Immigration co. told to compensate man

In his complaint made to the forum,Jabbal stated that the firm had advertised about its services for getting immigration visa for employment in Canada,New Zealand,Australia and other countries. Jabbal engaged the services of the company to get an immigration visa for his family in Canada,for a job titled ‘Manager Credit’.

Officials of the firm told him that his credentials were right for permanent immigration to Canada with his family,and assured him the visas. In December 2000,Jabbal applied for “preliminary assessment” of the case. His marks were assessed up to 72.

Jabbal said he paid Rs 92,600 to the firm to process the visa formalities. He paid an additional amount of Rs 25,000 to file the case with the Federal Court in Canada. The Canadian High Commission asked the complainant to submit proof of English Language Proficiency. Jabbal said he submitted the documents to the firm to be forwarded to the Canadian High Commission,but this was not done.

Jabbal complained that on account of deficiency of service on the part of the firm,his case was not cleared by the Canadian High Commission. Disappointed by the turn of events,Jabbal asked the firm to refund Rs 25,000 and $700 paid by him. When this was not done,he filed a case with the redressal forum.

In its reply,the firm claimed that the $700 had been taken by the Canada branch of the firm. Hence,the Mohali-based branch was not obliged to refund the amount.

After considering the case,the forum observed that the Canada office was a branch of the parent firm. Hence,the Mohali office was liable to refund the $700 paid by Jabbal. The forum concluded that Jabbal had paid the $700 in India. He did not go to Canada to pay the money,nor did any representative of the Canada office come here to collect the money.

The forum also found that the firm had not been assessing the complainant properly. They had given him much higher marks in assessment only to “drag him into their fold as a prospective candidate and to extract money from him.”

The visa officer gave Jabbal lower marks,which spoiled his chances of going abroad. “If the complainant had been told on the first day that he was not eligible for immigration,he would not have spent the amount,nor wasted five years waiting for immigration to Canada,” observed the forum. In light of all these arguments,the forum concluded that the immigration firm had been deficient in services towards Jabbal. The forum directed the firm to compensate Jabbal accordingly and also refund the money taken from him.