By Atty. Henry Moyal
BEWARE OF SUPREME COURT OF CANADA IMMIGRATION SCAM
Q. I recently arrived in Canada on a work permit. I received a call from someone who identified themselves as being a solicitor from the Supreme Court of Canada. I was told that my Foreign Citizen Number is missing on the form and that I need to return it to the embassy with a fee to have the forms revalidated. I was directed to send it to their lawyer or a warrant will be issued. They issued me a docket number for my case. Is this real?
A. No, it is not real. It is a scam and another example of how people have nothing better to do but to conjure up schemes to take advantage of new arrivals to Canada. Firstly, the Supreme Court of Canada does not call people. Second, there is no such thing as a Foreign Citizen Number. Thirdly, if you are concerned about any aspect of your case you should call your lawyer or you can call Canada Immigration directly at 1 888 242 2100.
I am told from others that the story goes like this:
You get a call from a solicitor called Liccie Austin from Supreme Court of Ottawa. Liccie advises that they have validated all the forms that have been submitted during the Visa application and the Foreign Citizen Number (FCN) form is missing. A file has now been opened and an attorney, Juliene Miller, has been assigned to resolve the case. A call is transferred to Juliene and she explains that FCN (Foreign Citizen Number) is an important form (as Visa, Passport) that should be submitted back to the embassy. A fee must for the correction of two kinds of warrants (State & Federal) will be issued if a FCN form is missing for a person. Reference Docket # 225770.
In another apparent scam, people are receiving emails from Marriot Hotel Canada or Omni Hotel in Montreal offering employment opportunities. These hotels then refer interested applicants to Zonal Tourist Department (or some other named company) who accept payments and inform applicant to go to the Canadian Embassy to apply for a visa.
Applicants who are not aware of the process think it is legitimate but do not know that these hotels do not solicit work in this manner. It is again a scam. Applicants should always contact the hotel first to verify any such information before giving any money to anyone. Second, paying money does not permit you to apply for a visa. It does not work like that. Employers first must obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Service Canada before a work permit can be submitted. Without an LMO, no application at the embassy is possible. So, if the Marriot or Omni did not obtain an LMO then nothing can be done. In any event, this is a scam but I am sure that now the fraudsters will now be issuing fake LMO’s to trick people in filing work permits. But the good news is that any LMO can be verified by quoting the LMO number and calling Service Canada for verification at 1 (866)-556-5518.
*** NEW RULES ON CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP APPLICATION***
There are new changes to Canadian Citizenship applications. Effective November 1, 2012 applicants between the ages 18 to 54 must provide evidence of official language proficiency in speaking and listening, at the time of filing their citizenship application.
Acceptable language evidence will include:
– the results of a CIC-approved third party test (including those previously submitted for federal or Quebec
immigration selection purposes); or
– evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French; or
– verifiable evidence from certain government-funded language training programs
Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed Canadian Immigration Lawyer in Toronto, Ontario.The above article is general advice only and is not intended to act as a legal document.Send questions to Attorney Henry Moyal by email canada@moyal.com or call 416 733 3193.
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