How to stop fake marriages?

biko

Monday November 08 2010

A crackdown is under way on "sham" marriages that are being used by non-EU nationals to ensure they can live here legally.
The huge growth in the number of marriages of convenience has led to the introduction of tough regulations that will allow immigration officials to extensively question newly married applicants for citizenship.
In 2001, there were 20 applications here for residence based on marriage to an EU national.
Last year the total was 2,700.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-to-crack-down-on-sham-marriage-cases-2411521.html

Fake marriages are massively on the rise since a few years.
And it's not just Irish girls looking to make a quick buck that marries some non-EU man so he can work and live within EU.

It's becoming big business with human traffickers and EE girls shipped about, raped and abused.

The head of Shelter Safe House, a Latvian NGO that offers support to victims of human trafficking, Zalcmane says she has seen an avalanche of “sham marriage” cases over the past year, which she attributes to the deep economic crisis in Latvia.

“Some women are tricked into getting married. Many have low education levels and some even have mental problems, which make them particularly vulnerable. We have helped women who suffered sexual abuse and rape,” says Zalcmane, who says Ireland and Cyprus are the two countries where Latvian sham marriages are most common.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/1011/1224280782460.html

Several other young Latvian women have not been so fortunate and have been imprisoned, raped and abused by people involved in marriage scams. The Garda National Immigration Bureau is investigating such cases.

Last year a 19-year-old woman and two other women in their 40s from Latvia were imprisoned in a house outside Dublin by a group of men from the Indian subcontinent, according to a worker at an Irish NGO that helped the three women.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/1009/1224280691092.html

My concern in this whole mess is the welfare of the girls that are tricked/ forced to marry someone who in essence have "bought them" and with it the right to live and work here.

Fortunately AGS are somewhat on the case

A GARDA investigation into sham marriages for the purpose of gaining residency has led to the deportations of at least five people, the Irish Independent has learnt.
Many more deportations could follow as a result of Operation Charity, an ongoing Garda National Immigration Bureau investigation aimed at tackling so-called marriages of convenience.
The move came following reports that Nigerian, Indian and Pakistani gangs were offering to provide EU brides for fees of up to €10,000.
The revelation comes as new figures released yesterday revealed that more than 2,000 people from outside the EU applied for residency in Ireland last year on the basis of marriage to an EU citizen.
Almost 1,200 applications had also been made up to the end of June this year on the same basis.

Of these, some 253 related to Pakistanis who have married EU citizens. Their spouses included 95 Latvians, 41 British, 25 Lithuanians, 18 Polish and 17 Estonians.
Some 167 applications were made by Nigerians on the basis of marriage to EU citizens in the same period. The spouses included 35 British, 25 Polish, 20 Dutch, 13 Germans and 13 Latvians.
Meanwhile, 78 Indians made similar applications based on marriage to EU citizens. The spouses included 27 Latvian and 20 Polish nationals.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/five-are-deported-in-sham-marriage-operation-2301165.html

Last night Labour TD Roisin Shortall called for marriage registrars to be given more powers to act if they suspect they are being asked to solemnise a bogus marriage.
"I believe that registrars should be allowed greater powers to satisfy themselves that the marriage application is genuine," she said.
"They should also have the power to delay marriages they believe to be suspect and in extreme cases be allowed to refuse to conduct a ceremony, subject to a right of appeal for the parties involved," she added.

This may seem like a good idea but they went after the UK priest when he saw what was going on.

Father Codling, 48, said that when he began questioning suspect weddings, his home was broken into and his wife threatened.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329595/Nigerian-groom-Dutch-lesbian-rent-bride-stopped-altar.html

Bottle_of_Smoke

Haven't thought about it too much but would the consequences be massive if simply marrying someone got you no closer to rights to work or live here.

So the onus would be on people to get citizenship before getting married

Mike 1972

If it prevented a married couple from living together it would probably be deemed unconstitutional and rightly so.

biko wrote: »

And it's not just Irish girls looking to make a quick buck that marries some non-EU man so he can work and live within EU.

Nope its also Irish men looking to make a quick buck that marries some non-EU girl (woman ?) so she can work and live within EU (To say nothing of civil partnerships)
And I personally know of Irish people who have got married to US citizens in order to live/work there.

What could stop fake marriages ?
Less restrictive migration policies would help a lot but of course that would never do.

Gerry.L

Surely if we clamp down here and take in a bazillion different laws and restrictions and what not. The Irish person would just simply meet the girl half way (lets just say france) and then marry her there. Then come back home with his new bride who is now entitled to citizenship.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Mike 1972 wrote: »

If it prevented a married couple from living together it would probably be deemed unconstitutional and rightly so.

Why so? Surely it should be up to the couple to sort out the legality of residence before they get married

Mike 1972

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Why so?

Lot of stuff in the constitution about upholding marriage and wotnot. Forcibly seperating a married couple by preventing living in the same country hardly squares with this.

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Surely it should be up to the couple to sort out the legality of residence before they get married

Youre trying to make it sound like a far easier process than it actually is.

biko

Mike 1972 wrote: »

What could stop fake marriages ?
Less restrictive migration policies would help a lot but of course that would never do.

I don't see how this would stop fake marriages? Less restrictive migration policies would just mean non EU citizens wouldn't have to fake a marriage to get into the EU, or am I reading your post wrong?