Countries like Australia and England require that a sponsored person live with their spouse for three years before being given permanent resident status, which is what a Toronto-area MP said he’d like to see implemented in Canada to help prevent marriage fraud.

Bramalea-Gore-Malton Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi said that within his riding alone, he hears of between two and three instances each month of spousal sponsorship where once the spouse comes to Canada, they disappear.

The case of Ashpreet Badwal, a resident of Toronto, has been published in several different media outlets over the past few days. Badwal met her husband online, flew to India to marry him and tried to sponsor him, but was rejected on the grounds that it was suspected to be fraudulent. She appealed and won, granting her husband permanent residence. But when she went to pick him up at the airport, he never showed and called her to tell her he wasn’t meeting her.

Because Badwal sponsored her husband, she is also legally responsible for him for three years.

The MP has sent a letter to Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney asking for the husband to be deported immediately.

Immigration fraud through marriage, or marriages of convenience (MOC) , most importantly make it even more difficult for those who are trying to sponsor their loved ones to come to Canada after much time apart for legitimate reasons.

Whether these proposed changes do take place, the current reality is that Visa Officers stationed at Canadian Embassies take an increasingly strict approach to processing spousal sponsorship applications. For a successful application, it is essential to have a well documented application package and for the applicant to perform well at his or her interview overseas–otherwise you will likely find yourself in appeals court.

We  recently blogged about the Government of Canada proposing new regulations to become tougher on marriages or adoptions of “convenience” for immigration purposes. Now, Canadian immigration officials have released information saying that arranged marriages will be under increased scrutiny, primarily affecting the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities as well as some Chinese communities.

However, the government has assured that only fraudulent arranged marriages for immigration purposes will be targeted by the more thorough checks and legitimate immigration applications will not be affected.

Tarek Fatah, of the Muslim Canadian Congress said, “we welcome this move to enforce the policy, the Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” to the Toronto Sun after the news was announced.

The high frequency of abuse with regards to the marriage process for Canadian immigration casts a high amount of suspicion on those who are immigrating legitimately. The government intends to conduct more background checks and will have access to tools that will protect the process and the system’s integrity. Most of the people subject to the increased scrutiny will be those who arrive to immigrate right after a marriage.

Meanwhile, Citisenship and Immigration Canada has stated that annually almost 10,000 Canadians marry people from other countries who already live in Canada, and around 8 to 10 per cent of these permanent residence applications are rejected. Alternatively, over 60,000 Canadians mary overseas and file inernational spousal sponsorships,15 per cent of which are rejected.

In Canada, the spouse generally can receive landed status without conditions, whereas in the United States there is sometimes requirement for the two to live together for a minimum period of a few years for before the spouse can get permanent residence

We will see how this all plays out. The concern is that Canada Immigration will apply an unnecessarily  level of scrutiny to spousal sponsorships for arrange marriages which in some cultures is a totally legitimate process of marriage.

Valentine’s Day just passed, and for some couples, it might be difficult to find the time to spend together. Sometimes it’s because of work, conflicting schedules or even a shared disdain for the holiday. However, one can’t think of any good reason for a pair of young newlyweds not being able to spend to holiday together – unless they work at the United States and Canada border.

Democrat and Chronicle told the story this week of a couple, Matt and Heather Lopresto. Mr. Lopresto is from the United States, and Mrs. Lopresto is from Hamilton, Ontario – a Canadian citizen. They met in school in 2005 and hit it off, marrying recently in Canada.

They were under the notion that once married, Mrs. Lopresto would be able to gain United States permanent residence (Green Card) easily and be able to live with her husband in the United States. All was well and good, with back and forth visits until the day before their wedding in Canada. Mr. Lopresto was turned away at the US border when he said “marriage” was his reason for visiting. He had to scramble quickly to prove he had a job in the United States, a decent income and a place to live as well as that he definitely planned to return home – all on the day before his wedding. More border issues arose when each attempted to cross into the US again, albeit separately. Matt was told at the border that he could be charged with smuggling an illegal alien if he lived with his wife at home in the United States, and again he had to prove their relationship as legitimate. Their passports are flagged, and they are questioned every time they cross over the border, together or not.

Reasonably, the governments of both countries would want to ensure the marriage is legitimate. However, the couple was unaware of the paperwork, fees and required procedures for Mrs. Lopresto to become a legal resident of the United States.

Situations like this are why something as simple as an international romance can become a tangled immigration legal matter. At our office we often enconter such mishaps and  unfortunatly, the saying “love is blind”  oftten applies to the immigraton context.

Matt and Heather would have been well served to have consulted with an immigration lawyer, in order to avoid their frustrations at the US/Canada border. They would have been fully aware of what they needed to file a US Spousal Petition to have Mrs. Lopresto well on her way to becoming a legal resident of the United States.

I applied for a Canadian Immigration almost a year ago as a same sex couple with my partner as my sponsor. The attorney’s office asked for a lot of things that we considered to be personal (photos, cards, emails, letters,etc) and assured us all this was necessary to establish the truth in the relationship…at times we thought there was nothing more they could ask for..it has taken almost a year but I am happy to say that this week I received in my hand my passport with my Canadian Permanent Residence Visa inserted.

All along the way we dealt with several folks at Niren and Associates, but we are most happy with Johanna Karatsoreos…she made sure that we were kept informed of any new developments in our case, and did not hesitate to provide us with answers to any questions that we had. Her professionalism and dedication to the client made us comfortable with the entire process. And to the rest of the folks at Niren and Associates, we appreciate all your hard work and dedication in making our dream become a reality.

Sincerely Robbie H.

Mary,

I meant to get back to you sooner.  We did go to the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo on Tuesday and all went well.  We came back the same day, landed in Canada as immigrants with no problems.  I have even managed to get a drivers license, applied for an OHIP card and Canadian Social Insurance Number (SIN).

Thanks so much for all your help.  We are so delighted by how smoothly and quickly this all went.

-Janine

Hello Mr. Niren,

I would like your opinion on my sponsorship. My husband was refused because of my previous marriage. Canada Immigration jumped to the conclusion that my second marriage is not bona fide because of my previous marriage was brief . I have reapply with more proof that my marriage is genuine. What do you think will happen? Do you think I should have appealed the case?

Thank you

Lilian

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Having a previous marriage is not itself enough for a Visa Officer to conclude that your current marriage is not genuine resulting in a refusal. In your Sponsorship Application you must have not properly documented your relationship. When there is a refusal in such circumstances, the usual course of action would be to appeal the decision to the IAD within 30 days of notification of refusal. At the IAD you can show though additional documents and testimony, that your case has merit. If you are too late in filing the appeal, you can re-apply but make sure in your application, you address the concerns of the first refusal and try to get access to the computer notes regarding your case.