*Canada to revoke citizenship from 3,100 people*

By CHARMAINE NORONHA, Associated Press

TORONTO --- Canada has begun revoking citizenship from 3,100 people that
the government said obtained it fraudulently, the country's immigration
minister said Monday.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that in most of the fraud cases,
applicants paid a representative to prove they were living in Canada to
establish residency when they were, in fact, living abroad.

Permanent residents must reside in Canada for three out of four
consecutive years before applying for Canadian citizenship. To retain
their status as permanent residents, they must live in Canada for two
out of five years, with rare exceptions.

Criminal investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the
Canadian Border Services Agency have found that a family of five could
pay over $25,000 over four or more years to create the illusion of
Canadian residence.

The government said it is also investigating thousands of others who may
have lied to obtain or maintain permanent residency. Kenney said anyone
caught committing fraud will be stripped of citizenship and residence
status.

"Canadian citizenship is not for sale," Kenney said during a news
conference Monday. "We will not stand idly by and allow people to lie
and cheat their way into Canadian citizenship."

Kenney has said that Canada's per-capita immigration rate remains one of
the highest in the world, with the country welcoming 248,660 permanent
residents in 2011. An average of about 250,000 immigrants has been
admitted to Canada annually since 2006, which the immigration department
calls the highest sustained level of immigration in Canadian history.

The minister said a crack-down on immigration fraud started three years
ago, with nearly 11,000 individuals potentially implicated in lying to
apply for citizenship or maintain permanent resident status.

He said federal agencies have so far removed or denied admittance to
more than 600 former permanent residents linked to the investigations.

Kenney also said he is planning to introduce amendments to the
Citizenship Act that would require immigration consultants to be members
of a regulatory body, which he said may help crack down on crooked
consultants.

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/11527043/