Canada immigration eyes arranged marriages

The common fear among Canadians is that such rules, if implemented by Canada immigration department CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) will result in higher scrutiny of arranged marriages.

Despite repeated assurances by the Canadian government officials that such rules will be meant to crackdown on those migrants who use marriages of convenience to seek entry into Canada, the common notion among various members of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and other South Asian communities is that many genuine candidates will get affected.

Arranged marriage is a tradition commonly followed by South Asian people to stay in touch with their ancestral culture. A Large number of people belonging to the above named communities bring their spouses to Canada by resorting to arranged marriages. Countries where arranged marriages are the common notion include Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.

Although, every Canadian citizen has a right to bring his or her spouse in Canada through an offer of sponsorship for Canadian citizenship, but, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is of the view that few people are abusing their right as a Canadian citizen by using arranging sham marriages.

Hence, the proposed changes to the Canada immigration laws concerning arranged marriages will make it difficult to get Canadian visas for those who are suspected to be involved in a marriage of convenience.

The proposed amendments in the Canada immigration rules will come into effect within a span of 18 months, an official spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada revealed.

According to chair of the Canadian Migration Institute, Imran Qayyum, who is the representative of nearly 1,750 immigration lawyers and immigration consultants in Canada feels that such proposals would unnecessarily increase woes of many genuine couples involved in arranged marriages.

The reason pointed out by Qayyum is that since there is no actual meeting between such couples till they get married, so, the Canada
immigration officials would assume that the sole reason of marriage was to get Canada immigration. This could result in rejection of Canada visas of many genuine applicants.

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