crooked means during the application process that could turn out to be a big albatross for the applicants and truncate their dream of leaving the country for a long time.
Caron in response to Neusroom’s inquiry about the role of agents in visa applications said there is no need for one as the country’s immigration website provides all the necessary information.
She added that the country has accredited immigration consultants who must be a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants, lawyers or notaries who must be a member of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec or Paralegals (Ontario only) who must be members of the Law Society of Ontario.
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She warned that any false information provided by an unaccredited travel agent will not only affect the visa application of an applicant but may also lead to a five-year ban.
She said: “It is not necessary to hire a representative as all the forms and instructions needed to apply for a visa, a permit or citizenship are available for free on the Government of Canada’s website. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada urges individuals to use the official Departmental website to get the latest information about its programs and fees to apply. Using the services of a representative with an immigration or citizenship application will not speed up the application process and no representative can guarantee they will be successful in getting an application approved.
“We have provided tips on our website on what applicants, who decide to hire a paid representative, need to be aware of and what they can do to protect themselves from fraud. Please note that an individual is responsible for all the information contained in their application even if a representative completes it for them. It’s against the law to give false or misleading information in an application; this is misrepresentation and could result in an applicant being refused and barred from entering Canada for five years.”
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© Isaac Chijindu Victor Jr
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