Misrepresentation - Possible Deportation

[complain7439]

Members,

We realized that we committed a misrepresentation in our permanent residence application. PR was approved and we are now in Canada. The misrepresentation was not willful but at the same time it cannot be termed as innocent. The final decision on our PR application, in terms of its approval, may or may not have been affected due to this misrepresentation. But the process of PR application could have been affected. Had we been open about the facts, certain additional checks could have been carried out by IRCC which they could not due to the misrepresentation. It will be difficult to justify the misrepresentation as innocent if we are ever caught. We have contacted immigration lawyers and they have categorized this as misrepresentation though they won’t advise any more further. Misrepresentation occurred in the first place because of recklessness, not being aware of consequences. Nothing willful but not innocent also. Somewhere in between.

We have now decided to leave Canada because of this misrepresentation as future of our children life can be affected, meaning they could be stripped of citizenship after they got used to life in Canada or have to fight lengthy court battles, if this is ever caught. We are not citizens yet.

Is it a wise decision to leave Canada after so much of effort? Or, put up with this hoping that this won’t be caught in future and continue leading the best life Canada has to offer. What are the possibilities of being caught? As we understood from lawyers, interpretation for misrepresentation once it occurred is very narrow and no clemency is possible and action can be taken by IRCC years later if found.

Please provide serious opinion/advise on this based on your best assessment and experience with Canadian immigration. No jokes please.

we are in a traumatic situation. The reason to approach this forum is we could share our problem anonymously.

 

[KRP]

Members,

We realized that we committed a misrepresentation in our permanent residence application. PR was approved and we are now in Canada. The misrepresentation was not willful but at the same time it cannot be termed as innocent. The final decision on our PR application, in terms of its approval, may or may not have been affected due to this misrepresentation. But the process of PR application could have been affected. Had we been open about the facts, certain additional checks could have been carried out by IRCC which they could not due to the misrepresentation. It will be difficult to justify the misrepresentation as innocent if we are ever caught. We have contacted immigration lawyers and they have categorized this as misrepresentation though they won’t advise any further.

We have now decided to leave Canada because of this misrepresentation as future of our children life can be affected, meaning they could be stripped of citizenship after they got used to life in Canada or have to fight lengthy court battles, if this is ever caught. We are not citizens yet.

Is it a wise decision to leave Canada after so much of effort? Or, put up with this hoping that this won’t be caught in future and continue leading the best life Canada has to offer. What are the possibilities of being caught? As we understood from lawyers, interpretation for misrepresentation once it occurred is very narrow and no clemency is possible and action can be taken by IRCC years later if found.

Please provide serious opinion/advise on this based on your best assessment and experience with Canadian immigration. No jokes please.

we are in a traumatic situation. The reason to approach this forum is we could share our problem anonymously.

You have not mentioned the area where you have misrepresented . So how come one could comment?

 

[complain7439]

You have not mentioned the area where you have misrepresented . So how come one could comment?

Cannot share the details. Misrepresentation occurred regardless of the area.

 

[MelJohn]

By the end of the day, the decision is up to you either you notify IRCC, you wait till you get caught or you leave. But regardless it seems like you knew exactly what you were doing and hoped that a lawyer or someone would justify your actions as a innocent mistake

 

[scylla]

Members,

We realized that we committed a misrepresentation in our permanent residence application. PR was approved and we are now in Canada. The misrepresentation was not willful but at the same time it cannot be termed as innocent. The final decision on our PR application, in terms of its approval, may or may not have been affected due to this misrepresentation. But the process of PR application could have been affected. Had we been open about the facts, certain additional checks could have been carried out by IRCC which they could not due to the misrepresentation. It will be difficult to justify the misrepresentation as innocent if we are ever caught. We have contacted immigration lawyers and they have categorized this as misrepresentation though they won’t advise any more further. Misrepresentation occurred in the first place because of recklessness, not being aware of consequences. Nothing willful but not innocent also. Somewhere in between.

We have now decided to leave Canada because of this misrepresentation as future of our children life can be affected, meaning they could be stripped of citizenship after they got used to life in Canada or have to fight lengthy court battles, if this is ever caught. We are not citizens yet.

Is it a wise decision to leave Canada after so much of effort? Or, put up with this hoping that this won’t be caught in future and continue leading the best life Canada has to offer. What are the possibilities of being caught? As we understood from lawyers, interpretation for misrepresentation once it occurred is very narrow and no clemency is possible and action can be taken by IRCC years later if found.

Please provide serious opinion/advise on this based on your best assessment and experience with Canadian immigration. No jokes please.

we are in a traumatic situation. The reason to approach this forum is we could share our problem anonymously.

It's really your choice what you do. Without knowing what the misrepresentation was exactly, I don't see how any of us can give you our opinions on the chances of this impacting you and your chances of getting caught. Entirely up to you what you do.

To answer your question regarding what the lawyers have told you, yes, misrepresentation can result in PR or citizenship being revoked at any point in the future.

 

[jddd]

Agree with the others. No one here can even attempt to have an opinion because no one knows what the misrepresentation is. But, since lawyers and yourself have already acknowledged that it is 100% misrepresentation, then those who know the exact situation are the ones to defer to.

Also agree that even citizenship can be revoked when discovered.

 

[bellaluna]

Please provide serious opinion/advise on this based on your best assessment and experience with Canadian immigration. No jokes please.

Not sure how you expect anyone to do this if you don't want to provide details. The information you misrepresented determines what the consequence will be. If you don't want to share the exact details, that's fine, but if that's the case, no one can really help you except for your lawyer.

If it's something like a long-lost or disowned relative like a sibling that you didn't declare somewhere in your application, then good chances nothing will come out of it.

But if it's something related to fraudulently claiming work experience, which is the basis of the immigration selection, then that's really serious....

Or pretty much anything that falsely claims eligibility or CRS points when you didn't meet the passing scores would jeopardize your status, IMO.

 

[Buletruck]

The choice is yours whether to stay or leave. Ultimately it will be hanging over your families heads for as long as you are in Canada. If you are prepared to accept that and the possible outcome years from now, stay. If you can’t, leave. The fact the lawyers you have consulted have advised you it is misrepresentation indicates there is no somewhere in between and that the risk to your status is present.

 

[complain7439]

The choice is yours whether to stay or leave. Ultimately it will be hanging over your families heads for as long as you are in Canada. If you are prepared to accept that and the possible outcome years from now, stay. If you can’t, leave. The fact the lawyers you have consulted have advised you it is misrepresentation indicates there is no somewhere in between and that the risk to your status is present.

Thank you all. excellent and quick responses in support.

“ultimately it will be hanging over our family’s heads as long as we live with fear of being caught one day” is something extremely bothering us. It can even be years from now. How we will be caught is unknown or will we be ever caught is also unknown. We will then never enjoy our lives in Canada. Anyone who knows us or gets suspicion on us can report on us to IRCC anonymously either tomorrow or years from now. If IRCC ever catches us, kids’ lives will be impacted even after they grow into adults (unless IRCC starts tolerating and forgiving misrepresentations).

The misrepresentation occurred here was withholding of a fact. The “fact” that IRCC would have been interested in checking further even if final decision on PR would not have changed. Thus it became a material fact and affected the process. In addition to lawyers, we also anonymously checked with concerned VO office that processed and issued our PR whether the fact should have been declared in the first place. They confirmed yes. Thus it ia material misrepresentation.

It is not about missing to declare a sibling or an address or fraudulent work experience or fraudulently scoring additional CRS points. Why the fact was not declared? Because, coming from a third world country we were not aware of concepts like misrepresentation or its seriousness and serious consequences. Also, declaring the fact would have made us run around bureaucracy in this third world country and possibly bribe them to get additional supporting documentation from them. We wanted to avoid running after bureaucracy. In our countries, where corruption and bribery are widespread, withholding information is also a part of life and our culture.

only after moving to Canada and watching television news, did we become aware of concepts of misrepresentation and its serous consequences.

 

[Buletruck]

What’s done is done. No point dwelling on what has happened in the past. It was, unfortunately, a poor life choice. Having spent many years living in third world countries, I understand it is often difficult to comprehend the results of choices you make in Canada that are an everyday fact of life elsewhere. The fact you realize now and it weighs on your conscious, it seems to me it wasn’t meant as a means to circumvent the system. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[complain7439]

What’s done is done. No point dwelling on what has happened in the past. It was, unfortunately, a poor life choice. Having spent many years living in third world countries, I understand it is often difficult to comprehend the results of choices you make in Canada that are an everyday fact of life elsewhere. The fact you realize now and it weighs on your conscious, it seems to me it wasn’t meant as a means to circumvent the system. Bestto do.

Yeah. Poor life choice. Intent was not to cheat Canada immigration system. It was more to do with frustrating and corrupt bureaucracy of our country. Especially, we were working outside of our country and navigating our bureaucracy by making multiple trips to our country was difficult. If government related things get done in our country as easily as they are Canada, this withholding fact would not have occurred.

 

[torontosm]

Yeah. Poor life choice. Intent was not to cheat Canada immigration system. It was more to do with frustrating and corrupt bureaucracy of our country. Especially, we were working outside of our country and navigating our bureaucracy by making multiple trips to our country was difficult. If government related things get done in our country as easily as they are Canada, this withholding fact would not have occurred.

You started by saying that the misrepresentation wasn't willful, but here you make it sound like it was indeed by choice (to avoid the bureaucracy in your home country).

People have certainly been stripped of citizenship and deported years after settling in Canada permanently for misrepresentation. No one can tell you if that will happen to you or not, and this is a personal choice that you have to make.

 

[complain7439]

You started by saying that the misrepresentation wasn't willful, but here you make it sound like it was indeed by choice (to avoid the bureaucracy in your home country).

People have certainly been stripped of citizenship and deported years after settling in Canada permanently for misrepresentation. No one can tell you if that will happen to you or not, and this is a personal choice that you have to make.

I said “not willful” but also said “not innocent”. May be it can be interpreted as, if not innocent it is automatically willful.

not willful because there was no intention to circumvent canadian system but just to avoid bureaucracy in our country. Also at the time was not aware of consequences of misrepresentation.

 

[scylla]

Yeah. Poor life choice. Intent was not to cheat Canada immigration system. It was more to do with frustrating and corrupt bureaucracy of our country. Especially, we were working outside of our country and navigating our bureaucracy by making multiple trips to our country was difficult. If government related things get done in our country as easily as they are Canada, this withholding fact would not have occurred.

The decision on whether to remain in Canada or not is yours. None of us can make this decision for you.

If you have enough points (i.e. 470+) to be selected through Express Entry or are confident you can get a Provincial Nomination again, then one option would be to renounce PR, return to your home country and then reapply for PR from scratch, this time making sure you don't commit misrepresentation.

 

[astraldust]

though they won’t advise any more further

This is the part i find interesting. I suppose a lawyer would advise you to come out clean unless they know it will certainly result in revocation of your status. The problem is if you get established later in any other country, say USA, your status there will also get in jeopardy if Canada takes an action on you. Sorry mate, this is a tough situation to advise. I am sure there are lawyers who specialize in such cases and may be able to prepare a carefully written appeal for you should your PR gets revoked and should you take the case to court.