Canada's Five-Year Sponsorship Bar To Crack Down On Marriage Fraud

[Art2ro]

http://www.canada.co...3009/story.htmlBY TOBI COHEN, POSTMEDIA NEWS MARCH 2, 2012OTTAWA - A five-year sponsorship bar to crack down on bogus marriages of convenience falls short of addressing the real problem, critics said Friday, shortly after Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the regulatory change.Starting immediately, Kenney said spouses will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status before they can sponsor a new partner.The move is meant to prevent people from fraudulently marrying Canadians for the purposes of immigration only to leave them and then sponsor a new partner while their Canadian spouse is still financially responsible for them for three years.``I held town hall meetings across the country to hear from victims of marriage fraud,'' said Kenney, who made the announcement in Brampton, Ont., just west of Toronto.``In addition to the heartbreak and pain that came from being lied to and deceived, these people were angry. They felt they had been used as a way to get to Canada. We're taking action because immigration to Canada should not be built upon deceit.''NDP immigration critic Don Davies, however, said the new rule fails address those cases in which Canadian citizens are complicit in these bogus marriages.Canada should be investing more resources into overseas immigration bureaus that vet applicants before they come to Canada in order to stop marriage fraud before it occurs, Davies said.``Of all the problems in the immigration system - we have a backlog of a million, wait times are appalling, we have hundreds of thousands of families in this country who are unable to sponsor their parents because there's a freeze . . . and Minister Kenney thinks the most important thing to legislate on is the relatively small number of people who are engaged in marriages of convenience. I don't think that that's where the focus of immigration reform should be,'' he said.``Where I would put my focus is on prevention rather than the defeatist position of the minister which is simply to ramp up penalties after the problem has occurred and after the pain has been caused.''That said, Davies fears the government will actually cut resources for overseas missions by five to 10 per cent as part of austerity measures being taken by all departments in a bid to erase the federal deficit by 2015.Canadians will find out more when the budget is tabled on March 29.The regulatory change comes less than two years after the Conservatives promised to tackle marriage fraud. In the fall of 2010, the government held online consultations to gather public opinion and ideas on how to address the issue.The idea of a five-year sponsorship bar was proposed in the Canada Gazette last April and was followed by a 30-day public comment period.It also comes just weeks after outspoken Ottawa victim Lainie Towell's ex-husband was, after a three-year fight, finally deported to his native Guinea after walking out on her just three weeks after they exchanged vows.Towell, a performance artist who made national headlines when she donned a wedding gown, strapped a red door to her back and marched on Parliament Hill to draw attention to the issue of marriage fraud, welcomed the announcement but also raised concerns about manpower shortages within the department.The government, she suggested, can pass all the laws and regulations it wants, but if there aren't enough staff around to answer people's complaints and conduct investigations, they're not a lot of good.The measure officially came into force on Friday and is just one of several actions the government is considering.Public consultations will begin in the coming weeks on a proposed conditional permanent-residence provision that would deter people in newer relationships from attempting to gain quick entry to Canada when they have no plans to remain with their sponsoring partner.According to the proposal first published in the Canada Gazette last spring, the sponsored partner in a marriage or common-law relationship of less than two years would be subject to a conditional two-year period of permanent residence.The measure would bring Canada in line with other countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, which have similar policies.It's not clear exactly how many cases of marriage fraud occur every year in Canada, but victims' groups and immigration lawyers have said it's in the thousands.

[i am bob]

Once again my government is trying hard to make themselves sound good but don't do what is needed to fix the problem... It's like asking a person who cannot see what their favourite colour crayon is to colour with and then giving them a broken pencil... And you wonder why I want to move to the Philippines...!

[Dave Hounddriver]

don't do what is needed to fix the problem

Not sure I understand that point of view. I see it as one of the few times that they did exactly what needed to be done to fix the problem. Can you elaborate?

Starting immediately, Kenney said spouses will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status before they can sponsor a new partner. The move is meant to prevent people from fraudulently marrying Canadians for the purposes of immigration only to leave them and then sponsor a new partner while their Canadian spouse is still financially responsible for them for three years.

[i am bob]

don't do what is needed to fix the problem

Not sure I understand that point of view. I see it as one of the few times that they did exactly what needed to be done to fix the problem. Can you elaborate?

Starting immediately, Kenney said spouses will have to wait five years from the day they are granted permanent residence status before they can sponsor a new partner. The move is meant to prevent people from fraudulently marrying Canadians for the purposes of immigration only to leave them and then sponsor a new partner while their Canadian spouse is still financially responsible for them for three years.

This is such a minuscule part of the problem. The bigger issue is being able to bring in your wife / common-law wife / step-children. The government is talking about stopping the sponsorship but they just opened up a much larger group of who is able to immigrate to Canada without sponsorship - in other words, most of the people who are doing the fraudulent sponsoring are also now able to come in legally. The big problem just getting the visa now to get your non-fraudulent wife into the country because, not only are there insufficient people employed doing the processing, but they are now talking about reducing this number and using the 5 year bar as the reason. Which would you prefer? Having people properly processed (including the interviews in their home country) in a more reasonable time than the present 1 year plus wait to find out if accepted and which should catch the fraudulent sponsorships or telling someone they have to wait 5 years before then can sponsor someone.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Which would you prefer? Having people properly processed (including the interviews in their home country) in a more reasonable time than the present 1 year plus wait to find out if accepted and which should catch the fraudulent sponsorships or telling someone they have to wait 5 years before then can sponsor someone.

Much better explanation, thank you. Now I am glad I live in the Philippines with no plan to repatriate.

[i am bob]

Which would you prefer? Having people properly processed (including the interviews in their home country) in a more reasonable time than the present 1 year plus wait to find out if accepted and which should catch the fraudulent sponsorships or telling someone they have to wait 5 years before then can sponsor someone.

Much better explanation, thank you. Now I am glad I live in the Philippines with no plan to repatriate.

Now you're just trying to make me jealous... and it's working!!!Ok now Bob, just keep repeating... soon.... soon.... soon... soon.... soon...

[scianna54]

Canada is always good in following menstruating women's mood swings.

[i am bob]

Canada is always good in following menstruating women's mood swings.

Kind of mean, don't you think?

[scianna54]

Maybe mean, just my experience with C immigration as well as the community I live in (which is dominated by women like my ex who just fits so perfectly in said category).

[i am bob]

Maybe mean, just my experience with C immigration as well as the community I live in (which is dominated by women like my ex who just fits so perfectly in said category).

I have a credo I try to live by...If you don't like it, look for a way to try and fix it!If it can't be fixed, scrap it and find something better!Anything else is just a waste!My own personal observations on Canada and it's people are generally great - including the many people who have newly immigrated to Canada regardless of creed, nationality or religion. But I do disagree with some of the things that are happening lately - including what the government is proposing as their cure for Immigration issues. That's the rub - the parts I object to all starts with that capital P - Politics. Next election and things will be different one way or the other. But I won't be here for that - not because I don't love my country - but because my options are better somewhere else. As is the woman who means the world to me. This is where my credo comes in... I can't fix what I want (the woman I love and warm weather through the entire year) and I am going to where I can change from what I have now (alone and cold). Will I continue to object to policies I don't agree with? Of course! And for both places! But I won't paint the entire country black just because I have an issue with someone or a small group of people.. That's like saying I don't like the Philippines because there's a pot hole in the road that wasn't fixed by the people who are suppose to fix them! And, from what I hear, there's quite often more pot holes than road - but I still know I'm going to love the Philippines!!! Just like I love Canada...