MARRIAGE: So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate! Matt. 19:6

Did you know that your country's immigration system has the right to determine if a legally contracted marriage is valid? There are no criteria for making this determination. The excuse for this lack of accountability is to catch people who are committing marriage fraud. But in our enthusiasm for catching the fraudsters, the lives of many legitimate couples are destroyed. Couples are required to prove the legitimacy of their relationship. And this may surprise you but security checks are done LAST (not first). Couples are not permitted to cohabitate in the country of the sponsoring spouse. Decisions are made at the discretion of the interviewing immigration officer who only interviews the applicant (and not the resident spouse). After 1 hour, an immigration officer can make a decision that your relationship is not valid and deny you the opportunity to live together. You may also not know that immigration officers are NOT required to be impartial. So if and when you go to court, your "judge" is employed by immigration and has NO RESPONSIBILITY to be impartial. You and your spouse will be asked intimate questions about your sex life, your choice of birth control, your extended family members' immigration status and much much more. You judgment will be based on marital, cultural, sexist, religious and racist stereotypes. You may be verbally and non-verbally mocked for your religious beliefs or your personal choices by both immigration judge and lawyer. And then after all this, if your situation does not look like the "perfect relationship", your appeal can be denied. This entire process could take you up to 2 years! During this time, you may be separated from your spouse and/or children; you will need to finance the upkeep on both homes unless you are able to go to your spouse's country to work and live together. You may have to sell your home or quit your job to do this, thus creating a financial hardship for you and your spouse. If you fail to win your appeal, you have no recourse except judicial review. But since the power of immigration is extreme, winning a review is unlikely. What will you do then?

This system is also biased against Africans and particularly West Africans who must go to Accra, Ghana for interviews. This Canadian immigration office has the highest rate of denials compared to every other immigration office. Why is that? Racism. 

The British government has recently given up trying to catch marriage fraud. They have realized that there is NO criteria that will accurately predict a fraudlent marriage. However Canada under former PM Harper carried out a skewed survey which gave them "evidence" (survey of fraud victims) to take a firm stance against marriage fraud.  However, marriage fraud statistics are not available because immigration cannot accurately prove or predict marriage fraud! It is estimated that MARRIAGE FRAUD consists of less than 18% of all immigration fraud. In addition, the Harper government punished Canadian spouses if they failed to stay married for a period of 3 years. No punishment for the supposedly "fraudlent" spouse? 

While Mr. Trudeau has made some changes to the application process, the decision making process and decision makers HAVE NOT CHANGED. 

So I am asking both Canadian and American politicians responsible for immigration policy to STOP trying to prove marriages as invalid. Devise a system that allows couples to be together and allows for deportation with evidence of marital dissolution. Do security checks first. Ensure people from all countries have equal opportunity to immigrate and are not discriminated against by immigration officers. Establish clear criteria for decision making to increase accountability. Provide impartial judges for immigration appeal processes. Provide exceptions for individuals in unique situations.  Above all, treat everyone as a human being!