Some immigration consultants violating rules of private refugee sponsorship program - Canada. CBC News has learned about a troubling aspect of the drive to bring Syrians to Canada: professional immigration consultants, in partnership with some refugee sponsorship groups, are charging refugees thousands of dollars in arrangements that critics say are unethical and violate federal rules on sponsorship. What is the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program? The Canadian government has a ceiling of 9,000-14,000 refugees per year through the Refugee Resettlement. The immigration consultants have been targeting Syrians living in the Gulf states, many of whom are there on work permits and are able to earn a living. In that sense, they are potentially a more lucrative client base than those in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The consultants advertise on social media and make visits to the region, setting up shop in five- star hotels. Edmonton resident Nhung Tran- Davies welcomes a family of Syrian refugees she helped to sponsor in March. Canadians across the country have been raising money to privately sponsor Syrian refugees, but a CBC investigation has found that some Syrians coming from Gulf states are being asked to pay the cost of their resettlement up front by immigration consultants who are also charging thousands of dollars to process their applications. The 3. 5- year- old man, who asked that his name be changed to protect relatives who still live in Syria, has no permanent status in the United Arab Emirates and cannot return to Syria. For the 74 refugee students sponsored this year through the Student Refugee Program, the beginning of the school year marked the start of a new life and a promising. Our Student Refugee Program has been. Catherine Veillet-St-Amant graduated with a BA in International Studies and Modern Languages from Laval University in Quebec. Apply for refugee status from within Canada, find out how to come to Canada as a refugee, sponsor a refugee or find refugee services in Canada. She charges $5,0. Like many other Syrians who fled the civil war, Ahmed learned about Canada's plan to welcome 2. Syrian refugees last year. Refugee Sponsorship Program A Guide to Refugee Sponsorship for Congregations Vancouver Refugee Office: 80 East 10th Avenue New Westminister, BC V3L 4R5. 5 things to know about Canada's refugee program; 25,000th Syrian refugee lands in Canada. Quebec waiter won't be charged for serving salmon to man with seafood. Posted in canadian immigration, Refugee, refugee program . Quebec skilled workers program; Refugee; Refugee Appeal Division (RAD). He saw an ad on Facebook for a Canadian immigration consultant named Abeer Qita, who runs a Mississauga, Ont.- based company named Fast to Canada (FTC) with her husband. He met with Qita in a hotel in Dubai to discuss how she could help him get to Canada. He shared the agreement with the CBC. Notably, the document requires that refugee applicants pay the full cost of their resettlement prior to arriving in Canada — once their application is assigned a file number by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The amount requested ranges from $1. Fast to Canada advertises on Facebook and travels to the Gulf states to offer its consulting services to refugees. It promises to speed up the refugee application process by helping applicants submit the necessary paperwork. CNIA is a non- profit group that provides services to refugees in the Greater Toronto Area and works with designated sponsorship agreement holders to co- sponsor refugees. Sponsors, not refugees must pay settlement funds. Under the private sponsorship program, individuals or groups who want to sponsor a refugee must raise enough money to support them for a year. If refugees become financially self- sufficient before the year is up, sponsors no longer have to support them but do have to keep adequate funds on hand for the full year. Yosief Araya, manager of the refugee sponsorship training program at Catholic Crosscultural Services in Toronto, says requiring refugees to pay the cost of their own resettlement up front leaves them vulnerable to exploitation because they have no recourse if they lose that money before ever making it to Canada. At her current rates, the processing fees could total $2. Qita said her services include not just processing the application but also monitoring the sponsorship throughout the first year to make sure her client's sponsors are providing adequate support and that refugees are not resorting to government assistance. There are still people who don't know what tomorrow holds for them, or they are in dire circumstances. The council's communications director, Daniel Roukema, said he cannot comment on a specific consultant's practices unless a formal complaint has been lodged and investigated. The council's guidelines say fees . The association, composed mainly of church and community organizations that work with local groups like CNIA to privately sponsor refugees, says it has reminded its members that violating the rules of the sponsorship program would void the agreements they have with IRCC. Since CBC began asking questions, Qita has posted a notice on her company's Facebook page offering to refund the money of anyone whose application is being processed but no longer wants to use Qita's services. He is still searching for a way to come to Canada.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2016
Categories |