12 tourist visa holders from the Philippines are facing a five-year ban from entering Canada due to misrepresentation.
OMNI News spoke to five of the visa holders, including Josephine Kim, Mildred Javier, Ruel Potenciano, Bill Entienza, and Marineth Gabayan, who all used the same travel agency in the Philippines to apply for their visitor visas.
All five were unaware that a Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL) was issued by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), meaning the IRCC found their application questionable.
Misrepresentation is a serious crime in Canada that happens when documents provided to IRCC, such as bank statements, passports, diplomas, degrees, and other travel documents are proven false. Lying on your application and, or in an interview with an IRCC officer is also fraud that can result in being inadmissible to enter Canada for five years, criminal charges, or deportation.
“They [airport staff] didn’t let us in. We’re tracing what could have possibly went wrong with our visa. It was 9:30 p.m. when the supervisor asked us to just leave saying they couldn’t let us board the flight because our visas were invalid,” Josephine Kim said.
Ruel Potenciano experienced similar confusion.
“Cathay Pacific didn’t know what to do. They felt bad for me. They can’t let me in because my visa has been revoked since last month, and they didn’t know why.”
Aside from spending 50,000 Philippine Pesos for the travel agent’s fees, some of the applicants also spent hundreds of thousands of Pesos for their flight tickets.
The applicants said they used the travel agent, Merlan Cirera of MC Travel, who had access to their application and the email used to communicate with immigration. Claiming they had no communication from Cirera, they say they were unable to respond to the PFLs before the given deadline, resulting in a five-year ban.
“I kept reminding him every day to give me access on my IRCC application, so I could see what was submitted but he always comes up with an excuse,” Bill Entienza said.
Applicants also allege Cirera used the same template for everyone’s visitor visa application, which is likely what alerted IRCC.
“He told me, the only documents I need to send him are whatever he asked,” Marineth Gabayan said.
Cirera refused an interview but told OMNI News that like the applicants, he was also surprised about the issued PFLs, especially after the visa approval.
He strongly denied all other accusations including not giving applicants access to their application. He said he’s willing to go through the legal process in case applicants file a case against him.
However, an immigration lawyer said Canadian immigration officers can issue a PFL even after the visa approval.
“Visas are highly discretionary. It is not a right but a privilege. Even when visitors are already in Canada, it is still possible for IRCC to revoke their Temporary Resident Visa status according to the law. It’s still possible that they were able to detect fraud after visas had been issued,” said Lou Dangzalan.
Dangzalan who represents one of the applicants, said the IRCC has a strong eye when it comes to signs of possible misrepresentation in applications.
He hopes this could be a warning for applicants about how important PFLs are.
“When you receive a PFL, you’re one step away from a refusal. Immigration officers are giving you one last chance to convince them otherwise. Your response has to be robust, powerful, and clear,” Dangzalan said.
The applicants know that the ban is a tough battle, but immigration lawyer fees are too much for them. They’ve been in contact with local authorities in the Philippines, and hope this will bring awareness to others.
“It just hurts that we now have a bad record in Canada,” Entienza said.
“I’m a single mom, and I have a 7-year-old kid. Canada is our chance for a better life, but with the ban, we’re hopeless,” Javier said.
