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New Home Office policy document on investigating sham marriages

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Criminal investigation: sham marriage is a new Home Office policy document setting out in one place the Home Office approach to investigating sham marriage allegations, including under the new Immigration Act 2014 scheme of referrals from registrars and the increased notice period (from 28 to 72 days) that the Home Office can trigger at will to delay marriages taking place. It sets out the various offences with which the parties to a sham marriage and the organisers might be charged.

It is worth a read. This jumped out at me as an example of an Austin Powers style disabled internal monologue:

Some Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers authorise facilitation charges against the non-EEA spouse but others do not as they argue a non-EEA party cannot facilitate themselves.

I could see nothing urging caution on Home Office caseworkers with regards to false denunciations or on the need to respect the parties to genuine marriages or on the need for a high degree of proof before such allegations are made.

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Colin Yeo

Immigration and asylum barrister, blogger, writer and consultant at Garden Court Chambers in London and founder of the Free Movement immigration law website.

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