Section 97 — Bogus documents — definition
Text of provision
In this Subdivision: application form, in relation to a non-citizen, means a form on which a non-citizen applies for a visa, being a form that regulations made for the purposes of section 46 allow to be used for making the application. passenger card has the meaning given by subsection 506(2) and, for the purposes of section 115, includes any document provided for by regulations under paragraph 504(1)(c).
Note: Bogus document is defined in subsection 5(1).
Plain English
Section 97 defines a bogus document as a document that: purports to be genuine but has been forged or fraudulently altered; purports to have been made by a person who did not make it; purports to have been made by a person acting in a particular capacity but who was not acting in that capacity; or has been obtained by making a false or misleading representation.
This broad definition covers not just physically altered documents but also documents obtained through fraud (e.g., genuine government documents issued on the basis of false information).
Practical effect
The use of a bogus document in an immigration context gives rise to: inadmissibility under the character test; grounds for visa cancellation; and criminal prosecution under s 103. The definition is deliberately broad — even a genuine document that was obtained using false representations is a bogus document. This definition means that persons who use fraudulently obtained degrees or employment certificates are using bogus documents even if the documents themselves are physically authentic. DOHA and ABF conduct document verification on a significant proportion of visa applications.