A Kogi State resident who prefers to be identified as Christian Onyedika paid N8 million to Oceanpot Travel and Tours Ltd. for a family visa package in 2022, but he got no job offer and no visa.
Oceanpot, owned by George Potoki, has also refused to honour Onyedika’s application for a refund based on an agreement signed by both parties.
Onyedika wanted to emigrate to Canada with his family, and Oceanpot made him believe it could help him achieve his dream.
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On October 17, 2022, Onyedika formally entered into a contractual relationship with the company. In a document titled “Travel Contract/Agreement”, Onyedika’s wife was the principal applicant while he and their children were dependents.
A screenshot of the first page of the agreement.
The company was expected to complete the process between six and eight months, but this failed. Onyedika told FIJ that he grew impatient because the company kept giving him different new dates, yet it could not show him proof of recorded progress.
“It was meant to be a family package. My wife was the principal applicant while myself and our children were dependents. I paid N7 million, covering the visa process and a job offer,” Onyedika told FIJ.
“The bulk of the money I paid was to secure a job in Canada, and he assured me they have a reliable partner in Canada that facilitates the process. He asked me to pay an additional money to fast-track it which was why I paid an extra N1 million in Sept 2023.”
He also accused the company of a lack of transparency in handling the application.
“They were very secretive about the whole process. Lucky enough, I insisted on the agreement before payment,” Onyedika said.
“They denied me access to the Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada’s portal to follow the process. At one point, they told me that my Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) document was out. I also never saw that. When I requested for some of these documents and access to the portal, they claimed it would violate their privacy policy. So, I was also not given any chance to see all the job documents they claimed to have secured.”
‘APPLICATION REJECTED’
In February, the IRCC rejected the visa application, but Onyedika said he was not aware of this for seven months.
Dated February 5, the IRCC said in its visa rejection letter that the work permit application and supporting documentation failed to meet the expected criteria.
A screenshot of the IRCC’s visa rejection letter.
However, the company only disclosed the rejection to Onyedika on October 26.
“My trust in the process had already dipped with the way they were handling it, but I kept pushing on because of the hope and money invested in it,” he said.
“On October 26, they told me the application had been declined. The rejection documents for my spouse and I were dated February 5. I then started wondering why they kept it away from us for that long.
“No clear reason was given for the gap in communication, I did several follow-ups via calls. It was not as if I was not following up. In fact, there was no month I didn’t call George Potoki, who is the company’s chief executive officer, at least twice.”
‘YOU ARE INELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND’
Relying on a proviso of the agreement earlier mentioned, Onyedika demanded a refund of his money on November 16.
A screenshot of the second page of the agreement indicating a refund clause.
“If my visa didn’t work out, my money paid to secure a job should be refunded. The job offer was supposed to guarantee a visa,” said Onyedika.
The provision Onyedika relied on to request a refund reads:
The company, Oceanport Travel and Tours Limited, while operating under the scope of business communities, will ensure that the applicant’s visa is completed and delivered, otherwise, will make full refund of the applicant’s money. If an ungranted visa error is from our side, ‘no hidden or service charges’ except those listed below: visa application fees/biometric fees, police character report and medical report.
Citing a policy provision, however, the company told the man in a November 28 letter that he was not qualified for a refund.
“Despite our best efforts, we understand that the IRCC visa officer’s decision to refuse your application was based on their assessment under R205(a), citing reasons that are entirely within their discretionary authority and we had rated this kind of decision. As explained in our policies, refusals resulting from ‘rational decisions’ by IRCC visa officers do not qualify for refunds, as these decisions fall outside our control and are not reflective of the quality or thoroughness of the application submitted,” Gbenga D., the company general manager, wrote.
The company’s response to Onyedika’s request for a refund.
“Policy on refunds for refusal due to rational decisions: According to Section (3.1.h. the balance due; under paragraph iv) of our company policies, no refunds will be issued in cases where visa refusals are based on reasons deemed rational and within the scope of IRCC’s discretionary powers. This policy applies to your case, as the refusal was based on IRCC’s determination that the principal application (PA) did not meet specific requirements under R205(a).”
Except for an inactive Facebook page, the company’s digital footprint was sketchy. The website address contained in its official letterhead was unreachable and Google searches failed to produce useful results. The said policy on refunds appeared to be inaccessible publicly.
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Onyedika told FIJ that he had no knowledge of the said policy either. “The only policy or document I have or seen is the agreement. They never told me there was any other policy somewhere aside from the terms and conditions stated in the agreement my wife signed with them,” he said.
FATOKI, OCEANPOT FAIL TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS
FIJ presented all the issues in this story to the company’s CEO in December and he promised to respond within days. However, he responded via WhatsApp, insisting that there must be a formal letter before he would respond. FIJ phoned him, sent a text and WhatsApp chats and sent an email asking for his response.
George Potoki, the company’s CEO.
“Okay. I have read your messages and as I told you on the phone, I may not be able to reply when I check your messages on WhatsApp until Monday or Tuesday next [week], and as I said, it depends on the context and content of the messages that will tell us what to say,” Fatoki wrote.
Fatoki, however, said the modes of reaching out to him and the company were improper. So, they would not respond to the substance of the inquiry.
“Please, this was not properly done! You can write to us officially, and we will reply to you in that manner. We will notify our legal team after your official communication for our response,” he said.
“I would have loved you to be properly informed about our operations through the standard guidelines of our policy so that there should not be more damages on the complainant and Foundation for Investigation Journalism (FIJ).”
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When a reminder for his response was sent, Fatoki confirmed the delivery of an email FIJ sent to his company on but insisted that the inquiry would not get a deserved response unless written on official letterhead.
“The administration [officer] told me yesterday that she saw your email. She acknowledged the email but it was not properly done. Let me make it clear to you: write to us through a personal open letter and attach it to your company’s letterhead.”
The post George Potoki’s Oceanpot Travel Gets Kogi Resident No Canadian Visa, Job Offer or N8m Refund appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.