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Marriages of convenience

Issue

Abuse of the immigration system through marriages of convenience.

Fact

When someone gets married for the sole reason of immigrating to Canada, this is known as a marriage of convenience.

Under Canada’s immigration law, marriages of convenience are not allowed. Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s officers are specially trained to recognize genuine immigration applications, and they know how to detect marriages of convenience. They use a variety of techniques to uncover marriage fraud, including document checks, site visits and interviews with sponsors and applicants.

Canada’s immigration system is also set up in a way that discourages marriages of convenience. Anyone who wants to sponsor their spouse or partner to immigrate to Canada makes a serious legal commitment. As part of this commitment, sponsors must support their spouse or partner for three years, even if the relationship fails. If the couple breaks up and the sponsored person gets social assistance, the sponsor must pay back the amount of social assistance the former spouse received. Given the legal obligations, sponsorship should not be taken lightly, and everyone is responsible for ensuring that their marriage is genuine.