Only 13 immigration consultancy firms registered in SAS Nagar
Only 13 immigration consultancy firms registered in SAS Nagar Only 13 immigration consultancy firms registered in SAS Nagar In blatant violation of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act 2012, hundreds of immigration consultancy firms in the district are functioning without registration. With a flurry of fraud complaints against such firms, the Punjab governor on January 4, 2013, had given assent to the Act, following which it became mandatory for all immigration consultants to get registered. The Act was put in place to check and curb immigration firms’ illegal and fraudulent activities and malpractices of the persons involved in organisational human smuggling in Punjab. However, two years on, of the about 1,000 immigration consultancy companies in the district, only 13 are registered and another 60 are in queue, even as the SAS Nagar police since 2011 have registered 525 cases pertaining to immigration frauds. Consultants say the cumbersome and stringent regist