Monday, October 1, 2007

Immigration Marriage Fraud

Canada's Department of Immigration is not doing its job. Immigration marriage fraud is not just a movie plot, is happens in reality to many Canadians.

When a Canadian citizen marries a foreign resident, they must sponsor their new spouse (and children) for three to ten years and pay their plane ticket(s) over here. Unfortunately, some are abandoned by their new spouse and family once a permanent resident card is received, which unlike the U.S. with a mandatory three year waiting period including visits to ensure legitimacy, is issued almost immediately upon arrival with no visits or investigations. The Canadian sponsors are oblivious to the scam being pulled over on them because they truly believe they are in love. To make matters worse, once the immigrant has their permanent residency card and leaves their sponsor, this sponsor is still responsible for supporting them for three to ten years. If the immigrant and their children access the welfare system, the heart-broken sponsor has to pay Canada back for all welfare received. Immigration fraud is illegal in this country, but unfortunately it is not enforced. Why is that? I encourage you to learn more about immigration marriage fraud in Canada here.


Is inadequate staffing within the immigration department to blame? Changes must be made to ensure that immigration laws are enforced, especially when Canadian citizens are so obviously victimized. In many ways, our system allows immigration marriage fraud to happen. I find it hard to believe that Canada's immigration department is on the right track.

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