By KEN HERARBlack PressSep 05 2006
Canada is known to have one of the best immigration models in the world because of its openness and fairness when dealing with applicants from abroad. Is the system working or does it need overhauling? The reports of fraudulent marriages have created red flags, and Canadians are asking for tighter regulations. Here's a typical scenario: A Canadian goes abroad and gets married and when their future partner arrives on Canadian soil the marriage dissolves. The issue of enforcement is difficult because the issue of trust is placed in the hands of people who are building a future together. When one partner turns love into opportunity it creates a mess in the system. I know the system can work because I have family and friends who have come through the immigration process who make a valuable contribution to Canada. There is a heavy burden placed on the sponsor if things don't work out as planned. Speaking with a few disenchanted people who have lived through this unfortunate circumstance supporting the person up to three years is an unjust policy that needs government reviewing. If individuals choose to go on government assistance the sponsor is fitted with the bill. A Vancouver-based Canadian Marriage Fraud Victim Society is petitioning Ottawa to change the policy if marriages fails before three years that the immigrants be deported back to their country of origin. I totally agree. We don't want foreigners going underground. Many countries have adopted such a policy like United States, Britain Australia and New Zealand. However, some Canadian politicians disagree stating this is not the Canadian way. Abbotsford MP Ed Fast said, "we had approximately 800,000 immigration applications in process at the time of the 2005 election. At the same time, approximately 35,000 illegal residents disappeared into the woodwork. When you combine this with the problem of "marriages of convenience" and the work necessary to determine the legitimacy of spousal re-unification applications, you can see that we have significant problems to overcome." Fast said it is "also clear that the large majority of immigration and visa applications are honest and trustworthy. Unfortunately, the bad apples in the barrel have made it much more difficult for both government staff who process these applications, and the people who patiently wait in line to have their applications processed." "Staff are conducting more rigorous investigations of marriage-related applications, and where red flags appear, applicants will likely be rejected. Ultimately, the person best able to judge the intentions of the applicant spouse is the sponsoring spouse." Fast's office is dealing with a file of an individual who is going abroad to get married for the third time. Unfortunately, most of these cases are occurring from the region of Punjab, India. Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission MP Randy Kamp said: "Perhaps the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration should review the Immigration Act to determine whether the legislation should be amended to include additional deterrents to discourage applicants from engaging in marriages of convenience in order to obtain legal status in Canada. While the issues surrounding marriage and immigration are complex, that should not prevent us from trying to improve the system in order to protect innocent victims of immigration fraud." With all the heightened security and red flags appearing, visa applicants are being screened much more carefully. If there is any doubt by immigration officials that a person may not return to their country of origin after their visit they will declined entry into Canada. Fast explains that when someone applies for a visa, the processing officer takes into account many considerations, chief of which is whether the individual is likely to return to his/her home country. "In determining eligibility for a visa, they will look at the relationship between the sponsor and the applicant, the financial circumstances and purpose of the visit." Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Randy Hawes disagrees with this over screening of visa applicants. He said that over the past five years "my office has written letters of reference on many occasions for Indo-Canadian Mission residents who have family attempting to visit from India. They have been declined visitor's visas in the Canadian Consulate offices in India." "We have experienced fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters in India who have been denied permission to attend weddings or funerals in Canada because someone in the Consulate seems to believe there is a risk that they will not return to India at the expiration of their visa. In many cases the screening officers within the Canadian High Commissioner's office ignore the guarantees put forward by long time and respected community members and the reference letters written to support the visa application." Hawes said, "We have been informed that there have been some incidences of visitors who have not returned and have disappeared within Canada. Based on the behaviour of a few, we seem to have developed a national policy to apply against the many. We have had absolutely no similar requests for reference letters from Caucasian residents. It appears that Canadian consulates in other parts of the world do not see the same risks and screening is somehow much less stringent. It is difficult to conclude that the current policy is based upon anything but racial prejudice." Along with these concerns the Canadian immigration system has changed dramatically over the decades from European to Asian markets which has left some Canadians unhappy. For example, in 1968, the top four countries that had the highest number of citizens come to Canada were: United Kingdom, Italy, United States and Germany have been replaced. In 2001 China, India, Pakistan and Philippines topped the list. Regardless, where you are from immigration makes Canada strong. Safeguards need to be in place to protect Canadians from foreigners who want to abuse the system. The current system fails to do so. KenHerar@yahoo.ca
KenHerar@gmail.com
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