Immigration Fraud Warning
Warning: The IMM5710 Work Permit Scam (2026 Update)
Reviewed by: William Galipeau · Last updated: 2026-08-24
The IMM5710 is a genuine IRCC form, the Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker. Scammers have weaponized awareness of this form to target immigrants and foreign workers with fraudulent work permit schemes.
How the IMM5710 scam works
Job seekers, often recent immigrants, are approached by fraudulent "immigration consultants" offering to arrange a work permit using the IMM5710 process. Fees of $500–$5,000 are charged for "processing" or "expedited service."
In some versions, a real IMM5710 is filed using fraudulent employer documentation, compromising the victim's immigration status. In other versions, no application is ever filed.
Warning signs
- An "immigration consultant" contacts you unsolicited
- Fees are required before any documentation is reviewed
- The consultant cannot provide a regulated CICC member number
- The employer cannot be independently verified
- Payment is required in cryptocurrency or via wire transfer to an individual
Legitimate Canadian immigration services
All authorized representatives are regulated by the CICC or are lawyers in good standing with their provincial law society. You can verify a consultant at iccrc-crcic.ca. IRCC fees are paid directly to the Government of Canada, never to an individual.
If you were defrauded
Report to RecoverFunds.ca. File a complaint with CICC at cicc.ca. Contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. If your personal information was used to file fraudulent documents, contact IRCC directly.
Why immigration forms are used in financial scams
Forms like the IMM5710 appear in fraud because they are real. A target who searches the form number finds a genuine Government of Canada page, and that page lends credibility to whatever the person asking for it says next.
The form is never the point. The fee is. Whether it is called a processing charge, a biometrics payment, a legal review or an expedite fee, the pattern is a real document standing between the target and something they want, with a payment attached to it.
How the genuine process works
IRCC applications are submitted through the official portal at canada.ca. Fees are paid through the official payment system and are receipted. IRCC does not ask for payment by cryptocurrency, gift card, e-transfer to a personal account, or wire to an individual. It does not phone people demanding immediate payment, and it does not threaten arrest or removal to force a decision.
If someone contacts you claiming to be from IRCC, end the call and reach the department yourself on a number you found independently.
If you have already paid
Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre on 1-888-495-8501 and to your local police, and contact your bank or card issuer the same day, because a recent payment is the kind most likely to be reversible. The full reporting process is here.
Be ready for a follow-up approach offering to recover what you paid. That is a recovery room scam, and it works from lists of people already known to have paid once.