Canadians detain Maltese at border over suspicions of overstaying

A Maltese citizen has been refused permission to enter Canada, when border guards suspected that he would overstay his visa.

Nader Kaseb took up residence in Malta in 1997 and became a citizen in 2002. He arrived in Canada on 12 June, carrying about $2,037, a confirmed enrolment in an English-language course in Nova Scotia and a return ticket dated slightly after the end of the course.

But he was told to leave the country by Saturday night because Canada Border Service agents didn’t believe Kaseb and accused him of attempting to live in Canada without a visa to do so. “I swear after I finish the school I will go back to Malta, because I'm coming just for study,” Kaseb told CBC News before the hearing. 

The border agency was concerned because Kaseb hadn't been employed in Malta for about a year and lived in shared accommodations. They also took into account that the friend he had in Nova Scotia was someone he had met in a refugee camp.

He said he arrived in Canada at about 7:30 p.m. and border guards kept him for two or three hours without asking any questions. Then they asked him questions until about 5 a.m.