Ahmedabad: Three individuals, including two current employees and one former employee of VFS Global Private Limited, have been booked for allegedly forging documents and fraudulently enrolling the biometrics of 28 individuals who were applying for visas to Canada.

Vyomesh Thakar, a deputy general manager at VFS Global, filed a complaint with the city crime branch regarding the matter. According to the First Information Report (FIR), Mehul Bharwad, a former employee, along with employees Sohil Diwan and Melvyn Christi, as well as a few travel agents, allegedly bypassed the proper registration procedure and enrolled the biometrics of 28 applicants illegally. They provided the applicants with counterfeit visa appointment letters.

The accused reportedly collected approximately Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 from each person, but the exact motive for bypassing the proper procedure remains unclear.

The visa application procedure involves individuals creating a profile on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website and providing necessary information. Subsequently, the biometric data, including biographic details, fingerprints, and a digital photograph, is collected at the VFS office. These details are uploaded on the VFS website, and the applicant downloads them to send to IRCC. The IRCC then issues the visa appointment letter to the applicant.

According to an officer from the city crime branch, on July 5, 2023, the Canadian high commission notified VFS Global via email that although the biometric enrollments for 28 individuals’ Canada visa applications were registered at the VFS Ahmedabad office, their appointment letters were never issued by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) office.

Preliminary investigations suggest that a travel agent approached the accused group to facilitate unauthorized biometric enrollments in exchange for monetary compensation. Allegedly, the agent accepted payments from desperate visa applicants who were seeking immediate visa appointments. DeshGujarat