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Till
fraud do us part
Increasing
numbers of Canadians are falling victim to foreigners who
marry them just to gain entry to the country
CAMERON
AINSWORTH-VINCZE
Navdeep
Dhillon left her Abbotsford, B.C., home in April 2004 along
with her family and travelled to India for a moment she had
long waited for. After selecting a traditional red dress with
her mother and cousins in her native province of Punjab, Dhillon
exchanged wedding vows in an arranged marriage with a man
she had never met but with whom she expected to share the
rest of her life in Canada. Three weeks later she returned
to Abbotsford, where the 29-year-old works as a computer technician,
and submitted a sponsorship application form along with a
$1,525 immigration fee to enable her new husband to gain entry
into Canada.
Five months
later, Dhillon’s husband, who had been recommended by relatives,
arrived. But Dhillon’s dream of a happy marriage quickly turned
into a nightmare when, she says, he told her he had only wed
her to immigrate to Canada, and then disappeared without a
trace. “I can’t really explain what’s happening with me. It’s
really hard to tolerate,” she says. “I never had any suspicion
he was going to do that to me.” But Dhillon’s story is not
a unique one. Increasing numbers of Canadians are becoming
victims of sham marriages, sometimes being financially drained
by the devious acts of foreigners who used them to enter the
country. To make matters worse, Ottawa requires Canadians
to support their spouses for a period of up to three years,
and if a sponsored spouse receives any government income assistance
during that time, their provincial government is permitted
to pursue repayment.
Dhillon
believes her husband, luckily, has a job and has received
no government assistance. But her family put forward a $20,000
dowry, not a penny of which has been returned. Dhillon doesn’t
even know where the man is currently living. Her family has
tried contacting his family in India, but they keep disconnecting
the phone. He has applied for a divorce, but Dhillon wants
the marriage annulled and the government to deport him back
to India. “If it doesn’t do that, it means they are promoting
fraud marriage,” she says. “And people will do it over and
over again.”
To combat
escalating incidents of sham marriages, the Vancouver-based
Canadian Marriage Fraud Victim Society is petitioning Ottawa
to change the Immigration Act to deter foreign spouses from
using Canadians to obtain residency with the objective of
leaving them once they reach Canadian soil. “We are suggesting
they must live together or the divorce shouldn’t be sanctioned
earlier than three years,” says society spokesman Krishan
Bector. “They won’t get married simply to come to Canada,
but for life-long companionship. This is what marriage is
all about.”
New Democrat
MLA Raj Chouhan, however, believes such a change would do
more harm than good. “There is no quick fix,” he says. “It’s
an issue that requires all of us to discuss, debate and then
come up with some kind of suggestion.” There will likely be
people willing to live through three years of a sham marriage
to stay in Canada; Chouhan fears that could force a woman
to suffer a possibly abusive relationship for that time. “She
will be just like a slave,” he says.
To find
a viable solution, Chouhan is spearheading a campaign to inform
communities about fraud marriages, and he is raising the issue
in the provincial legislature. He also believes it is essential
to construct a support network for victims. “We need to let
them know they are not alone,” he says. “Public awareness
is so essential for people to understand.” But Dhillon hopes
some type of legislation is passed soon so that others are
protected from the pain she lives with. “I am really afraid
now. I can’t even trust in men.” - Frommacleans.ca
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