Fake Marriages

Q: I am a Canadian citizen whose daughter is thinking of marrying a wonderful man overseas. I have been reading the recent reports about fake marriages. I know the immigration department can deny a sponsorship and/or deport a Canadian citizen’s wife but how often does this happen? Are these stories embellished? Clearly if someone is healthy and has no criminal record they cannot be denied. I am very worried for my daughter.

A: Like many things, the focus is sometimes on the bad apples and not the thousands of persons who successfully sponsor their wife or husband. There is an element of fraud that Citizenship and Immigration Canada must deal with and their concerns are valid. Sometimes though real sponsorships are denied for any number of reasons, including filing a weak application, poor decision making, cultural misgivings or stereotyping and factual misunderstandings to list a few. At the heart of the issue is not a spouse’s health or is this a good person but is this a real marriage. Spouses can still be deported if they have no status in Canada as a sponsorship application in the system does not preclude someone from being deported depending on the time of the filing of the application. As a safeguard, there are appeals to the Immigration Appeal Division and in certain cases (in land applications) to the Federal Court. Although no system is perfect for the most part it works fairly well. Good luck!