Canadian Immigration Information Centre

China arrests Lai Changxing after extradition from Canada

The Chinese government arrested Lai Changxing shortly after his arrival in China yesterday. Lai Changxing lived in Canada for the past 12 years. He was extradited from Canada this week. Lai is accused of bribing officials and operating a smuggling ring from his headquarters in the city of Xiamen, China. According to Chinese officials, when the smuggling ring was busted, the government recovered US$6.8 billion of goods at Lai's properties. 14 associates of Lai were given the death penalty in China as a result.

Lai battled extradition for four years from his home in Vancouver. He argued that he could face torture and execution if he was returned to China. 

Swiss voters approve referendum to automatically expel foreign nationals

Voters in Switzerland have approved a proposed amendment to their Constitution that would require the automatic expulsion, or deportation, of foreign nationals in that country who are convicted of certain criminal offences or who abuse the social insurance or social benefits system in Switzerland.

The amendment was put to voters in a referendum, entitled "Pour le renvoi des étrangers criminels".

The offences that trigger the automatic removal of foreign nationals to remain in Switzerland upon conviction are:

• murder,
• sexual assault,
• serious sexual-related offences (e.g. possession of child pornography),
• other violent acts such as robbery,
• human trafficking,
• drug trafficking, or
• burglary.

Once a foreign national is stripped of their status to remain in Switzerland as a result of a conviction of one of the crimes referred to above, or for having abused the Swiss social welfare system, he or she is subject to expulsion (deportation) to their country of origin and are prohibited from returning to Switzerland for a term that will range from 5 to 15 years. 

Canada introduces laws to deter human smuggling

Canada has introduced tough new legislation to crack down on human smugglers that prey on foreign nationals by illegally bringing them into Canada for large sums of money. The legislation makes it easier to prosecute human smugglers and detain foreign nationals who arrive as part of a smuggling operation without identification. 

The key provisions of the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act (Bill C-49) are as follows:

• it will give the Minister of Public Safety the competence to designate the arrival of a group of foreign nationals in Canada as an "irregular arrival" if the Minister determines that such a designation is warranted;
• the designation of a group arrival as irregular can be made if the Minister is of the view that establishing the identity of the foreign nationals cannot be done in a timely manner (this can occur, for example, when several foreign nationals have deliberately destroyed their identification or travel documents before entering Canada) or the Minister has reasonable grounds to suspect that there has been, or will be, human smuggling for profit or for or in association with a terrorist group;
• all foreign nationals who arrive as part of an irregular arrival are "designated foreign nationals" unless they can establish otherwise;
• the creation of a designated foreign national creates a separate class of prospective immigrants to Canada - this is likely not discriminatory under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because the Charter provides different rights for citizens and non-citizens - only citizens  of Canada have the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada. Non-citizens of Canada are not equal before and under the law of Canada;
• the designation is retroactive to March 31, 2009 and will capture the arrival of Tamil migrants in British Columbia on the Ocean Lady and MV Sun Sea;
• designated foreign nationals may not become permanent residents or sponsor family members to Canada for at least five years if they succeed in establishing refugee protection;
• designated foreign nationals are only lawfully in Canada under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees once they have been granted protected status and are permanent residents or temporary residents;
• designated foreign nationals must be detained on entry into Canada or arrested and detained until the earlier of the final determination of their refugee claim or they are ordered released;
• the Minister of Public Safety will prescribe conditions for the release of designated foreign nationals that will apply to all released designated foreign nationals;
• there are mandatory minimum prison sentences for persons convicted of human smuggling;
• vessel owners and operators convicted of smuggling people into Canada face penalties as high as $1 million and prison time; 
• the government will be able to terminate a protected status designation given to a refugee if the protected person acts inconsistently with a refugee claim, such as returning to their country of origin for a vacation after claiming they needed protection from persecution in that country; and
• Canada will increase its undercover operations to detect and deter human smuggling operations targeting Canada.

"The legislation introduced today will send a clear message: Canada opens its doors to those who work hard and play by the rules while cracking down on those who seek to take advantage of our generosity and abuse our fair and welcoming immigration system," the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews said. Immigration Minister has said that 60% of all refugee claims made in Canada are unfounded.

The new legislation amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Balanced Refugee Reform Act, and Marine Transportation Security Act.

Paralegal sentenced to 6 years in prison for running immigration fraud mill

Dalia Preldakaj, a paralegal in the law firm of Salvador Collazo, was sentenced today in Manhattan to 78 months in prison for conspiring to operate an immigration fraud mill with Collazo at his law firm. Collazo is a former Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court who was removed from the bench in 1998 after a court intern said he told her to take off her jacket on a hot day, even though she had nothing on underneath. Preldakaj and Collazo prepared and submitted hundreds of fraudulent immigration applications on behalf of foreign nationals in New York. Preldakaj charged the foreign nationals thousands of dollars for what she told them were fees charged by the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, which in fact were far in excess of the actual filing and processing fees required for applications. While out on bail following her arrest, Preldakaj contacted a witness and attempted to persuade the witness to file a false statement that the money paid to Preldakaj for immigration-related work was a personal loan. 

Preldakaj was found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to commit immigration application fraud, immigration application fraud, charging excessive fees in connection with immigration applications, money laundering, engaging in an unlawful monetary transaction, and witness tampering. 

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara said: "Dalia Preldakaj preyed upon the hopes and dreams of immigrants who trusted her with their applications for status in this country. To line her own pockets, she took their hard-earned money in exchange for what turned out to be empty promises of assistance. Today's sentence sends a clear message that this Office will work tirelessly to prosecute anyone who tries to fleece those seeking to navigate the immigration process legitimately." 

Former Justice Collazo was found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to commit immigration application fraud, immigration fraud, and making false statements. He will be sentenced in October. 

Immigration judge receives 18 month sentence

 Steve Ellis, a former immigration judge in Canada, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for propositioning a 25-year-old foreign national from South Korean who had claimed refugee protection in Canada. In April, Ellis was convicted of breach of trust and bribery. He was the adjudicator assigned to hear the refugee case involving the the foreign national. Read our earlier post "Canadian immigration judge guilty of breach of trust" here, and "Canadian immigration judge accused of breach of trust" here.

Punjab woman marries father, then son to immigrate to Canada

People do desperate, risky, and even fraudulent, things to immigrate to Canada but this is plain creepy - a woman from Punjab conned a millionaire father and his son into marrying her in an attempt to immigrate to Canada. According to the Times of India, Priya Inder Kaur, duped 60-year-old Rajinder Singh Mann into marriage in 2001 when she learned he had Canadian permanent residence. She divorced him a year later when he informed her he was not returning to Canada. She started dating his son, Rajan Mann, in 2004 when she learned he was a Canadian citizen. They were married and divorced shortly afterward when the fact of her previous marriage was discovered. 

2 Ukrainian men charged in US arrested in Canada for human trafficking

Five Ukrainian brothers were charged with trafficking Ukrainian foreign nationals into the US today, announced the US Department of Justice. The five brothers, Omelyan Botsvynyuk, Stepan Botsvynyuk, Mykhaylo Botsvynyuk, Dmytro Botsvynyuk and Yaroslav Botsvynyuk, were charged with extortion and conspiracy to violate racketeering laws, according to an unsealed indictment. Two of the bothers, Mykhaylo Botsvynyuk and Yaroslav Botsvynyuk, were arrested in Toronto. 

5 things you probably didn't know about Canada and should!

How much do you know about Canada? Even if you're Canadian, here are 5 things you probably don't know about Canada:

1. K'Naan's song "Wavin' Flag The Celebration Mix" is listed everywhere as the 2nd most popular FIFA World Cup song.  There is an underground movement to have it declared the official song of the FIFA World Cup - watch the YouTube live version here (it's great) or the offical video on Vevo here. K'Naan is a refugee to Canada from Somalia. When he won a Juno Award this year, he thanked Canada for giving him a home;
2. Canadian inventions affect the daily lives of everyone around the globe from the telephone (invented by Alexander Graham Bell, who immigrated to Canada in 1870), the Blackberry (invented by Mike Lazaridis & Jim Balsillie, the founders of Research In Motion. Mike Lazaridis immigrated to Canada in 1966),   standardized world time zones (created by Sir Sandford Fleming who immigrated to Canada in 1845), electric light bulb (invented by Matthew Evans & Henry Woodward, who sold their patent in 1875 to Thomas Edison), cardiac pacemaker (Dr. John Hopps), the push-up Wonderbra (created by Louise Poirier), the lithium and the alkaline batteries (invented by Lewis Urry) and basketball (invented by James Naismith);

Two Hungarian foreign nationals charged in connection with human trafficking case

Two foreign nationals in Ontario were charged in connection with trafficking Hungarian gypsies, also called Hungarian Roma, into Canada to perform unauthorized work. Gyongyi Kolompar and Ferenc Domotor have been charged with counseling foreign nationals to misrepresent themselves or withhold information to authorities in connection with their immigration to Canada. They were both charged under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. You can read more at the Hamilton Spectator here.

Canada legislates against rogue immigration consultants

The government of Canada has introduced new legislation aimed at cracking down on unethical immigration consultants and immigration fraud in Canada. The proposed legislation would make it a criminal offense for unauthorized persons to provide immigration advice for a fee. Bill C-35, called the Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act, available here, amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to govern who may represent foreign nationals in immigration matters. 

Our earlier post here provides guidelines on whether foreign nationals should consider engaging a lawyer or a consultant with respect to their immigration matter. We also recommend you read our earlier post here on immigration fraud called "8 reasons why lying in an application to immigrate to Canada is a bad idea."