Cleaning House

"Canadian citizenship is not for sale. The government of Canada is taking steps to revoke citizenship from those who have obtained it fraudulently by misrepresenting their residence in Canada while continuing to live abroad most, or all, of the time."
"There is no statute of limitation on the revocation of citizenship."
Nancy Caron, spokeswoman, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration

"My understanding is that the government didn't, in the past, go after cases like this in this way and now they are."
"I think there is a strong political direction coming, ultimately from the minister's office, to pursue these cases very aggressively."
"I don't think this is the last case like this we are going to see."
Robert Rastorp, Toronto lawyer, representing Hochaime family

"Mr. Houchaime was, in fact, spending the vast majority of his time living in Dubai during the relevant period, leaving the UAE only periodically for short trips abroad."
"Ms. El-Ksayer's travel history bears no relationship to the Canadian residence declared in her citizenship application."
"Canadian citizenship is a valuable privilege."
Justice Anne MacTavish, Federal Court of Canada

"I've never seen an award of costs like this in connection with a citizenship case. The court is trying to send a message to people who abuse the citizenship program."
"People should really pay attention to this case and heed the warning it provides."
Sergio Karas, immigration lawyer, analyst, former chair, Ontario Bar Association, immigration section

July 1, 2012   Minister Kenney participates in a special Canada Day citizenship ceremony at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec 

The Houchaime family arrived in Canada from their home country of Lebanon, in 2004. By 2008, each of the family members, father, mother and two daughters, applied successfully for Canadian citizenship. Boutros Naim Houchaime claimed to have lived in Canada every day for the previous four years leading to his application for citizenship. With the exception of 15 trips taken during that four-year period, which totalled 307 days outside Canada.

After granting the family citizenship, the government agency revisited the case and decided to make a diplomatic request to the United Arab Emirates to obtain the family's travel records, since the UAE maintains strict entry and exit records of residents who are non-citizens. Mr. Houchaime's wife, Jacqueline El-Ksayer claimed to have been outside Canada seven times for a total of 133 days during the past four years. She had, in actual fact, left Canada one month after her 2004 arrival, to return to Dubai where she remained since then but for a few short trips.

One of the couple's daughters, Jennifer Hochaime, claimed to have left Canada three times, for a total of 134 days in that four-year period. UAE  records, on the other hand, make it clear that she too had returned to Dubai a month after arriving in Canada in 2004, leaving Dubai for a few weeks during the summer months. She had been attending the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management from 2004 to 2008, while spending most of 2007 on an exchange program in Switzerland.

Jennifer Hochaime's residency claims appear to be at odds with UAE records -- LinkedIn

Her sister, Lynn Hochaine stated she had been absent from Canada for only 87 days during the four-year period in question. In reality, like her mother and her sister, she too had returned to Dubai in September of 2004 and remained there for most of the next four years, absent short trips out of the country in the summer months. She had been attending a Dubai high school. Though claiming she had enrolled at McMaster University, Hamilton, in 2006, she arrived there in 2008.

The sisters' online LinkedIn profiles reflected just those facts, as well.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration took steps to secure a declaration from the Federal Court citing the fact that the family had obtained their Canadian citizenship through false representation; fraudulently in other words. Judge Mactavish declared their applications to contain "patently false information".  She ruled, as well, extraordinarily but fittingly, that the government in her judgement was entitled to be refunded by the family its legal costs entailed in the proceedings.

This month the court accepted the extent of the costs which amounts to $63,442 in legal bills. The Lebanese family is now stripped of their Canadian citizenship. This particular case may be a first but all indications promise that it will not be the last. The RCMP has targeted over 11,000 false claimants from over 100 countries suspected of having committed fraud by misrepresenting their Canadian residency requirements to obtain citizenship.

Over three thousand citizens and 5,000 permanent residents are now under suspicion in an ongoing fraud investigation. In most of the cases, residency claims such as that of the Hochaime family is involved. Following questioning by the RCMP, almost two thousand other people have chosen to withdraw their applications, according to Citizenship and Immigration spokeswoman Nancy Caron.