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Cassandra Fultz, RCIC-IRB

Cassandra specializes in immigration to Canada from the USA, as well as immigration cases pertaining to Procedural Fairness Letters (PFL), post-deportation Authorization to Return to Canada (ARC), Study Permits, PR Card Renewal on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds, Criminal Rehabilitation, Temporary Resident Permits, Canadian citizenship, Family Sponsorship, and Visitor Visas. She advocates for her clients with an impressive success rate, including for applications with prior refusals.

Published by Cassandra Fultz, RCIC-IRB on March 12, 2024

What is misrepresentation?

Misrepresentation or document fraud is a serious crime, which means to lie or to send false information or documents to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Misrepresentations, whether innocent or intentional, can be relevant and material in certain situations. Relevant and material misrepresentations can have significant consequences for the person making the misrepresentation as well as for the party who relies on the misrepresentation.

In the case of innocent misrepresentations, these may occur when a person makes a statement that they believe to be true, but that is later discovered to be inaccurate. You can make a misrepresentation accidentally or on purpose, which means you might still be considered inadmissible to Canada even if you didn’t mean to provide false or incomplete information. This can lead to you being asked to leave Canada.

Although the misrepresentation may be innocent, it can still be material if it affects the decision-making of the party that relies on it.

Document fraud can involve either false or altered documents, such as:

passports and travel documents
visas
diplomas, degrees, and apprenticeship or trade papers
certificates of birth, marriage, final divorce, annulment, separation, or death and
police certificates

If you lie on an application or in an interview with an IRCC officer, this is also fraud. It’s a crime.

What should you do if you think you made a misrepresentation while applying to IRCC?

If an applicant realizes they have made a mistake or provided incorrect information, they should immediately inform IRCC and provide the correct information. This is generally viewed more favorably than intentionally providing false information or trying to cover up a mistake.

Examples of misrepresentations

Failure to declare that you have been denied a visa to another nation
Provide a document that has been determined to be forged
Avoid any mention of a family member.
Declare work experience you do not have
Obtain permanent residency through a non-genuine marriage

Who is capable of making misrepresentations?

Misrepresentations can be made by anyone who provides information to another party, whether it is intentionally or unintentionally.

Misrepresented information can be provided

by the applicant,
a family member,
The applicant’s immigration consultant or lawyer
or anyone assisting the applicant in the application process

In all cases, it is the principal applicant who is at fault, even if the principal applicant did not know the misrepresentation occurred.

What will happen if you misrepresent yourself on an application?

The IRCC takes allegations of fraud very seriously, and applicants found to have provided false information can face severe consequences:

having their application refused,
being barred from entering Canada for at least 5 years,
permanent record of fraud in Canada
taking away your status for example, as a permanent resident or Canadian citizen
removing you from Canada
and even being subject to criminal charges.

Providing false information can not only have legal consequences but can also harm an individual’s reputation and future immigration prospects.

Cooperation between agencies and international cooperation

We work with our partners to watch for document fraud and train officers around the world. Our partners include:

the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and
foreign police services and
offices that issue identity and status documents

We’re working with the CBSA and the RCMP to phase in biometrics. This means we’ll use data, such as fingerprints, to confirm a person’s identity.

Biometrics will make it much harder for people to hide who they are. It will also help reduce identity fraud. Find out more about biometrics.

What can you do?

If you have made an application to enter Canada – before you are found to have misrepresented yourself by the IRCC, you will be given an opportunity to respond and address the IRCC’s concerns. This process is known as “procedural fairness,” and it is important to be aware of the timeline given for the response by IRCC and whether the response will be made at an interview or on paper.

What is a Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL)?

An immigration officer may send a Procedural Fairness Letter to inform an applicant of serious issues with their application, such as misrepresentation. This can occur if an officer suspects that information has been falsified or omitted, intentionally or not.

Clients are frequently warned of a misrepresentation prior to making a final choice. This is accomplished through the use of a “Procedural Fairness Letter.” Typically, the immigration officer will send you a 15-day notice informing you of their concerns.

However, receiving a letter does not necessarily mean that the application will be rejected. Applicants have the opportunity to respond to the letter and make their case.

How to respond to a Procedural Fairness Letter

Responding to the Procedural Fairness Letter is critical and should not be overlooked. A detailed answer should offer clarity about what occurred.

If you get a Procedural Fairness Letter, that is your last chance to react before being deemed inadmissible. Because IRCC has a problem with your application, you must offer a thorough answer with supporting documentation.

If you’re accused of misrepresentation, you still have a few options

Challenging the decision in the Federal Court through a Judicial Review
Applying for an Authorization to Return to Canada if you’ve received an Exclusion Order due to misrepresentation
Applying for a Temporary Resident Permit to be able to come back to Canada for a limited time (usually between one day to three years)
In some cases, you may be eligible to apply for immigration under the Humanitarian and Compassionate program.

Right to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD).

If you lied to an immigration officer or CBSA officer in Canada and they found out, you might be sent back to your home country or prevented from entering Canada in the future. This is because you broke the rules by giving false information that could affect Canada’s immigration system. However, you have the right to appeal the decision. To win the appeal, you can either:

prove that you did not lie, or
show that there are special reasons why you should be allowed to stay even if you did lie.

The Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) will review the decision made by the Immigration Division on whether there was a misrepresentation or not. If you disagree with the decision and believe that you did not provide false information, you must provide evidence and statements to prove that the information you provided was accurate and complete.

When the IAD reviews the case, they will:

evaluate the importance of the information that was not provided correctly,
consider whether it was significant enough to affect your immigration application decision
They will also determine whether the false information caused an error in the application process or had the potential to cause an error.

If you provided false information, you still have the chance to demonstrate to the IAD that there are sufficient reasons based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds for your appeal to be granted.

To provide evidence for your humanitarian and compassionate reasons to the IAD:

Show that you are established in Canada with documents like letters of support, proof of employment, and banking records.
Provide medical evidence if you have a serious illness.
Explain how your family or children will be affected by your removal with documents like birth certificates and custody orders.
Show that you would suffer hardship in your home country.
Use the IRB’s National Documentation Packages or provide your own evidence.

Appeals and their potential results

When appealing a removal order for misrepresentation to the IAD, there are three possible outcomes:

Your appeal is dismissed, and you may be removed from Canada.
Your appeal is allowed, and you can stay in Canada.
In rare cases, a “stay” may be granted, allowing you to stay in Canada if you meet certain conditions. Your appeal will be reconsidered at the end of the stay period, and it could be extended, allowed, or dismissed.