Major media outlets, predominantly in India, reported this week that many students in Canada have been asked to resubmit their study permits, visas, and even educational records, including marks and attendance.
According to the Times of India, the email caused panic among students, many of whom held valid visas for up to two years.
“I was a bit shocked when I received the email. My visa is valid until 2026, yet I was asked to submit all my documents again. They even want proof of attendance, marks, where we are working part-time, etc,” a student told the publication,
The reports also suggested that students from the North-Indian state of Punjab, which comprises most Canada-bound Indian students, were asked to visit IRCC offices in person to verify their credentials.
IRCC clarified that these emails are not targeted towards Indian students.
“Students from any country could receive these letters. Since India is the top source of international students in Canada, it is reasonably likely that a higher number were sent to Indian nationals,” an IRCC spokesperson told The PIE News.
“IRCC officers may ask individuals to provide additional information or documentation to confirm their enrolment status,” they continued.
“This may include current or past transcripts to ensure they continue to meet student requirements. This process is not new and is generally carried out through random selection.”
Despite diplomatic tensions between India and Canada and the introduction of policies aimed at curbing international students in the latter, Indian students remain the biggest international student cohort in Canada.
According to recent IRCC data, nearly 160,000 Indian students have been granted study permits in 2024 so far.
According to the IRCC spokesperson, IRCC analyses the documents shared by the students to make sure they meet the latest study permit conditions.
“Upon receipt of the requested documents, if the student continues to meet the conditions of their permit, they will be able to pursue their course or program of study in Canada,” stated the spokesperson.
The latest study permit conditions require students to be enrolled at a designated learning institution, actively pursue their studies by being enrolled full-time or part-time during each academic semester (excluding scheduled breaks), and make progress toward completing their program.
Additionally, students must not take authorised leaves longer than 150 days, apply to extend their permit if changing post-secondary schools, end their studies if they no longer meet student requirements, and leave Canada when their permit expires.
According to a Canadian university representative, the resubmission of documents is a measure that is potentially being taken in response to the fake admission letter scam that rocked Canada last year.
“The verification of documents has become important as many ex-international students were found with fake admission offers last year during their PR process,” the university representative, who did not wish to be named, told The PIE News.
“The presentation of it looks like and is perceived as Canada targeting Indian students but that’s not the case.”
Hundreds of international students, mainly from India, participated in protests across Canada over receiving deportation notices for entering the country on fake admission letters, which they maintained they did not know of.
The IRCC eventually halted the deportations for an interim period until every case was reviewed by a joint task force comprising officials from the IRCC and Canada Border Services Agency.
Brijesh Mishra, the scam agent behind these fake admission letters, has been sentenced to three years in jail in Canada.
According to a statement by IRCC to the Business Standard, the Canadian government has required most post-secondary Designated Learning Institutions, since 2015, to report twice yearly on the enrolment status of their international students through the international student compliance regime.
The recent resubmission of documents gains significance in light of more than 10,000 international student acceptance letters being flagged as potentially fraudulent this year.
According to IRCC, this sort of identification has only been possible because of the new Letter of Acceptance verification process, which requires DLIs to verify the authenticity of all LOAs.
“IRCC has received nearly 529,000 LOAs for verification, confirmed approximately 492,000 as valid directly with DLIs, and identified over 17,000 LOAs that either did not match any issued by a DLI or were canceled by the DLI before the individual applied for a study permit,” said the IRCC spokesperson.
“When the DLI provides a ‘no match’ response, an officer will review and assess the next steps to determine whether there is fraud.”
This measure, according to IRCC helps ‘deter bad actors, protect prospective students from document fraud, and ensure that study permits are issued based only on genuine letters of acceptance.’
Fraudulent documents, such as altered letters or those no longer valid, are added to an individual’s file and can impact future immigration applications, potentially leading to inadmissibility to Canada.
“If a review determines that the individual in question is a genuine student, they can be granted a temporary resident permit, and the finding of misrepresentation related to the fraudulent letter of acceptance will not be considered on future applications,” stated the spokesperson.
