29yo man detained after claiming to be 16

  • 23/04/2016
(File)
(File)

A South Sudanese high school student in Canada has been detained and faces possible deportation after he was found to be a 29-year-old man instead of the teenager he claimed to be, authorities say.

Jonathan Nicola said he was 16 when he came to Canada late last year on a student visa, and his passport showed him to be of that age, said the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board.

But a fingerprint scan conducted "recently" for a US visa application found he once applied for the visa using the birth year of 1986, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.

According to the immigration board, the border agency said 1986 is Nicola's true birth year in its submission to the board.

Board spokeswoman Anna Pape said in a statement Nicola has been in custody since April 15.

Reuters