It looks as if Citizenship and Immigration is moving aggressively on marriages of convenience.
A marriage to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident is one of the fastest, and many times is the only way for otherwise ineligible immigrants to enter Canada. With such incentives, it's little wonder that marriages of conveience (with the connivance of the sponsor for money or other consideration, or simply a deception upon the sponsor) occur.
Interesting article in the Globe and Mail here.Toronto's Ramesh Maharaj had railed against the decision of an immigration officer refusing his sponsorship in 2005. After a successful appeal of the decision to the Immigration Appeal Division, Mr. Maharaj's spouse arrived in Canada and left him shortly after. Maharaj is now vice-president of the organization 'Canadians Against Marriage Fraud'.
To combat marriage fraud, the department has now deployed 'clandestine' teams in foreign countries. In addition, visa officers are receiving training to ask 'better questions' of apparent couples. Excerpt of Globe and Mail article - which also contains information on the immigration policies of other countries in relation to spousal sponsorships:
The Harper government is deploying clandestine teams to fan out across foreign countries and gather raw information about elaborately staged phony weddings aimed at duping Canadian immigration officials.
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Visa officials are now being trained to ask better questions of couples requesting a life together in Canada. The minister is expected to announce further improvements this fall.
Immigration lawyers and consultants say they have come across everything from phony photos to the conception of children purely so applicants can gain an edge in their bids to live in Canada.
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The group says these marriages have devastating effects, leading to depression, embarrassment and economic hardship. "This is a very huge problem in Canada," Mr. Gill said. "Marriage is the easiest and fastest way to get Canadian immigration, so people are using marriage as a route to get into Canada. ... There are thousands of cases in each and every immigrant community."
Current law allows Canadians to sponsor a spouse for quick entry into Canada, but Mr. Gill's group wants Canadians to lose this privilege for seven years if they are found to have attempted marriages of convenience. It wants a similar ban to apply to foreigners who try to fraudulently marry a Canadian.
Vancouver immigration lawyer Andrew Wlodyka says he has seen it all during his past 17 years in practice, and over the previous seven years in various roles with the Immigration and Refugee Board.
"In many communities it's epidemic," Mr. Wlodyka said. He mentioned India, China and Vietnam as frequent sources of marriage fraud ...
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