Entering a marriage relationship with a Canadian individual for the sole purpose of facilitating immigration to Canada is a fraudulent act. As a result, the genuineness of a marital relationship is a key consideration taken by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officers who assess a spousal sponsorship application and decide whether to grant an approval or rejection.
News outlets publish articles and press releases providing insight to the reasons why a spousal sponsorship application may be rejected. As the data has indicated over the years, immigration authorities will refuse a spousal sponsorship application if they do not believe that the Canadian sponsor and foreign spouse have a genuine marital relationship.
What are some of the warning signs of a fake marriage?
IRCC officers are trained to consider many factors when assessing the genuineness of the relationship. These factors include the history of the couple’s relationship, the compatibility of the individuals with each other as a couple, the degree of knowledge each individual has into the other person’s life and routines, the couple’s relationship with their respective families and the public nature of the couple’s relationship. IRCC officers will consider the following list to be “red flags” indicating the possibility of a fake marriage when reviewing the documentary evidence of an application:
- Lack of display of affection – this can be evidenced from photos showing couples standing at a distance from each other or couples who are not kissing on the lips during a wedding ceremony.
- Lack of compatibility – this can be especially triggered when the foreign spouse is much younger than the Canadian sponsor, where evidence shows one couple is better off financially then the other, or when there is a vast disparity in the educational levels and social background of the couple.
- Lack of social media posts showing pictures of the couple and posts about their activities.
- Short dating period or where the couple met in person only once or less prior to their marriage.
- Where there is little evidence showing that the couple support each other financially.
- Where there is little evidence to show that the couple have given each other gifts.
Reports from the Canada Border Services Agency have previously identified several “high-risk” countries where individuals seek to enter fraudulent marriages, including:
- India
- China
- Haiti
- Ghana
- Nigeria
- Sri Lanka
- Pakistan
- Vietnam
- Ethiopia
Applicants from the countries mentioned above face higher scrutiny when immigration authorities assess their applications. Nevertheless, assessing the genuineness of a marriage is a complex matter that involves considering the case-by-case situation of the couple, their background and the presence of extenuating circumstances that would otherwise be seen as a warning sign (i.e., a global pandemic limiting the size of wedding attendees). Therefore, it is important to ensure that applicants submit proper and strong evidence in order to demonstrate that their marriage is genuine.
How Can We Help
The Law Office of Matthew Jeffery has over 20 years of experience in spousal sponsorship applications. Fill out a FREE Sponsorship Assessment Form to see if we can help you navigate your way through this complex process.