I had the opportunity to spend the last few days with a friend and renowned immigration lawyer from the United Kingdom, Mr. Harjap Bhangal. Mr. Bhangal is not only a lawyer but also is the host of a weekly television program where individuals in the UK can call in and ask him questions on immigration issues. Harjap’s trip was business related and also a chance for him to see the situation of South Asian’s in Canada, particularly Calgary. What I came to realize in my experience with Harjap Bhangal was that there is a nexus between immigration and family law, particularly in the South Asian diaspora.
The United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America are seen as the land of unimaginable opportunity by those who are from countries like India. Mr. Bhangal’s affirmed my already entrenched position that folks will do anything in order to get to Canada. Harjap’s provided examples of the lengths that individuals will go in order to seek status in the U.K.:
- Unable to find a UK National to marry an individual approached Mr. Bhangal seeking advice on conducting a fraudulent gay marriage in order to seek permanent status in Canada
- A Punjabi speaking man who could not find himself a Punjabi speaking woman to marry, found himself a Polish woman, who spoke a completely different language, married her to seek permanent status
- A number of cases where individuals had married family members who had permanent status in order to gain status into the country.
- An individual agreed to marry a UK national, without even having met her and only speaking to her via text and email.
The schemes were endless and continue to grow more absurd day-by-day. In Canada, we are not as advanced in our cagey/fraudulent attempts to gain entry into Canada, but I have no doubt that we will eventually get to the stage that the UK is currently at.
The Family Law nexus comes in after the parties arrive into Canada. Mr. Bhangal described an all too often circumstance whereby and Indian National will agree to marry a UK National. The marriage occurs and then upon arrival into the UK, after gaining status of course, the Indian National seeks a divorce. The reason, they have already hatched up another scheme that will allow them to bring in someone else from back home, now that they have status in the UK.
This situation occurs in Canada. I see it. All too often a party will come in seeking a divorce and they have only recently arrived into Canada. Granted, Jason Kenney and the Harper Government have taken steps to deal with these quick divorces. For example, immigration rules have been tightened and provide that you must stay with a partner for a period of two years after landing in Canada. The rules provide for some ways around the two year requirement (I won’t go into those, do not want to give people ideas!!), however, the change in the law is a step in the right direction. The law still has flaws, but it makes an attempt to deal with this burgeoning industry of marriage fraud. The only issue is that if someone waited a lifetime to get to Canada, what is another two years to the fraudster?
When the parties do separate, the litigation becomes what can only be described as ugly. The jaded spouse, usually a female, will stop at nothing to prevent the other from getting a divorce. They feel used, betrayed and are angry, and rightfully so. I had one lawyer advise me that he had been seeking a divorce for six years for a client and the other side had tied the file up in with delay and tactical applications that he was going nowhere fast. At least once a week I receive a call from a jaded ex-spouse that tells me they will pay whatever amount necessary to prevent the other side from obtaining a divorce. To a lawyer without an understanding of the myriad of emotional and cultural issues which accompany this type of comment from a potential client, the request seems absurd.
The United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America are seen as the land of unimaginable opportunity by those who are from countries like India. Mr. Bhangal’s affirmed my already entrenched position that folks will do anything in order to get to Canada. Harjap’s provided examples of the lengths that individuals will go in order to seek status in the U.K.:
- Unable to find a UK National to marry an individual approached Mr. Bhangal seeking advice on conducting a fraudulent gay marriage in order to seek permanent status in Canada
- A Punjabi speaking man who could not find himself a Punjabi speaking woman to marry, found himself a Polish woman, who spoke a completely different language, married her to seek permanent status
- A number of cases where individuals had married family members who had permanent status in order to gain status into the country.
- An individual agreed to marry a UK national, without even having met her and only speaking to her via text and email.
The schemes were endless and continue to grow more absurd day-by-day. In Canada, we are not as advanced in our cagey/fraudulent attempts to gain entry into Canada, but I have no doubt that we will eventually get to the stage that the UK is currently at.
The Family Law nexus comes in after the parties arrive into Canada. Mr. Bhangal described an all too often circumstance whereby and Indian National will agree to marry a UK National. The marriage occurs and then upon arrival into the UK, after gaining status of course, the Indian National seeks a divorce. The reason, they have already hatched up another scheme that will allow them to bring in someone else from back home, now that they have status in the UK.
This situation occurs in Canada. I see it. All too often a party will come in seeking a divorce and they have only recently arrived into Canada. Granted, Jason Kenney and the Harper Government have taken steps to deal with these quick divorces. For example, immigration rules have been tightened and provide that you must stay with a partner for a period of two years after landing in Canada. The rules provide for some ways around the two year requirement (I won’t go into those, do not want to give people ideas!!), however, the change in the law is a step in the right direction. The law still has flaws, but it makes an attempt to deal with this burgeoning industry of marriage fraud. The only issue is that if someone waited a lifetime to get to Canada, what is another two years to the fraudster?
When the parties do separate, the litigation becomes what can only be described as ugly. The jaded spouse, usually a female, will stop at nothing to prevent the other from getting a divorce. They feel used, betrayed and are angry, and rightfully so. I had one lawyer advise me that he had been seeking a divorce for six years for a client and the other side had tied the file up in with delay and tactical applications that he was going nowhere fast. At least once a week I receive a call from a jaded ex-spouse that tells me they will pay whatever amount necessary to prevent the other side from obtaining a divorce. To a lawyer without an understanding of the myriad of emotional and cultural issues which accompany this type of comment from a potential client, the request seems absurd.