The newspaper ads in India are the visible tip of a booming
underground industry in fake marriages involving would-be international
students.
The prize for the “spouse”
whose family buys an instant marriage with a foreign student is back-door
access to a full-time job in Canada and a fast-track to citizenship.
The matrimonial ads normally
promise that the foreign students’ sham marriage, plus all travel and study
expenses, will be paid for by the Indian families who are determined to have
their son or daughter emigrate.
The type of Indian student the
ads seek is usually a teenage girl, who must have passed an English-language
test and therefore be in line to be accepted as an international student.
Media outlets in India, such as
the Hindustan Times, report there is a “booming matrimony market for ‘brides’
who can earn the ‘groom’” coveted status as a migrant to a Western country.
Canada is among the most
sought-after destinations for Indian foreign students, say migration
specialists, because it is the most generous toward foreign students and their spouses.
Australia has also been popular, but recently tightened its rules.
Here is a typical recent ad
from one Punjabi-language newspaper in India, Ajit:
“Jatt Sikh, boy, 24 years old,
5 feet 10 inches, needs girl with IELTS band 7. Marriage real or fake. Boy’s
side will pay all expenses.”
The ad is listed by a
high-caste “Jatt” Sikh male, or more likely his parents. It seeks a
contractual marriage with a young woman who has scored well (“band 7”) on an
international exam called “IELTS,” the International English Language Testing
System. Almost three million IELTS exams are conducted each year.
Here is another ad, from the
newspaper Jagbani:
“Barbar Sikh, 24, 5 feet 8
inches. Finished Grade 12. Looking for BSc or IELTS pass girl. Boy’s side will
pay all expenses to go to Canada.”
In this ad the family of a
lower-caste “Barbar Sikh” is seeking to have their son marry an Indian female
with a bachelors of science degree, or a passing mark on the IELTS test, so their
son can be allowed into Canada as her spouse.
As these kinds of ads
illustrate, the parents of the male “spouse” typically offer to cover all
expenses for the international student, who often end up attending one of the
scores of private colleges in Canada with low to non-existent standards.
B.C. is home to 130,000 international students,
the vast majority of whom are in Metro Vancouver, which has the highest
concentration of foreign students in Canada.
In exchange for financing the
foreign student, the phony spouse gets to live in Canada and legally work up to
40 hours a week, plus receive medical coverage and other benefits. That puts
them in a strong position to become permanent residents of Canada.
The foreign-student marriage
rackets are gaining attention in newspapers in India.
Indian media are reporting
angry fallout when students financed by other families either fail to get into
a Western college or university, or try to break up with their spouses of
convenience.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University political scientist Shinder Purewal, a former Canadian citizenship court judge, says Punjabi-
and Hindi-language newspapers in India run dozens of such ads each week.
“Families are looking for matches to get their sons or daughters
abroad. And the most successful route to Canada is through
international-student channels. It’s an easy way to get immigration,” said
Purewal.
Metro Vancouver lawyer George Lee, a specialist in
immigration law, confirms there has long been a global “black market” for fake
marriages to aid migration.
Lee has at times seen matrimonial ads similar to the Indian
ones on Chinese websites.
The Indian fake marriage ads normally lead to on-paper
marriages that occur weeks before the couple travel to Canada, says Purewal,
who urges Canadian immigration authorities to better monitor the supposed
weddings.
One “positive” thing about the phony marriages, said
Purewal, is they cause an Indian boy’s family to give a financial “dowry” to a
girl’s family, rather than the other way around, which is more traditional.
Still, Purewal thinks the practise amounts to queue jumping
and takes advantage of the liberality of Canadians who don’t understand immigration
laws and their loopholes.
“Normally, these boys or girls are about 17 to 19 years of
age. After three or four years of studying, and using a work permit, nearly all
will become legal residents of Canada,” Purewal said.
“They can then get a divorce — and bring over real wives
and husbands by the time they’re 22 or 23. It’s a business.”
Purewal said foreign students and their spouses typically
stay in Canada for at least five years, with the strong majority getting their
permanent resident status before that time.
“Any children born to such couples automatically become
Canadian citizens,” he said. “And the cost of delivery of any medical expenses is born by Canadian
taxpayers.”
The Hindustan Times reports grave difficulties arise for
couples when “the foreign dreams fail to take off after marriage.”
Some young “married” students are not able to obtain a
foreign student visa because of limited skills in English. Others
fail their school programs in the Western country. “It is also not uncommon to
find cases of women ditching grooms after finding better matches,” said the
newspaper.
The Indian family that paid the student’s expenses then
complains they have “shelled out a lot of rupees for nothing” and want the
money returned. Sometimes, in the midst of such disputes, the newspaper says,
the bride claims domestic violence.
