Huge Garda crackdown on sham marriages

kettlehead

No , first cousin marriage has not been banned.

MORE THAN 200 gardaí investigating marriages of convenience conducted 42 raids on premises across the country today, arresting 11 people.

Source: TheJournal

Fair play to all involved on a successful operation but how did we become a haven for this craic? How long has it been going on for and why did previous governments not act? How many unsavoury characters, like the two convicted sex offenders mentioned in the article, got in via this route?

ScumLord

How will this affect Tuam shams not getting married?

godtabh

A friend of mine just got engaged to a Brazilian bird. Getting married in a couple of weeks.

He was put through the ringer as part of the civil registration side. How did the other ones get so far?

Larbre34

Even though my marriage is fully legal, i do hope to be a victim of a miscarriage of justice and have it declared a sham.

kettlehead

godtabh wrote: »

A friend of mine just got engaged to a Brazilian bird. Getting married in a couple of weeks.

He was put through the ringer as part of the civil registration side. How did the other ones get so far?

I think that's only a relatively new thing?

Foreign couples will be asked if they are living together before getting married as part of an immigration clampdown.
Marriage registrars are to be handed wide-ranging powers to crack down on widespread abuses by non-EU nationals to secure immigration status.
The Government is increasingly worried at the growth in the number of sham marriages involving asylum seekers and European citizens.
Now fresh legislation will allow the registrars to gauge whether a proposed marriage is a sham and alert the immigration authorities.

That's from a three month old Indo article.

topper75

Tuam problem is the opposite ScumLord.

They may know each other all too well.

Also needs investigation of course.

kettlehead

Larbre34 wrote: »

Even though my marriage is fully legal, i do hope to be a victim of a miscarriage of justice and have it declared a sham.

I sincerely hope that your better half does not know your username or you will be getting very familiar with the couch!

BattleCorp

What happens if an Irish citizen marries a foreigner in their country, e.g. India/Bangladesh?

Is the marriage there recognised here in Ireland?

AnonoBoy

godtabh wrote: »

A friend of mine just got engaged to a Brazilian bird. Getting married in a couple of weeks.

He was put through the ringer as part of the civil registration side. How did the other ones get so far?

As someone said - it is a new thing.

I read an article a few years ago where a registrar was saying that they know some of the marriages they conduct are a sham as the people don't even speak the same language but were powerless to prevent them.

SEPT 23 1989

Most marriages turn into a sham eventually

corner of hells

Larbre34 wrote: »

Even though my marriage is fully legal, i do hope to be a victim of a miscarriage of justice and have it declared a sham.

Same here ,though if a suitable looking Portuguese lady person wants to get married I'm available.

ElChe32

In my line of work I deal with many from the Indian/Pakistan/Bangladesh community. What I see 4-5 times a week a man from one of these communities has been in the state on a student visa for about 7-8 years then suddenly with about 5 months left on the visa he suddenly has gotten married to a Latvian or Slovakian lady. Often when pushed on the details of the spouse the guy will have to ring up the spouse to get the details as they have no clue. I saw in the article that the authorities have mentioned Portuguese women being mention but I haven't come across it myself. Glad SOME attempt at tackling this issue has started...

TheLastMohican

godtabh wrote: »

A friend of mine just got engaged to a Brazilian bird. Getting married in a couple of weeks.

He was put through the ringer as part of the civil registration side. How did the other ones get so far?

I hope his testes weren't flattened

TheLastMohican

BattleCorp wrote: »

What happens if an Irish citizen marries a foreigner in their country, e.g. India/Bangladesh?

Is the marriage there recognised here in Ireland?

Hmmmmm. Could finish up in the Black Hole of Calcutta!

kettlehead

ElChe32 wrote: »

In my line of work I deal with many from the Indian/Pakistan/Bangladesh community. What I see 4-5 times a week a man from one of these communities has been in the state on a student visa for about 7-8 years then suddenly with about 5 months left on the visa he suddenly has gotten married to a Latvian or Slovakian lady. Often when pushed on the details of the spouse the guy will have to ring up the spouse to get the details as they have no clue. I saw in the article that the authorities have mentioned Portuguese women being mention but I haven't come across it myself. Glad SOME attempt at tackling this issue has started...

Are they still allowed stay that long on student visa "studying English?" I thought that craic went to the knackers yard with the Celtic Tiger.

IRISH CITIZENS HAVE been caught up in a dispute over the implementation of new legislation designed to prevent sham marriages, a TD has said.

It comes a day after more than 200 gardaí investigating marriages of convenience conducted 42 raids on premises across the country, arresting 11 people.

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 brought in a process where couples must sit an interview to ensure the marriage is legitimate, and is targeted at non-Irish EU citizens marrying people from outside of the EU.

It also requires Irish citizens marrying non-EU citizens to be interviewed despite them not being automatically granted residency. A staff dispute means these interviews are not taking place.

A constituent of independent TD Denis Naughten said their partner’s parents had flights booked to travel to Ireland for the wedding, but it can no longer go ahead as planned next month.

“[The registry office] informed me that as they had not received training they could not carry out this interview, I then asked if it could be conducted elsewhere (like Dublin) and they said I could ask. They also stated they would pass it to their Super,” the correspondence, edited for clarity, read.

I then called Dublin where I was told the same thing, they had not been trained and I asked for the time frame in which they thought this could be carried out. I was told it is before the Labour Courts in January, or so he thought.
“This has put a serious hold on things as we cannot proceed without it, I have a function room booked and my partner’s parents have even paid for flights to Ireland to attend.”

A caller to Liveline this afternoon said he and his fiancée were experiencing the same problem.

“By the time her visa is up, she won’t be my spouse,” James told the programme.

He explained that she is currently entitled to a student visa, and if she renewed it for another year she would be unable to work.

It seems that some Irish citizens wishing to marry their non EU partners have also been caught unawares by the new legislation.

FloatingVoter

I assume I'm not the only single Irish male who read this and started wondering how to get involved with this racket. I will marry anything with a pulse for a negotiable fee. I've no problems with Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Star Wars, whatever ceremonies.

Fr_Dougal

Was dating a Latvian girl a few years ago, she was showing me some photos online when all of a sudden one of her in a wedding dress pops up! €2k for a sham marriage, lots of her friends were at it too. Needless to say, I dropped her like a hot potato.

biko

Far too common. Latvian girls brought here to "marry" some Pakistani/Bangladeshi man that needs permanent visa in EU.

Here's a thread I started 5 years ago on the topic in Humanities, but it got shut down without explanation.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=69479516

A priest in UK that looked into fake marriages got his home broken into and his wife threatened.

kettlehead

biko wrote: »

Far too common. Latvian girls brought here to "marry" some Pakistani/Bangladeshi man that needs permanent visa in EU.

Here's a thread I started 5 years ago on the topic in Humanities, but it got shut down without explanation.

A priest in UK that looked into fake marriages got his home broken into and his wife threatened.

A good opening post with numerous sources given. Odd that it got closed. If this sort of craic was happening over five years ago:

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.

How much more of it has happened since then and why has it taken our government so long to act?

The Masculinist

Anything to get by. Just another loophole to abuse. I think it would be a tough job for officials to figure out if a marriage is real or not.

biko

In the past, the immigration authorities successfully tackled a major problem with sham marriages when the women were being supplied from Latvia.

However, recent monitoring shows that the Portuguese are now filling the gaps created by the departure of the Latvian supply gangs.

In 2001, there were 20 applications here for residency based on marriage to an EU national.
But the total increased to 2,700 within nine years.

An investigation into marriage patterns in 2010 found applications for residency based on marriage to a Latvian spouse from 116 Pakistani nationals, 13 Nigerians and 36 Indian nationals.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/hundreds-of-portuguese-women-fly-in-for-sham-marriages-30806936.html

ElChe32

kettlehead wrote: »

Are they still allowed stay that long on student visa "studying English?" I thought that craic went to the knackers yard with the Celtic Tiger.



It seems that some Irish citizens wishing to marry their non EU partners have also been caught unawares by the new legislation.

I've had people in with me from Bangladesh, Pakistan and often Chinese too with 9-10 years on a student visa. Bangladeshi seem to be the ones mostly using Latvian women. Heard a story from a colleague of mine of a guy who had come to her saying he was being exploited by his new wife..she wanted 10 grand to go and renew his Stamp 4 and when he refused she just told him she was going to report him. Madness.

biko

It's a poverty thing really.
Pakistani men are poor and wants to come here to work.
Latvian, and now Portuguese, women are poor too and want to make a quick few grand.

They marry, never see each other again, both now a little richer <<< best scenario.

What riles me is the sometimes included abuse and rape, and that Ireland and Irish charities are left holding the bag when these scams go wrong.

kettlehead

They are obviously not in that much poverty if they can stump up a few thousand euro for the marriage and the girls are free to work here as EU citizens.

AlekSmart

biko wrote: »

Far too common. Latvian girls brought here to "marry" some Pakistani/Bangladeshi man that needs permanent visa in EU.

Here's a thread I started 5 years ago on the topic in Humanities, but it got shut down without explanation.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=69479516

A priest in UK that looked into fake marriages got his home broken into and his wife threatened.

"But,it got shut down without explanation......" surely not ! ..who would want to see perfectly valid debate shut-down.....perhaps you misinterpeted an entirely innocent occurrence....;) ?

It's interesting all the same,that half a decade later,in spite of all the Syrian Refugee focus,it's the Bangla's and Pakistani's who continue to feature large in the refugee applicant stakes

I wonder if I should head over to the packed-out Humanities,and continue there ?

kettlehead

More arrests made in relation to sham marriages, this time in Ballyhaunis. They are really cracking down on this craic. Fair play.

EIGHT people who were being held in Ballyhaunis as part of a nationwide garda operation into sham marriages have all been released.

Gardaí have confirmed that files in all cases are to be sent to the DPP.

The searches in Ballyhaunis were carried out as part of Operation Vantage, a nationwide probe by An Garda Síochána into sham marriages

The Garda National Immigration Bureau began targeting so-called marriages of convenience here on a widespread scale earlier this year.

- See more at: http://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2015/11/26/4110310-files-being-sent-to-dpp-after-ballyhaunis-arrests/#sthash.ZtE4HMlS.dpuf

suicide_circus

Hopefully they can follow up on some of these marriages and get the fraudster grooms and their extended families fooked out of the EU.

kettlehead

suicide_circus wrote: »

Hopefully they can follow up on some of these marriages and get the fraudster grooms and their extended families fooked out of the EU.

Doubtful. This craic has been going on since 2009. After three years residence with an EU spouse, the non EU citizens is entitled to permanent residency in Ireland. After five years residence, citizenship. Three years if "married" to an Irish national.

We are stuck with them. It's the authorities fault for not clamping down on all this earlier. The dogs on the street knew the score so they have no excuses for turning a blind eye.

topper75

They have no excuse. However, money talks.

If you look from the perspective of the officials - they get fees if the thing goes ahead. If it doesn't they get no money, potential abuse, and potential litigation for 'discriminating'.

kettlehead

topper75 wrote: »

They have no excuse. However, money talks.

If you look from the perspective of the officials - they get fees if the thing goes ahead. If it doesn't they get no money, potential abuse, and potential litigation for 'discriminating'.

EU family members don't have to pay any visa fees so they don't even get that!

Beneficiaries of Directive 2004/38/EC (Free Movement Directive) i.e. 'qualifying family members' of EU/EEA /Swiss Citizens are exempt from visa fees.

RDM_83 again

biko wrote: »

Far too common. Latvian girls brought here to "marry" some Pakistani/Bangladeshi man that needs permanent visa in EU.

Here's a thread I started 5 years ago on the topic in Humanities, but it got shut down without explanation.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=69479516

A priest in UK that looked into fake marriages got his home broken into and his wife threatened.

Its almost like there is a bearded man with a three letter name who no one ever sees that wants us only to talk about nice things.
Thats right GOD we're on to you

Rented Mule

MORE THAN 200 gardaí investigating marriages of convenience conducted 42 raids on premises across the country today, arresting 11 people.

It's time to light the BAT SIGNAL.

al22

Few months ago was told it cost now Euro 30,000+ to bring non-EU citizen to Ireland. Who can fight against money?

In Latvia (EU) or Russia (non-EU) one can easily be married and divorced 10+ times per year. I believe unmarried people can bring a non-EU partner to EU country too.

kettlehead

al22 wrote: »

Few months ago was told it cost now Euro 30,000+ to bring non-EU citizen to Ireland. Who can fight against money?

In Latvia (EU) or Russia (non-EU) one can easily be married and divorced 10+ times per year. I believe unmarried people can bring a non-EU partner to EU country too.

€30k seems far too high a price. Sure €50k and a viable business idea and you they could get an investors/entrepreneurial visa and go through the legal route while also seeing a return on your money.

The required minimum investment will be reduced from €75,000 to €50,000. Where more than one principal is involved in establishing the business the minimum investment for second and subsequent entrepreneur will be €30,000 per principal.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Minister%20Shatter%20announces%20targeted%20changes%20in%20the%20Start-up%20Entrepreneur%20Programme

al22

Some people can not believe - in the poor Ukraine one can find a lot of people who are not well educated, have no idea about any business, know only a dozen of English words... and have enough money to pay 30,000 euro for a fake marriage just to be in the EU and some of them later are disappointed because life here is not so qomfortable and cosy as in Ukraine (or Russia) etc.

Just think - poor people are everywhere but rich people are everywhere too.
Moscow have more top and expensive shops than Dublin. And more very expensive cars driven by teenagers than Dublin. Their intention to come here sometimes to get EU passport and travel free without hassle to apply for visas every time they want to travel but not to work.

It is difficult for non-EU get visas to EU sometimes? if apply from Ireland/
Dut to get 5-years multi-entry Sgengen visas in say Russia is much easier if one have money.

kettlehead

Of course Moscow has more people driving expensive cars and more leading brand retail stores than Dublin. It has eleven times the population!

Anyway, according to reports it's not Russians or Ukrainians involved in sham marriages here. It is the new accession state and Portuguese nationals marrying non EU citizens from West Africa and the Indian subcontinent for visa purposes. Rich Russians have much easier ways of getting into Europe and are not foolish enough to open themselves up to having their assets halved and going through the Irish divorce process just for a poxy Irish visa!

RedemptionZ

Has Portugal gotten that bad income wise that girls are willing to do this?

newacc2015

kettlehead wrote: »

More arrests made in relation to sham marriages, this time in Ballyhaunis. They are really cracking down on this craic. Fair play.



- See more at: http://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2015/11/26/4110310-files-being-sent-to-dpp-after-ballyhaunis-arrests/#sthash.ZtE4HMlS.dpuf

There was primetime special on this years ago. They marry outside the cities as there is a waitlist to get married in the big cities eg it can take a few months to get an appointment to get married in Dublin

Our marriage laws are so restrictive as it is now ie 3 months intention to get married. I dont see why the gardai havent been doing surprise inspections to make sure that these people have actually been living here

I hope they will start interviewing any suspect marriages carried out in the last few years and start deporting people

myshirt

There goes half the farm

Nodin

myshirt wrote: »

There goes half the farm

Better it goes to Mustafa than that shite across the road getting his hands on it.

prizefighter

Having lodged and been granted a partner visa in Australia it amazes me how lax Ireland is with this stuff. In oz you have to prove your joint household, expenses, social life etc not to mention living together for a year which is a prerequisite. The basic application costs $7,000 and if it's denied,tough ****, no refunds. High risk countries like India, Pakistan etc will have a much higher level of scrutiny, people will be interviewed and the application ripped to shreds before it's granted and even then it takes 18months to process.
I'm also amazed how cheap investment visas are for Ireland, in Australia you have to invest $5million or something just to get a foot in the door.

kettlehead

RedemptionZ wrote: »

Has Portugal gotten that bad income wise that girls are willing to do this?

Low wages for young graduates, not much in the way of welfare payments, one in three youth unemployment and high emigration. Flying in to marry some chap then never seeing them again for a couple of grand would be enticing for some considering the situation at home.

kettlehead

prizefighter wrote: »

Having lodged and been granted a partner visa in Australia it amazes me how lax Ireland is with this stuff. In oz you have to prove your joint household, expenses, social life etc not to mention living together for a year which is a prerequisite. The basic application costs $7,000 and if it's denied,tough ****, no refunds. High risk countries like India, Pakistan etc will have a much higher level of scrutiny, people will be interviewed and the application ripped to shreds before it's granted and even then it takes 18months to process.
I'm also amazed how cheap investment visas are for Ireland, in Australia you have to invest $5million or something just to get a foot in the door.

Australia takes border control seriously and has tough but fair policies. We seem to make it up as we go along and have a 'be grand' attitude to it all.