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Marriage rules get tougher
1/ 4/2005
From February 1 this year people who are subject to immigration
control can no longer freely marry while in the UK.
People who wish to marry will have to hold entry clearance as a
fiancé/e or marriage visitor or hold a Home Office certificate of
approval or be a person with settled status in the UK.
People will also have to give notice of their intention to marry to
a registrar and both parties must attend the office together.
The registrar to whom notice is given will not enter notice of the
marriage into the marriage book unless satisfied that the person
from abroad either (a) has an entry clearance granted for the
purpose of enabling him to marry in the UK, or (b) has the written
permission of the Secretary of State to marry in the UK, or (c)
falls within a class specified in regulations made by the Secretary
of State. The regulations can be seen at
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2005/20050015.htm
So if a visitor comes from the Indian sub-continent and meets
someone in the UK they wish to marry they will have to either apply
to the Home Office for permission to marry or go to another country
to get married. An application to the Home Office must contain
certain information and must be accompanied by a fee of £135. If
they get married in another country the visitor then has to make an
entry clearance application from his/her country of
residence.
New measures to tackle forced marriages were announced last October
and resulted in the setting up of a new joint Home Office/Foreign
Office forced marriage unit. A confidential service for the public
is based at the Foreign Office and can be contacted on 020 7008
0230 or 020 7008 0135 or 020 7008 8706. A leaflet, "Forced
Marriages Abroad: Your Right to Choose" can be obtained by calling
020 7008 0343.
The Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) is a charity, which
represents immigrants and asylum seekers across the UK. The IAS has
had an office in Sylhet in Bangladesh for four years. This year IAS
moved to bigger offices in the Alhamra Centre in the centre of
Sylhet. The IAS is also planning to open a second office in Dhaka
and other offices in Pakistan and India. For more information see
their web site on
www.iasuk.org
It is always advisable to get advice from immigration experts
before submitting an entry clearance/visa application. Many
applications are refused because they are not prepared properly. If
there is a sponsor in the UK the sponsor can contact a law centre,
CAB, etc. However, sometimes it is also useful for the applicant to
get advice before attending an interview at a British High
Commission. This could be on the validity of certain documents.
Unfortunately, in the Indian sub-continent there are too many
self-proclaimed experts on UK immigration law and practice. These
people should be avoided at all costs!
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