Gurmukh Singh

Toronto: With cases of foreigners coming to Canada through marriages of convenience and then dumping their partners piling up, the Canadian government has reportedly sent secret squads to many countries to collect information on these weddings to stop this trend.

Immigrant communities, including Indo-Canadians, which seek matrimonial alliances in their native countries, have been the major victims of such marriages.

The Globe and Mail, which is Canada's most respected daily, reported on Wednesday that the department of citizenship and immigration has sent teams to many countries.

Without identifying the target countries of these wedding spies, government sources said they will collect information about fake marriages where photo shoots are enacted to get a visa, and send it to Canadian visa offices in those countries.

Visa officials are also being trained to ask more searching questions of the couples seeking a life together in Canada, the paper said.

Under the current immigration system, someone in India can come to this country six months after marrying a Canadian, while others wait up to six years.

Worse, unlike countries like Australia where it is mandatory for a newly arrived spouse to spend at least two years with his or her partner to be eligible for permanent residency, Canada grants them this status immediately on arrival.

Not surprisingly, there have been cases where newly arrived brides, particularly from Punjab, have dumped their husbands on landing and disappeared from the airport.

Since most of these fraudulent marriages are arranged in Punjab, India is definitely under the scanner of these wedding squads.

According to the newspaper, Canadian immigration minister Diane Finley has sought cooperation from the provincial government “to warn and remind Canadians (read Indo-Canadians) and they will be on the hook financially if their new husbands or wives immediately leave them and apply for social assistance”

Source : IANS