Every few weeks, Punjab’s newspapers carry the same story with different names: a family that sold land, paid ₹15 to 30 lakh to an “agent,” and received a fake offer letter, a refused visa built on forged papers, or silence and a locked office. This checklist exists so your family is never in that story.
It takes 30 minutes to run, costs nothing, and works on any consultancy, including ours. In fact, we insist you run it on us.
One principle before the checklist: a genuine consultant profits when your visa succeeds; a fraudster profits the moment you pay. Every verification step below simply tests which of those two businesses you are sitting in front of.
🛡️ Quick Fact: In Punjab, anyone offering visa or immigration consultancy must hold a licence from the district administration under the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2012. Apply Study Visa’s registration number is 31/DC/MA/MLK/2023, and you can verify it the same way you should verify anyone else’s.
What this guide covers
- The 10-point verification checklist
- Red flags ranked: walk, run, report
- If you’ve already been cheated
- The 30-minute version
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
1. The 10-Point Verification Checklist
Government licence: Punjab’s actual law
Under the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, 2012 and its 2013 rules, anyone providing travel or visa consultancy in Punjab must hold a licence issued through the district administration (the Deputy Commissioner’s office). Ask to see the licence certificate: the number, its validity, and the exact legal name it is issued to. District administrations publish lists of licensed agents you can cross-check. No licence means walk out. Not “under process,” not “the head office has it.”
Match the licence name to your receipts
A classic fraud structure: a licensed firm’s certificate on the wall, but payments collected in a different name, a person or a second firm. The licence name, agreement name, bank account name and GST invoice name should all be the same. Any mismatch is your cue to stop.
Company registration and GST
A legitimate consultancy is a registered business. Verify the company or LLP on the MCA portal (mca.gov.in) and demand a GST invoice for every payment. Cash-only, receipt-free operations are built to disappear.
For Canada advice, understand the RCIC line
Under Canadian law, only CICC-licensed consultants (RCICs), Canadian lawyers and notaries, or the applicant themselves may act as paid representatives on an application. Verify any claimed RCIC on the CICC public register (college-ic.ca). Many honest Indian consultancies, ours included, work as education recruiters and documentation support rather than RCICs. That is legitimate, but it must be stated honestly. Anyone claiming “direct setting with the embassy” or an RCIC status they don’t hold is lying about the most checkable fact in this industry. For Australia, check registered migration agents at mara.gov.au.
The “guaranteed visa” test
No consultant, lawyer or RCIC anywhere can guarantee a visa; the decision belongs to IRCC, UKVI or Home Affairs officers alone. “Guaranteed visa,” “100% visa” or “visa ki guarantee meri” is not marketing enthusiasm. It is the signature of fraud, or of a plan that involves forged documents. The same family of lies includes “IELTS waiver ho jayega,” “backdoor admission,” “donation seat” and “embassy setting.”
Itemised costs in writing, before any payment
Demand the full breakup: service fee, application fees, IELTS or PTE, GIC and funds guidance, biometrics, medical, each on a separate line. Fraud pricing is always a bundle: “₹18 lakh, sab kuch included.” Genuine pricing is boring and itemised. The refund policy, covering refusal, your withdrawal and their failure, belongs in the written agreement, not in verbal promises.
Never surrender your originals or your logins
Your passport stays with you; agents need copies, and VFS needs it only briefly at submission. Your IRCC or UKVI account should be created with your email and your password. A consultancy that insists on owning your login is preparing to control, or hide, your file. You must be able to read everything filed in your name, because misrepresentation bans land on you, not the agent. In Canada, a misrepresentation finding means a five-year ban.
Verify the offer letter yourself: 10 minutes, zero cost
Fake offer letters are at the centre of Punjab’s worst frauds. Check three things independently: (a) the institution appears on the official DLI list (Canada), sponsor register (UK) or CRICOS (Australia); (b) email the university’s international admissions office, using the address on their website, and ask them to confirm your offer or application number; (c) the tuition on the letter matches the university’s own website. An agent who resists your direct contact with the institution has told you everything.
Check the digital footprint properly
Ignore the paid hoardings and singer-sponsored ads and look at substance: years of consistent Google reviews (read the angry ones and the replies), a real office at the stated address, named counsellors, success stories with verifiable details, and content that teaches rather than promises. A consultancy that publishes honest information against its own short-term interest is showing you its business model in public.
The pressure test
Fraud needs speed: “seat sirf aaj tak,” “rate kal badh jayega,” “abhi token de do.” Real deadlines exist (intakes, the UK’s 28-day funds rule, Canada’s PAL windows), but a genuine counsellor explains how the deadline works and gives you documents to verify it. Anyone who punishes you for saying “we’ll verify and come back tomorrow” has failed the cheapest test on this list.
2. Red Flags Ranked: Walk, Run, Report
| Signal | Action |
|---|---|
| Vague pricing; reluctance to issue a GST invoice | ⚠️ Walk away |
| No verifiable licence; names that don’t match | 🚩 Walk away and warn others |
| “Guaranteed visa” or “IELTS waiver setting” | 🚨 Run: this is the fraud signature |
| Demands custody of your passport or owns your application login | 🚨 Retrieve everything and leave |
| Offers to “arrange” bank statements, experience letters or marriages | 🚨🚨 Run and report: this destroys your future with multi-year bans, not theirs |
3. If You’ve Already Been Cheated (Act in This Order)
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Stop all payments | Immediately, whatever “almost done” story they tell you |
| 2. Preserve evidence | Receipts, WhatsApp chats, call recordings, the agreement, and the account numbers you paid into |
| 3. Police complaint | At your local police station, and on the cybercrime portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or helpline 1930 if payments moved digitally; speed matters for freezing accounts |
| 4. District administration complaint | Under the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act; operating without a licence is itself an offence, and DC offices act on these complaints |
| 5. Consumer forum | To recover fees for deficiency of service |
| 6. If fake documents were filed in your name | Get professional advice before any new application. Understand what is on your file (for Canada, order your GCMS notes) rather than making it worse |
| 7. Speak up | Don’t let shame silence you. These operations survive because families stay quiet. Your FIR is the next family’s warning |
4. The 30-Minute Version
The whole article in one line: ask for the licence, verify it on the register, demand itemised written costs, keep your own logins, and treat “guarantee” as a fire alarm.
Run these checks on us today. Our Government of Punjab registration, GST invoicing, written itemised agreements and published success stories are exactly where this checklist points. That is not a boast; it is the minimum standard your family should demand from every door on the road.
🛂 Run the checklist on us. Ask Apply Study Visa for our licence, GST details and a written, itemised agreement before you pay anything. WhatsApp +91-783-783-4800 or contact us for a free, no-pressure consultation.
5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How do I check if a visa agent is government registered in Punjab?
Ask for their licence under the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act, issued through the district administration, and verify the number, validity and legal name. District administrations publish lists of licensed agents. No licence, or excuses instead of paper, means leave.
Q: What is an RCIC, and does my agent need to be one?
RCICs are consultants licensed by Canada’s CICC, and they are the only paid representatives (besides Canadian lawyers and notaries) allowed on Canadian applications. Education recruiters who help with admissions and documents are legitimate without RCIC status, as long as they are honest about it. Verify any RCIC claim on the CICC public register; a false claim is disqualifying.
Q: Is a “guaranteed visa” ever real?
Never. Visa decisions rest only with government officers. The guarantee pitch is either a lie about influence or a plan involving forged documents, and both end with your money gone and possibly a ban on your record.
Q: How can I verify my offer letter is real?
Check the institution on the official DLI list, UK sponsor register or CRICOS, then email the university’s international office directly, using the address on their own website, quoting your application number. Real offers are usually confirmed within a day.
Q: Should my agent hold my passport or IRCC login?
No. Copies are enough for filing; the passport goes to VFS briefly at submission and comes back to you. Your application accounts belong in your email with your password, so you can see everything filed in your name.
Q: The agent takes payment in a personal account. Is that normal?
No, it is the most common fraud structure. Payments should go to the registered business’s account, against GST invoices, in the same name as the licence. Anything else is designed for deniability.
Q: What if the agent filed fake documents without telling me?
You remain legally responsible, because misrepresentation bans attach to the applicant. Preserve evidence, file police and district administration complaints, and establish exactly what is on your file (for example, GCMS notes for Canada) with professional guidance before any fresh application.
Q: Are big offices and celebrity ads proof that an agent is genuine?
No. Some of Punjab’s largest frauds ran from impressive offices with famous faces on the hoardings. Licences, registers, invoices and written agreements are proof; marble flooring is decor.
Last verified: September 2026. State rules and licensing procedures can change; confirm the current process with your district administration.