Transactional marriages to gain admission to Canada are prevalent in Punjab, fuelling an exodus of residents.
Families have been paying for the migration expenses of individuals who passed the standardized English exam to obtain a Canada study visa, in exchange for the individual marrying a member of their family. The spouses are thus able to get a Canada work permit.
“Need IELTS clear graduated girl for Canada paper marriage all expenses by boy side,” read one Facebook ad.
Many criminal complaints have also been filed against individuals who had their entire immigration process funded by a family and then backtracked from submitting the documentation for a work permit for their spouse.
Punjab police were investigating 40 such cases last summer, as per the Indian Express.
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This practice was prevalent, at least until last month, when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister Marc Miller – to curb practices such as this, and to re-install the “integrity” of the International Student Program – announced several measures to alter the program.
One of them was to deny work permits to the spouses of certain international students.
“In the weeks ahead, open work permits will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs,” read the IRCC news release from January 22, 2024.
“The spouses of international students in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programs, will no longer be eligible.”
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This is one of several policies introduced by IRCC to reform the International Student Program, the others being:
- A two-year cap on international student numbers, with a maximum 360,000 study permit approvals for 2024 – 35 per cent lower than 2023;
- Ineligibility of international students at colleges with a curriculum licensing arrangement to apply for a post-graduate work permit upon graduation;
- Graduates of master’s degree programs being eligible for a 3-year work permit.
“Taken together, they aim to ensure genuine students receive the support they require and have the resources they need for an enriching study experience in Canada, while at the same time stabilizing the overall number of students arriving and alleviating pressures on housing, health care and other services in Canada.”
These measures would be a huge hit to potential migrants from Punjab, 73 per cent of total migration from which occurred in just the last seven year, as per a study from the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), and details of which were provided by the National Post.
More than 40 per cent of these migrants came to Canada, mostly through a study permit, and to settle down here eventually.
