gemini63
14th September 2008, 10:59
he House of Lords have ruled that forcing a migrant to prove a
relationship is genuine is 'arbitrary and unjust', even if they were
getting married only weeks before their permission to stay in Britain
ran out.
Foreigners will now once again be free to prolong their stay in the
UK by getting married at the last minute to a person who already has
permission to live here.
The ban was brought in by then-Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2004,
amid concerns that thousands of people a year were using sham
marriages to stay into the UK. They introduced the Certificate of
Approval which was targeted at those who marry Britons, or EU
citizens with full residency rights, in order to gain permission to
live here indefinitely. Migrants were forced to apply for the
certificate to marry if they lived outside the EU, or had only
limited rights to live in the UK.
Those with only three months leave to stay remaining were routinely
refused on the grounds that the ceremony was intended only to avoid
removal from the country.
However the regulations were ruled as illegal by the High Court in
2006, and the same ruling was passed at the Appeals Court last year.
The House of Lords' ruling dismissed this law, on the grounds that it
is a breach of Section 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights,
the right to marry.
Three couples who had initially been refused the right to marry
brought the cases to the courts. Mahmoud Baiai, 37, an Algerian
illegal immigrant, was refused permission to marry Izabella
Trzcincka, 28, a Polish national who was legally entitled to live in
the UK.
The two other cases related to asylum seekers, including one who had
been told to leave the country but wanted to marry someone already
given protection as a refugee.
All three couples were later allowed to stay, before their cases
reached the House of Lords.
However, Damian Green, the shadow Immigration minister, said: "This
is yet another defeat for the Government in the courts under their
own human rights legislation - which could make it easier for bogus
marriages to take place. It is vital that we are protected against
sham marriages set up to evade immigration laws - but the current
arrangements are clearly not working."
The Home Office will now be forced to consider the merits of a union
being made even at the very last moment before a migrant is due to
leave the UK.
If you are interested in UK Visas, contact Migration Expert for
information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can
also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible
to apply for a visa to the UK.
relationship is genuine is 'arbitrary and unjust', even if they were
getting married only weeks before their permission to stay in Britain
ran out.
Foreigners will now once again be free to prolong their stay in the
UK by getting married at the last minute to a person who already has
permission to live here.
The ban was brought in by then-Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2004,
amid concerns that thousands of people a year were using sham
marriages to stay into the UK. They introduced the Certificate of
Approval which was targeted at those who marry Britons, or EU
citizens with full residency rights, in order to gain permission to
live here indefinitely. Migrants were forced to apply for the
certificate to marry if they lived outside the EU, or had only
limited rights to live in the UK.
Those with only three months leave to stay remaining were routinely
refused on the grounds that the ceremony was intended only to avoid
removal from the country.
However the regulations were ruled as illegal by the High Court in
2006, and the same ruling was passed at the Appeals Court last year.
The House of Lords' ruling dismissed this law, on the grounds that it
is a breach of Section 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights,
the right to marry.
Three couples who had initially been refused the right to marry
brought the cases to the courts. Mahmoud Baiai, 37, an Algerian
illegal immigrant, was refused permission to marry Izabella
Trzcincka, 28, a Polish national who was legally entitled to live in
the UK.
The two other cases related to asylum seekers, including one who had
been told to leave the country but wanted to marry someone already
given protection as a refugee.
All three couples were later allowed to stay, before their cases
reached the House of Lords.
However, Damian Green, the shadow Immigration minister, said: "This
is yet another defeat for the Government in the courts under their
own human rights legislation - which could make it easier for bogus
marriages to take place. It is vital that we are protected against
sham marriages set up to evade immigration laws - but the current
arrangements are clearly not working."
The Home Office will now be forced to consider the merits of a union
being made even at the very last moment before a migrant is due to
leave the UK.
If you are interested in UK Visas, contact Migration Expert for
information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can
also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible
to apply for a visa to the UK.