OTTAWA, ON (NEWS1130) – The federal government plans to revoke Canadian citizenship from 3,100 people it says cheated on the process.

It’s also looking at thousands of others who may have obtained or maintain permanent residence fraudulently.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says cheats will be stripped of citizenship and residence status. He says it’s part of a three-year crackdown on immigration fraud.

So far, he says, federal agencies have removed or denied admittance to more than 600 former permanent residents linked to the fraud investigations.

They have denied about 500 citizenship applications where the applicants did not meet residence requirements and almost 1,800 applicants linked to cheating have simply abandoned their citizenship applications.