Balwant Mroke of Vancouver wants his $21,050 back.

The Vancouver man sought the help of immigration consultant Krishanthan Algaratnam and his wife to help him obtain landed immigrant status for members of four families in India.

According to a suit filed by Mroke, Algaratnam and his wife told Mroke that "they had an agent within the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada; they had an agent within the Canadian High Commission in India; and that their agents would assist in obtaining landed immigrant status for applications put forward by Algaratnam."

Algaratnam had allegedly promised to return the $21,050 back if the project failed.

It failed but the money apparently was never returned.

As an immigration consultant, Siu Hay Chan had a talent for cooking the books.

He created more than 40 false companies tailored to the skills of his would-be immigrants charging anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 for his services.

Chan, a landed immigrant, was taking advantage of an employment program that gave would-be immigrants extra points if they had an offer of employment.

The 54-year-old pleaded guilty recently in Dawson Creek to dozens of charges relating to his abuse of the Immigration Act in order to assist foreign workers to enter the country. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison.

Iraj Rezaei is perhaps Canada's most notorious immigration consultant.

Federal court documents allege that the Vancouver-based Rezaei hinted to clients he could bribe immigration officials, obtain false documents for a fee, counselled clients to make bogus refugee claims and missed critical hearing dates with no explanation.

He was suspended from appearing before the Immigration Refugee Board.

For years now accusations against people like Algaratnam, Siu and Rezai have been dominating what has been the unregulated world of immigration consultancy.

Unethical consultants have engaged in human smuggling, produced fraudulent documents and charged exorbitant fees without delivering on promised services.

Many of these consultants, operate outside Canada blackening the nation's reputation abroad. So it is encouraging that Immigration Canada appears finally to recognize the need to fix the problems plaguing the system.

A recent advisory committee report to Immigration minister Denis Coderre concludes tighter regulatory controls on immigrant consultants and lawyers is necessary "to counter the very negative image that has been created for our immigration system."

The committee makes 37 recommendations to regulate and oversee the practices of immigration consultants - everything from $50,000 fines and criminal convictions for those who fail to live up to a code of conduct, to establishing a self-regulating body consultants must join if they want to have any dealings with the immigration department.

The report submitted to Coderre said the need to regulate immigration consultants has been openly discussed for 15 years, but the problem has been around much longer.

The potential for abuse is implicitly recognized in the 1976 Immigration Act, which provided government with the power to regulate immigration consultants.

Yet that power was never used.

It is heartening to note that Coderre wants to go where no immigration minister has gone in over two decades.

But the move to regulate immigration consultants should also examine the underlying reasons why the corrupt exist in the first place.

Many of the unscrupulous consultants exist because of inadequacies in the immigrant processing system. They exist to help prospective migrants navigate through an unnecessary bureaucratic labyrinth that is short staffed and cannot handle the thousands of applications.

Others have mastered the "visa-shopping" module to advise would-be immigrants which Canadian diplomatic mission is best for getting a quicker application hearing. It takes between four and six years to process an application through Beijing, for example, but only 18 months in Hong Kong.

Visa shopping has allowed major criminals, like the Macau mobster who now lives in Richmond, Canadian status.

There are many in the immigration consultancy industry who have been clamouring for regulations so they can carry on with their business in an honest and truthful manner. Their demands to weed out the bad apples have fallen on deaf ears.

If Coderre is serious about helping this multi-million dollar industry regain its reputation, he must realise that the crooks exist because of the government's malaise and nonchalance.

Fix that Coderre and you will help the honest immigration consultants thrive.