New powers for
UK officials to
tackle sham marriages

27 November 2014

After a European Commission handbook was issued in October containing guidelines for tackling marriages of convenience within the EU, Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire has announced new measures which will enable the necessary authorities in Britain to effectively deal with this ongoing issue.

Brokenshire had announced in October that ‘registrars will be given new powers later this year to better identify all fraudulent marriages’. It’s now clear that new reforms which are part of the Immigration Act will see the notice period in England and Wales for marriage and civil partnership extended from 15 days to 28 days.

As registrars must refer all proposed marriages involving a non-EEA citizen with limited or no immigration status to the Home Office, this will give the Home Office more time to identify and investigate sham unions.

The reforms will allow the Home Office to extend the notice period of any referred marriage from 28 days to 70 days, should it decide to investigate a suspected sham marriage or civil partnership. There will also be repercussions for couples who do not comply with an investigation under a 70 day notice period in that they will not be allowed to marry or form a civil partnership. British couples will have to give 28 days’ notice of their intention to marry although they will not be subject to referral or investigation.

The new period of notice will apply to all marriages and civil partnerships taking place in England and Wales as of 2 March 2015. Should Parliament approve the required secondary legislation the reforms shall be extended to include Scotland and Northern Ireland in due course.

The Home Office hopes that these new efforts will increase the number of marriages of convenience identified each year and improve upon last year’s figure of 1,300 identified sham unions.

‘The new Immigration Act enables us to take tougher action to crack down on those who try to cheat our immigration system by abusing marriage laws. In 2013-14, we intervened in more than 1,300 sham marriages – more than double that of the previous year.’

– James Brokenshire, Immigration and Security Minister

For the full Written Ministerial Statement please click here

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