Ottawa continues crackdown on citizenship fraud
Posted December 9, 2011 6:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ottawa says it is investigating 6,500 people from more than 100 countries for fraudulently attempting to gain citizenship or maintain permanent resident status.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says Canadian citizenship is not for sale and that Canadians won’t tolerate cheats.
Kenney held a news conference in Montreal on Friday to say his department is looking at revoking the citizenship of more than 2,100 people who obtained it fraudulently.
He says there are also 4,400 people with permanent resident status who are known to be implicated in residence fraud.
Most of them are outside the country.
“Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” said Kenney.
“Canadians are generous people, but have no tolerance or patience for people who don’t play by the rules and who lie or cheat to become a Canadian citizen.
“The government will apply the full strength of Canadian law to those who have obtained citizenship fraudulently.”
Permanent residents must acquire three years of residence out of four years to apply for Canadian citizenship.
To retain their status as permanent residents, they must be physically present in Canada for two years out of five.
“I encourage anyone who has information regarding citizenship fraud to call our tip line to report it,” Kenney said.
Tips can be made to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The call centre number is 1-888-242-2100 and it’s open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Tips may also be reported by e-mail at citizenship-fraud-tips@cic.gc.ca.
