Thread: Canada To Toughen Marriage Rules

Canada has really toughened immigration rules and enforced the laws in the last few years. They have deported people who had children in Canada as they do not have an anchor baby policy. The unions had immigration round up illegals who were working construction jobs in Toronto. We need to do the same here. Two priorities should be get rid of the anchor baby policy and stop the marriage for green card scams.

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWo ... cle/382935

Immigration lawyers decry rules for overseas marriage

OTTAWA

Greg Hamon chuckles to himself as he recalls how he began his courtship with his wife Sonia by writing letters to her in El Salvador.

"She didn't have a computer and we had friends to help us translate,'' he says.

Their correspondence began in 2003 and after more than two years of translated letters and calls the couple married in 2005.

More than 10 years in age separates the couple, but age didn't matter -- they were in love.

But the marriage was not deemed "genuine'' by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Sonia was unable to join her husband in his hometown of Regina.

Hamon believes it was because of the age gap.

More than 45,000 immigrants enter the country each year as spouses of Canadian citizens.

But an increased focus on marriages of convenience has sparked a government crackdown on bogus nuptials.

The immigration department circulated a letter to the Canadian Bar Association asking for input on changes to rules on overseas marriages. The association will issue its response this week.

The changes are "basic,'' according to the government, but immigration lawyers worry they will exclude even more genuine couples like the Hamons.

"As a lawyer I see lots of refusals that are ill-founded,'' says the couple's former counsel, immigration lawyer David Matas.

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act currently states that a spouse can be denied entry if the union "is not genuine and was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the act.''

"The policy change that's under consideration is to change the 'and' to an 'or', so that either of those criteria would be the basis for consideration as opposed to both of them,'' said Karen Shadd, a government spokesperson.

Matas says the word change is more significant than it appears.

Immigration lawyer David Cohen says the criteria was problematic before the proposed changes, but this could open a can of worms.

"We are putting a lot of power in the hands of the first line immigration officer,'' he says.

Hamon fought for three years for his wife to come to Canada, and Sonia arrived in April.

Anything worth having is worth fighting for!! Congrats on getting your wife there legally (assuming it was legally).

Canada can see what's happening to this country and they want no part of it! Cheers to Canada for being proactive!