Does this apply to you? More Regulatory Changes to Help Prevent Marriage Fraud

[uccemebug]

It's a neat idea, but we mustn't forget that many, if not most, couples don't live together during the application process. Would they have to travel to attend the interview together? What about those who can't? (Pregnancies, medical issues, visa limitations, you name it.)

As you said yourself, every marriage and every situation is different, yet the system has an ungrateful task of covering them all with one-size-fits-all process. Mistakes, imperfect forms and plain stupidity are bound to happen, as much as we all hate it.

Very good points, here. Some of us are forced to be apart, some are forced to sideline an in-country spouse, many of us seem to have issues surrounding pregnancies and children....

Perhaps what I'm grasping at is the need for more flexibility in the system. I'm convinced that for those with a spouse living with them, sharing a bank account, with valid health and criminal backgrounds and all the forms adequately completed an hour interview could prevent months of waiting and who knows how much additional work on behalf of the CIC staff. Imagine the job of a CIC staffer who could be spending his time meeting with the couples and getting to the heart of their relationship by using the considerable experience that each and every interview would bring. Then compare that to the process of wading through fifty photos, deciphering letters that have a highly variable level of English/French, and a hundred pages of phone records.

 

[fleo]

Perhaps what I'm grasping at is the need for more flexibility in the system. I'm convinced that for those with a spouse living with them, sharing a bank account, with valid health and criminal backgrounds and all the forms adequately completed an hour interview could prevent months of waiting and who knows how much additional work on behalf of the CIC staff.

Ironically, those are usually the couples whose interviews get waived ^^ ... and whose applications are, in themselves, processed fairly quickly (at least to my understanding), and the seemingly endless waiting is the fault of background checks. Which can't really be sped up no matter what CIC does :/ (Although to be perfectly honest, there's nothing I'd like more than spending one day in a CIC office, just to see what the hell it is they really do there ).

I do agree that interviewing couples together, especially if the interviewer is properly educated and experienced enough, /could/ address the issue of marriage fraud in a new way... however, people are being interviewed as it is (albeit not together), and we still have cases of 'successful' fraud.
Someone might also argue that a few hundred pages of firm evidence holds more weight than an hour long interview during which people can be nervous or tired or sick or stutter or just have a "face their VO doesn't trust"... but I'm not going to be that someone

 

[missmini]

Ironically, those are usually the couples whose interviews get waived ^^ ... and whose applications are, in themselves, processed fairly quickly (at least to my understanding), and the seemingly endless waiting is the fault of background checks. Which can't really be sped up no matter what CIC does :/ (Although to be perfectly honest, there's nothing I'd like more than spending one day in a CIC office, just to see what the hell it is they really do there ).

I do agree that interviewing couples together, especially if the interviewer is properly educated and experienced enough, /could/ address the issue of marriage fraud in a new way... however, people are being interviewed as it is (albeit not together), and we still have cases of 'successful' fraud.
Someone might also argue that a few hundred pages of firm evidence holds more weight than an hour long interview during which people can be nervous or tired or sick or stutter or just have a "face their VO doesn't trust"... but I'm not going to be that someone

quickly??? u still need to wait in the line after the slow ones, and no matter how genuine u r if u r in the wrong place of the world u could wait 2 years!!!!!!!! so imagine u wait 2 years but they actually look at your file 2 days :'( these people should be very good in psychology and all this, 1-2h interview with both or even with family members/friends could b more than enough...yeah not all r in the same country and some have reasonable problems and cannot attend but so many could...u would do ur best to go for this interview if u would know u would b done in a few months instead of a few years :-X

 

[fleo]

quickly??? u still need to wait in the line after the slow ones, and no matter how genuine u r if u r in the wrong place of the world u could wait 2 years!!!!!!!! so imagine u wait 2 years but they actually look at your file 2 days :'(

My point exactly - the problem for genuine relationships with strong applications obviously isn't application processing time, but the surrounding paperwork/background checks/waiting for your turn behind the complicated cases/_______ . So trading off a two-day 'looking at your file' for a 1-hour interview wouldn't really change much, yes?

And while I agree that the interview would be a good idea and people would do their best to attend, it can't become a standard procedure because not everyone can be objectively expected to do so.

 

[missmini]

My point exactly - the problem for genuine relationships with strong applications obviously isn't application processing time, but the surrounding paperwork/background checks/waiting for your turn behind the complicated cases/_______ . So trading off a two-day 'looking at your file' for a 1-hour interview wouldn't really change much, yes?

And while I agree that the interview would be a good idea and people would do their best to attend, it can't become a standard procedure because not everyone can be objectively expected to do so.

:-\ aah true i guess....but still the system should b more flexible, one thing fitting all doesn't help...maybe the whole Immigration system needs an a complete upgrade...in some countries in EU for example u can join ur spouse in a few months, u apply, u probably have an interview, they let u in and then they verify more (maybe every year u need to prove that u r still with ur husband/wife, prove ur residency, u r under some conditions but after a while u r good to go); so what u need is to confirm all this every year, it's a good trade off, u r not being away from ur spouse for years and also u r not so scrutinized that u r not genuine when u r (after so long, the non genuine ones, will finally break and the scammer will have to go); the conditional PR will probably b close to that, but if u put the conditional PR on top of what it is now, then God help us

yeah, i know, some relationships could genuinely break; at the end, we cannot make everyone happy...geeeeez, this stuff is complicated

 

[uccemebug]

:-\ aah true i guess....but still the system should b more flexible, one thing fitting all doesn't help...maybe the whole Immigration system needs an a complete upgrade...in some countries in EU for example u can join ur spouse in a few months, u apply, u probably have an interview, they let u in and then they verify more (maybe every year u need to prove that u r still with ur husband/wife, prove ur residency, u r under some conditions but after a while u r good to go); so what u need is to confirm all this every year, it's a good trade off, u r not being away from ur spouse for years and also u r not so scrutinized that u r not genuine when u r (after so long, the non genuine ones, will finally break and the scammer will have to go); the conditional PR will probably b close to that, but if u put the conditional PR on top of what it is now, then God help us

yeah, i know, some relationships could genuinely break; at the end, we cannot make everyone happy...geeeeez, this stuff is complicated

It is complicated, but again I'd add that the paperwork route hardly gives a clear view of a couple's nature.

P.S. I find your texting-style b/r/u/ur's charming but they make me feel old. 8^D

 

[missmini]

It is complicated, but again I'd add that the paperwork route hardly gives a clear view of a couple's nature.

P.S. I find your texting-style b/r/u/ur's charming but they make me feel old. 8^D

it's so true and also so many people pointed that lots of the paperwork could not give the clear picture (having both names on the apt lease does that really mean that the 2 live together? it should but then again with some money in some countries you could get anything :-\ i guess that's why in some places it takes so long, they scrutinize everything and they doubt the authenticity of ur proofs; one vo even doubted a marriage certificate, i guess he had reasons, others doubt ur passport, so on, so on) i think that if u give 2 people the chance to represent themselves directly, together, in front of an officer it could do much more than the paperwork

aaah, sorry about the way i write, i tend to write fast :-\ and it's from all the chatting really...here it's ok, but even now i find places in letters for CIC where i write like this and i need to correct...if ever i'll have a job with lots of formal writing, i'll have headache adapting :-[