How Canuck immigration cops spot fake marriage fraud

There are a lot of pink faces -- white faces blushing -- in Ottawa and Vegreville AB [Where dat?! Ed.] as the Toronto Red Star reveals the contents of a manual issued to Canadian immigration officials to help them recognize fraudulent "marriages of conveniences", entered into for the purpose of getting one of the partners into Canada.

(Vegreville AB is the village in the hinterland where immigration applications are processed. It also happens to be the home of the world's biggest pysanka -- Ukrainian Easter egg -- but I digress...)

The three-page training guide, titled "Evidence of Relationship", lists clues officers should look for in assessing a spousal sponsorship application. Here's the list.

• University-educated Chinese nationals marrying non-Chinese
• Photos without parents or any family members, just a small group of friends
• Private marriage ceremony performed by either a minister or justice of the peace
• Informal reception in a restaurant
• Sponsor is uneducated, with a low-paying job or on welfare
• The couple do not kiss on the lips in photos
• Couples who do not have a honeymoon, not even a couple of days away, usually because of university and/or no money
• There are no “diamond” rings
• Wedding photos done professionally but pictures are very limited
• Some submit photos dressed in pajamas or cooking, to show they are living together
• Photos have them wearing the same clothes in various locations
• Are they touching each other in the photos, or trying not to touch?
• Photos of activities taken in the Niagara Falls area, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Toronto.

Very interesting. Walt wonders if the couple pictured below had their application approved.

Looks pretty contrived to me. On the other hand, they're both white (or pinkish), so they probably passed. If one of them had been, ohhhh, let's say Chinese, what would the result have been.

The training material, obtained under an access to information request and posted online by immigration lawyer Steven Meurrens, has created an uproar on social media among some Canadians and their foreign-born spouses. Mr. Murrens told the Star, "I am surprised that a Chinese marrying a non-Chinese, or a Canadian who is poor trying to sponsor a spouse, is an indicator of marriage fraud. That they actually put that in writing is surprising. I’d like to think that most immigration officers would realize how ridiculous that part of training was and would just ignore it."

At least one of Walt's agents would certainly agree.