Canadian immigration proposes stricter marriage requirements

The Canadian government has proposed a new rule which would require a person coming to stay in Canada with their partner to stay in the relationship for two years before being granted permanent residence.

The stricter requirement is an attempt by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to crack down on fraudulent marriages.

Under the new proposal, a spouse or partner from overseas who has been in a relationship with their Canadian partner for less than two years would only be granted conditional permanent residence.

If the overseas partner failed to stay in the relationship, or it can be shown that it is not a genuine relationship, conditional permanent residence could be revoked.

The United States, Britain and Australia already have similar laws in place.

The Canadian government has also proposed to introduce a "sponsorship bar". This would prevent those who gained entry to Canada themselves as sponsored partners and spouses from sponsoring a new partner for five years.