[this post is in Taglish, which is Tagalog + English. Where possible, translations are provided, thanks for reading! ]
YOUR LOYAL KABAYAN (that’s me) seen either side (though not directly) of the dodgy marriage drama, and it’s not been pretty.
Almost always, no make that always, money is involved, and it never ends well.
Ages ago, when my feet still were still wet off the boat (bagong salta), I overheard kabayan talking about Caucasian women, themselves newly minted permanent residents, offering to marry eligible singles wanting to formally join The Land of the Long White Cloud, for a fee of course.
No personal details on the women and I don’t know if any transaction transpired, but I can tell you the going rate (at the time): high four figures to low five figures (in NZ dollars yan ha), siguro mga kalahating taong sweldo (half a year’s wages) which, when you think about the rewards really ain’t that bad.
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Fast forward several years later, and again I heard, this time from another kabayan, that he had been propositioned by someone (not Filipino) to not include his wife and kid in his One-Off application, in favor of someone who would make it worth his while. And what would it be worth, the equivalent of selling his soul? Let’s just place the figure at double what it was the first time I heard it being talked about, only this time it was no longer just a buyer’s market, anyone who is eligible for residency potentially becomes a seller.
Admittedly it was a wild prospect, an exchange between around a year’s worth of wages for passing off yourself as single and sharing your key to a comfortable life in New Zealand with a complete stranger. Of course, you wouldn’t stay together for long, but you necessarily live together as husband and wife for as long as there was a chance you’d be checked on. Especially for those kabayan who’d worked so hard the last few years for their families back home, turning back on your loved ones, even temporarily, would be unthinkable. At least, for almost every kabayan I could think of.
But would it really be that non-negotiable Precious Reader? Just playing devil’s advocate, but back home a year’s wages would probably be enough to build a modest home in the provinces. It would be enough to send a couple of children to college, maybe far short of a nest egg, but enough to start building on if you were young enough, suddenly it’s not that cut-and-dried. (just remember, we’re taking the opposite side for argument’s sake, OK?)
But the idea of turning your back on the most important people in your life, or putting their futures in jeopardy, just for thirty pieces of silver (well, a little more than that actually) seems not just illogical, but also unPinoy. Family, whether it’s just one spouse or a whole brood of seven, is priceless. For many, the joy of family is something one prepares half a lifetime for, and enjoys the rest of his or her life.
Why would you jeopardize the thing you value most, for a finite amount of cash you could easily earn?
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Then there’s also the other elephant in the room you’ve got to consider, when doing something like a dodgy wedding: the very real chance of getting caught.
The authorities weren’t born yesterday. They’re very familiar to these kinds of schemes, and if citizens and residents have been caught doing it, you can be sure aspiring PRs will be no luckier. Every aspect of the relationship (because obviously there has to be one) will be considered and scrutinized under a magnifying lens, many times over.
The length of the relationship, how stable it is before you got married, whether or not there were gaps in the timeline, things like that. All documentation, from the official papers to the littlest receipt, supporting the image of a relationship, will be requested and examined. Walang makakalusot. Then, and only then will an assessment be made.
I guess mas madali pang makapasok sa butas ng karayom, (easier to pass through the eye of the needle) so to speak, bago makalusot sa awtoridad.
Not to be judgmental here, but every situation is different, and it’s hard to condemn anyone doing this. Personally though, I would find it hard to look at the mirror for a long time if I did something approaching a dodgy marriage, just for immigration purposes.
Either as a buyer or as a seller.
Thanks for reading!
