Two cases of alleged marriage frauds are being generalized by a Canadian politician who, in a letter to Immigration Minister Monte Solberg, has reportedly suggested that all marriages between a Canadian and a foreigner should be subject to a certain period of probation.
Liberal Member of Parliament Roy Cullen has reportedly said that only if a couple continues in a marital relationship after the lapse of the probation period should the permanent visa papers be given to the spouse brought from another country.
Many marriages between an Indo-Canadian and an Indian in India are destabilizing the Indo-Canadian community. I suggest that applicants who arrive in Canada be put on probation. If they fail to remain with their spouse for a certain period of time, they would have a hearing in front of a panel of individuals appointed by CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada)," he said.
The Globe and Mail daily on Saturday detailed two cases of alleged marriage frauds -- one arranged through an agency in July, 2002 between Indo-Canadian Mehul Parikh, 27, with Pinal Shah, 21, from Baroda; and the other between Bhavita Shah, an Indo-Canadian with Sub Shah, a Textile Engineer from Baroda.
In his court documents, Parikh alleged that he was a victim of marriage fraud. He reportedly said that when he met his wife for the first time in Baroda, he noticed that she walked with a pronounced limp and that had proved to be correct as she was now on a waiting list for hip-replacement surgery.
In his court documents, Parikh reportedly claimed that he found papers in his wife's files from Baroda Homeopathic Medical Hospital, which said that she had a disease called Avascular Necrosis in her leg for which she had been taking homeopathic medicine. This disease causes bone tissue to die and bones to collapse.
The couple, who have since separated, have detailed their own stories in their court documents with Parikh claiming that he was a victim of a fraud in Baroda and that now he was financially ruined and could not work as he was on depressants.
Another story of alleged marriage fraud concerned Bhavita Shah who reportedly accused her husband Sub Shah of using her to obtain Canadian citizenship. Sub Shah 'vehemently' denied the accusation.
Bhavita Shah came to Canada in 1999 after marrying an Indo-Canadian but the couple separated just a few months after she arrived in Canada due to his problems with alcohol. They divorced in 2003 when Bhavita Shah returned to Baroda in search of a second husband. She married Sub Shah in January 2004 and on her sponsorship, Shah got his immigration papers and traveled to Canada in October 2004.
Their son was born November last year, after which Bhavita went to India to show her healthy son to the family. But when she returned to Canada, Sub Shah had already filed divorce papers.
She then reportedly wrote to the Immigration Department informing them that the marriage was a fraud and asked them to take action against her husband. She wanted the marriage to be annulled and her husband deported.
Marina Wilson, an Immigration Department spokeswoman, was quoted in the Canadian national daily as suggesting that Canadians must take responsibility when marrying abroad to ensure that their spouses' intentions were sincere.
Liberal parliamentarian Cullen said there were numerous cases of marriage fraud in the Indo-Canadian community. His Federal riding of Etobicoke North has a concentration of Indo-Canadian population. So, he took the initiative to ask the Immigration minister to change the Immigration Act to require foreign spouses to be 'on probation' for a time before they became permanent residents.
Under the existing rules, foreign spouses get permanent residency as soon as they land in Canada. The report said that about 15 per cent of the 60,000 Canadians who marry overseas and file international spousal sponsorships had their applications rejected. In case of India, the rejection rate is slated to be as high as 23 per cent.
The latest reports in the Canadian daily are bound to give a reason to Canadian immigration officials in New Delhi and Chandigarh to deny visas to many spouses who marry Canadians and for politicians to take a closer look as to whether there was any merit to Cullen's suggestion.