Canadian immigration officials to curb bogus marriages

Canada, 14th April: Canada immigration department is going to act tough on immigrants in Canada found guilty of sham marriages.

The move by Canada immigration department is aimed to curb growing incidents of immigrants using arranged marriages to seek entry into Canada fraudulently, revealed the Canadian government. 

However, a common fear among several community groups in Canada is that this might create hurdles in the way of genuine applicants desirous of bringing their spouses in Canada through arranged marriages. Immigrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and other communities are likely to be affected by the latest move by Ottawa, admitted Canada immigration officials. 

On the other hand, Tarak Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress has welcomed the latest announcement by the Canadian immigration department since such marriages need to be regulated strictly as they cause a lot of anxiety and prove problematic for the community as well. Failure of arranged marriages can land the spouse in dangerous situations including domestic abuse. 

To check any incidence of bogus or sham marriages, Canada immigration officials will be involved in making thorough checks of applicants for Canadian visas. 

Kelli Fraser, Federal immigration spokesperson stated in an e-mail that the proposals by the Canada immigration department intend to provide improvised tool for finding non-genuine marriages. 

As part of the investigation process under the proposals by the Canadian immigration, nearly 3,000 files are being probed to find any marriage fraud for seeking Canada immigration by applicants, Mendel Green, an immigration lawyer in Toronto stated. 

Green added that this is being done following a suspicion of abuse of the process of marriage for Canada immigration. Nonetheless, the checks will hurt all innocent applicants suspected of fraud by Canada immigration officials. 

Overseas offices of Immigration Canada receive nearly 30,000 to 40,000 sponsorships for spouses every year. Out of these, nearly 18 percent are rejected by Canada immigration officials following suspicions of being marriages of convenience. 

Immigrants in Canada can get stripped of Canada permanent residency and even get deported if they are found guilty of defrauding the system, Gordon Maynard, Vancouver immigration lawyer stated.