Sham marriages a temptation for some desperate immigrants

-- A growing number of Chinese immigrants are paying up to $50,000 to enter into so-called marriages of convenience to help them stay in Canada, an immigration consultant says.

"Marriages of convenience are increasing substantially ... because it takes so long to process immigration cases," Tony Luk, president of the Chinese Immigration Consultants' Association, told the Toronto Star yesterday.

"I've heard that the price has gone to $30,000 to $40,000 ... and the highest I've heard is about $50,000," he said.

Yesterday, Min Chen, a 23-year-old former visa student, pleaded guilty to kidnapping 9-year-old Cecilia Zhang from her North York home in hopes of extorting enough money from her family to pay a Canadian woman to marry him or live together in a common-law relationship. --