But this case has hit a new low: Badwal, who was left in a wheelchair by polio, spent thousands of dollars successfully appealing an earlier decision by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to reject her application to sponsor Shahi.
Badwal met Shahi, 30, online in 2006. She lived in Brampton; he lived in a dusty village in Punjab, India. Soon, they exchanged photographs and were chatting on the phone. In November 2007, Badwal, who then worked for the Royal Bank of Canada, went to India and they got married.
“I totally believed he was the right person for me,” said Badwal. “He was open-minded, nice, attentive ...”
She returned to Canada and, in March 2008, filed an application to sponsor him. In December, the application was rejected because of the age difference and compatibility issues, said Badwal.
She hired a Bay Street law firm, Green and Spiegel, to fight her case, and won on appeal.
On June 26, Shahi got his Canadian visa. Two days later, he was on a British Airways flight to Toronto. But Badwal, who had been dreaming of this day for years, never even caught a glimpse of him.
It had never crossed her mind that Shahi was marrying her as a way to get into Canada, Badwal said. “Of course, I know it happens but there was no indication that he was planning this . . . ”
At first distraught, then angry, Badwal contacted police and CIC on Friday.
Peel Regional Police would not say whether they are investigating.
Doug Kellam, an immigration spokesperson, said he could not comment on a specific case because of privacy issues but said the Canada Border Services Agency can investigate such cases.
“A person in this sort of situation ... might very well be taken to inquiry and may be ordered removed,” said Kellam. He couldn’t provide statistics on how many complaints are lodged about fraudulent marriages.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is “looking at this program at a whole because it’s very, very hard on people,” said Kellam. “He is consulting with different groups and looking at possibilities of how the law might be structured to deal with this kind of a situation.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/832865--the-case-of-the-vanishing-groom?bn=1
This is an ugly story. An immigrant is used and victimized by being lured into what she thought was a legitimate marriage to a man who loved her and Canadian society is victimized by having an immigrant loose in Canada who would not have been accepted on his own merits. Any bets before on how long before he winds up welfare?
It’s not only men who undertake fraudulent marriages. In 2009, a Brampton man launched a class-action lawsuit against the federal government for failing to investigate and deport foreigners who trick Canadians into marriages of convenience. Saranjeet Benet, a 38-year-old electrician, founded the non-profit group Canadians Against Immigration Fraud when his wife allegedly abandoned him a month after she arrived in Canada.
Fraudulent marriage or not, a Canadian sponsor remains obligated financially for a foreign spouse for up to three years, under the terms of sponsorship. If the spouse ends up on government assistance, the sponsor must repay the government and risks being denied future sponsorships.
That’s a nuisance, Badwal acknowledged. But the reason she is coming forward about what happened to her is that “everyone should know how shameless some people are . . . and the depths to which they will fall,” she said.
“I just hope he’s kicked out of Canada soon.”
Hate to sound like a broken record, but if we had a sane immigration policy and rational quotas, this sort of abuse and fraud would be much rarer.