Fake Marriage Canada – Sham Marriage for Immigration Purposes
Rafiq is a Lebanese national. Like many Middle Eastern citizens, he believes Canada is a great country to make your dreams a reality. However, Rafiq’s efforts to immigrate to Canada have failed so far. One of his friends advised him to find a wife in Canada. Rafiq’s friend suggested marriage would be the best option. Of course, he must find a fake wife for a sham marriage. Therefore, he wonders if this is even doable. What are the consequences of a fake marriage?
Table of contents
Family reunification
One of the three major immigration options to Canada is Family Reunification. Of course, this option involves a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as the sponsor and their close family members as the immigration applicants. Nonetheless, we may divide these applicants into two significant groups.
Spousal immigration is popular
Referring to the Minister’s annual report to the Canadian Parliament, the following statistics grab our intention.
- In 2017 a total of 286,479 immigrated to Canada.
- A total of 82,470 people immigrated under the Family Reunification.
- The number of people who immigrated under the spousal/children group was 61,646.
Considering this report, one of every five people who immigrated to Canada in 2017 was a sponsored spouse or child. Interestingly, about three-quarters of Family Reunification immigrants fall under this group. Of course, this could tempt those seeking a fake marriage to immigrate to Canada.
Fake marriage and immigration to Canada
The process seems to be relatively easy. All you need to do is find a Canadian or a permanent resident of Canada who accepts to marry you. Of course, since this is a fake marriage, you need to pay them money or make other arrangements for their sponsorship. However, the amount you need to pay is significant. According to an immigration hearing (Yeh v. Canada), it could be as high as $80,000 for Chinese citizens. Since this is the black market, the entire amount could significantly vary for each nationality or occasion.
Fake marriage and immigration regulations
Unsurprisingly, a fake marriage is against Canadian immigration laws and regulations. Section 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations calls this type of arrangement “Bad Faith.” Consequently, if the primary purpose of the marriage is immigration to Canada or the marriage is not genuine, the officer refuses the sponsorship application. I located more than 4500 hearings related to fake marriages, a.k.a. marriages of convenience, on the CanLII website.
An immigration officer looks into several factors to identify fake marriages. Here are some examples:
- What are the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of the spouses?
- What was their length of relationship before marriage?
- Did they visit each other in person? How many times? Where?
- Who knew about their marriage before it occurred?
- Was there a formal recognition of the marriage? Was there a ceremony?
- How many people attended their ceremony, if any?
- How often and how did they contact before and after the marriage?
- What is the financial dependency of the spouses on each other?
- Have they lived together? Where and for how long?
- Do they have biological children together?
Of course, they may even look into the financial status of the sponsor and whether they were financially desperate. Nonetheless, this list is neither inclusive nor exclusive. The officers rely on the documents and forms you submit. They could also invite the applicant to an interview to double-check everything. While interviewing the sponsor is not out of the question, it rarely happens.
Fake marriage and consequences for the sponsor
So far, it seems significantly rosy for the sponsor. Imagine! You may receive several thousand dollars from a foreign national for a fake marriage. If the sponsorship application goes well, you will have a spouse and extra cash. If the application goes wrong, you can easily spend the money without the hassle of your fake spouse. Of course, this couldn’t be far from the truth for the following reasons:
- If someone pays you several thousand dollars, they have expectations. Therefore, you could face the consequences if you do not meet their expectations. Think about…
- filling out the forms,
- collecting documents,
- lone and behold, forging documents,
- waiting nervously for the outcome of the application,
- attending an interview,
- filing for an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division,
- filing for Judicial Review, or
- receiving threats from the payee.
- When you sponsor a person, you sign an undertaking agreement. Thus, you are financially responsible for your spouse for the first three years (and if they have children beyond three years). If they receive social welfare, they have to pay it back to the government. Unfortunately, your obligations remain even if you divorce the applicant.
- What if your fake spouse threatens our national security or is violent?
I recall a town hall between the Minister of immigration and several Canadians who shared their horror stories of fake marriages with him a few years ago. While not every fake marriage causes harm, the potential is there.
Fake marriage and the applicant
Let’s look at this from the applicant’s perspective. Of course, a successful fake marriage could make you a permanent resident of Canada. However, you are not safe. Consider the following scenarios:
- You are cheating the system to be a permanent resident. However, if the authorities find out about your arrangements in the future, they could terminate your permanent residence and even your citizenship. We’ve had cases where the government identified the mastermind of a series of fake marriages. Consequently, they went after every person who had immigrated with their help.
- What if your Canadian spouse is abusive or a sex offender? What if they harm you physically or emotionally? Although there are tools to protect you in Canada, the abuser will threaten you to share your “secret.” You are always prone to threats from your sponsor.
A not-so-fake marriage!
Sometimes when a family is immigrating to Canada, they realize they may apply only if they get a divorce. As weird as it seems, this could be true under certain circumstances. Therefore, they get a divorce, and one immigrates to Canada. Upon becoming a permanent resident, the immigrant marries their ex again. Of course, that opens the door for the sponsorship application. Well, don’t get too excited. Section 4.1 of the immigration regulations call such arrangements a “New Relationship.” Consequently, they exclude such marriages from legitimate sponsorship applications. While not a fake marriage, sponsorship is not an option for these arrangements.
Conclusion on fake marriages
Immigration to Canada is not easy, but please consider legal options. Work hard, and you will hopefully immigrate to Canada one day. Consider booking a consultation session with me for official visa and immigration advice. Also, consider reading the following relevant article.
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Al Parsai, LLM, MA, DTM, RCIC
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor – Queen’s University – Faculty of Law
Ashton College Instructor – Immigration Consulting
Author – 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada
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