![]() One proposal is to introduce a provisional visa valid for two years for new spouses. “Until it happens to you, you'll never know how it hurts.” Yes, I am still hung up about it,” he said. Seven years after she disappeared, he’s still very bitter. No claim has yet been made on him but Vanderhorst, who is still angry about how immigration handled his case, is on the hook until 2013. In the next couple of years, he discovered that she had obtained permanent residency and was living on welfare in Montreal. He complained to immigration and border services numerous times that Pompa had broken the terms of sponsorship, which specified the couple had to marry within 90 days. In three weeks, she disappeared, said Vanderhorst, now 48. Four years later, he sponsored her to Canada as his fiancée. The Amherstburg, Ont.-native met Yennis Escobar Pompa in Cuba in 1999. “Imagine being asked to pay money for a fiancée who has abandoned you?” said Jeff Vanderhorst. In some cases, the government has asked sponsors to cough up as much as $100,000. The sponsorship period was 10 years but it was reduced to three years a couple of years ago. That means if the spouse ends up on government assistance, the sponsor must repay the government and risks being denied future sponsorships.Įven if they divorce, the Canadian sponsor remains financially obligated if the spouse goes on welfare. it can never be the same again for us.”Ībandoned spouses are angry about what happened to them but they also worry they could be on the hook for thousands of dollars.įraudulent marriage or not, a Canadian sponsor remains obligated financially to a foreign spouse for up to three years under the terms of sponsorship. foreigners have been defrauding us for years but what has the government done? Nothing,” said Benet, whose family is still scarred by what happened years ago. The organization launched a class-action lawsuit in 2009 against the federal government for failing to investigate and deport foreigners who trick Canadians into marriages of convenience.Īt least 70 per cent of the cases are from South Asia, he said. The Toronto-based non-profit organization, which boasts almost 200 members across Canada, came into being after Benet’s son, Saranjeet Benet, was allegedly abandoned by his wife days after she arrived in Canada from India. But there are no statistics on how many people are deported because of “misrepresentation,” she added. Last year, CBSA deported 14,762 people, said Patrizia Giolti, spokesperson for the agency. There are about 350 immigration enforcement officers across Canada. Their main focus is on issues of national security.ĬBSA has eight officers to investigate bad-faith marriages. “It is tough to prove bad faith by a sponsored partner.”Ī bad-faith relationship must meet two criteria - that it is not genuine and that it was entered into to obtain immigration status.ĬIC and Canada Border Services Agency do investigate immigration-related fraud but fraudulent marriages aren’t really a priority. “These are complicated cases,” said Doug Kellam, an immigration spokesman. In 2009, nearly 45,000 people immigrated to Canada as spouses. Citizenship and Immigration Canada acknowledges roughly 1,000 such cases are reported annually. Hundreds of fraudulent marriages take place every year. “The only people getting hurt are Canadians - in their hearts and their wallets,” he said. “The problem knows no colour, no language.” “It’s one of the biggest challenges for immigration,” said Richard Kurland, Vancouver-based veteran immigration policy analyst and immigration lawyer. Those who marry fraudulently are rarely deported. That’s how easy it is.Īnd the consequences? Almost none. The entire ugly process can be completed in a matter of months. Once in Canada, all she needs to do to begin her new life is abandon him. Once married, she is granted permanent resident status. She has some family there.Īnd she knows how to get there with no long wait and a minimum of paperwork: All she has to do is find a Canadian to marry her. She lives in northern India and dreams of moving to a city called Toronto. ![]()
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