The continuing battle over marriage fraud, particularly originating from countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Guyana and others, appears to have reached a bolling point. A class action law suit has been field against Citizenship and Immigration Canada over its failure to stop marriage fraud. While it remains to be seen whether this law suit only seeks compensation for what is essentially a private arrangement between the parties, or if it is motivated by a genuine desire to prompt politicians who have so far refused to act, to enact measures to police the system better, I find it somewhat ironic that people now complain aout marriage fraud, when it is common folklore in many ethnic communities that marriage fraud is rampant, and marrying a resident or citizen of Canada is a ticket out of poverty in developing nations. Also, those same groups often lobby the government strenuously to force immigration authorities to expedite spousal sponsorship applications, often complaining that "it takes too long" to bring a spouse to Canada, a myth perpetuated by lack of good legal advice. Over the last few years, average processing times ranged anywhere from five to twelve months, depending on the country of origin, and spousal interviews are routinely , if not always waived. This is what makes spousal sponsorships so attractive to fraudsters: their speed and extremely high chances of success.
I think it is time that we in Canada stop being so naive and return to the practice of interviewing spouses from many countries of the world where marriage fraud is suspected. In addition, I agree with the contention that spousal visas should be conditional upon a minimum marriage duration, and would also add that we should no longer allow people to land as "single" and immediately tun around to "go back home" to get married and bring a spouse, without having contributed to Canada for a minimum period of time, paid taxes and worked in Canada to ensure that they do not take advantage of the system. The current system is a recipe for disaster, as more and more people use it to their advantage, to the detriment of society at large.
Marriage Fraud Targeted
Lawsuit Filed; Group seeks immigration changes
John Ivison, National Post
Reena Bhandari, a psychiatric nurse from Ottawa, feels she's been let down by Canada's immigration system.
She married an Indian widower called Manjeet Singh Bagga in August, 2001, after meeting him through a Sikh match-making Web site. Mr. Bagga and his daughter from his previous marriage arrived in Canada the following July, having been sponsored by Ms. Bhandari. But Ms. Bhandari said it was a marriage of convenience for Mr. Bagga, who was only interested in her money and the opportunity to gain Canadian citizenship.
She is part of a 100-member class-action lawsuit filed by an organization called Canadians Against Immigration Fraud that has been lodged against the federal government for failing to deport foreigners who misrepresent themselves and lure Canadians into marriage.
A lawyer for the case that has commenced at Federal Court, Julie Taub, wants the government to tighten up the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act so that it more closely mirrors laws in countries such as Australia and the United States. In Canada, there are no conditions that state the spouses even have to live together, while in other countries the authorities follow up to see if the marriage is genuine.
In Australia, permanent visas are not issued until a waiting period of two years and the spouses have to have been in a relationship for a year before lodging an application. The United States issues conditional permanent residence status, which requires spouses to prove that they did not get married to evade immigration laws after a two-year period. "It highlights a problem in the legislation that would be so easy to remedy to prevent a non-stop infusion of fraudsters," said Ms. Taub.
The government claims in its defence that it has 600 files involving immigration fraud and only a limited number of officers to process them.
In Ms. Bhandari's case, the marriage quickly descended into acrimony -- "I felt like I was being used as a bank machine. He was not interested in me -- money was his only priority," she said. The relationship eventually ended in April 2004, when Mr. Bagga said he had to return to India to deal with a court case. He had told Ms. Bhandari that his first wife had died in a car accident but she said she subsequently found Indian court papers that showed Mr. Bagga and three members of his family were charged, and later acquitted, of attacking his wife with acid, causing injuries from which she died.
Mr. Bagga said that he and his family were all cleared after a thorough investigation. "There was no conviction," he said late last week from Ottawa. However, Ms. Bhandari said that Mr. Bagga did not disclose that there were charges pending against him when he applied for permanent resident status, answering "no" to the question that asked him if he'd been charged with any crime in any country.
Ms. Bhandari said she tried to bring this to the attention of the Immigration department before Mr. Bagga was able to get full Canadian citizenship but that her efforts were ignored.
Mr. Bagga said Ms. Bhandari filled in the form for him. "I wasn't used to filling in these forms and so signed whatever she put in," he said. He denied that he had entered into the marriage in bad faith just to get into Canada. "My marriage was never a fraud. I never wanted to come here--it was her idea. I had a good life and good job in India," he said.
The two have divorced. Mr. Bagga has since been granted Canadian citizenship.
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