How people use marriage as a “Free Pass” to immigration

The desire to go immigrate to a foreign country has increased so much among Punjabis that would be immigrants are doing everything they can to leave their country and live anywhere else but India. In fact, some have reached foreign countries through such extreme methods as human trafficking, or willfully violating immigration laws. The lineup of those seeking to live abroad by marrying a foreign national seems to be growing longer recently, making this method of immigration very popular these days.

 Immigrations laws are strict in countries like England and America, making it difficult for false bridegrooms to enter these countries successfully. This is because in these countries if a cheat is caught, they are sent back. For example, people coming to America through marriage are first given a temporary two-year green card, which can be extended for up to 10 years. A person becomes a permanent resident only upon completion of this period. But such a marriage invariably leads to a free pass in Canada, perhaps one of the few countries that grant newlywed quick permanent resident status. This has contributed to making Canada a favorite destination for those using the marriage of convenience as a strategy to enter Canada.

 Think my position is a bit extreme? There is the case of Brampton resident Saranjit Kaur Sandhu, who tried to bring her husband Kulwinder Singh Sangha to Canadian in 2008. In this case, Immigration officials did not believe her marriage to be genuine, even given the fact the couple sported a 6-year-old daughter. The application was denied three times. When immigration looked at her past, it turns out she came to Canada in 2005 as a sponsored bride to her first Canadian husband. After just 6 months living together she divorced him claiming, “he became abusive towards me and I could not take the suffering any longer” according to her affidavit filed with the court.

 There has also been a well-publicized recent case where a young man who fulfilled his dream of reaching Canada through marrying a Canadian handicapped woman and left her at the airport itself after reaching Canada. In the same way, another girl who reached Canada after marrying a Canadian man went missing after living with her in-laws for just a few days.

 It seems our immigration department is at times unable to tell the difference between true and false marriages. Consequently, genuine cases are affected. The rise in fake marriages has many Punjabi Community Organizations concerned about this issue enough to pressure the federal government to make changes in immigration laws to prevent such fraud, including a provision that those found guilty of entering into a marriage of convenience be immediately deported. It is the responsibility of our community to raise our voice against these frauds who reach Canada by working around our laws.

 End of the day it’s not the system, it’s us who misuse the system by hook or the crock to fulfill our dreams so you can’t finger point the system.