The State would have singularly failed in its constitutional duties in this regard if it permitted an open-ended ground of objection to a proposed marriage to be made at the last minute, without the necessary procedural safeguards, especially in circumstances where the lodging of such an objection would inevitably have a suspensive effect so far(…)
I have written two posts for HRinI about the Irish approach to marriages of convenience. In January, I noted that the General Registry Office and the Department of Social Protection had met to develop a list of indicators of ‘sham’ marriage which could be provided to registrars. These were published on September 2nd. I also mentioned the(…)
So-called ‘sham’ marriages are in the news again. At the beginning of the month, British newspapers carried the story of Rev. Alex Brown, who conducted hundreds of marriages designed to enable individuals to circumvent immigration regulations. Two further vicars have since been arrested on suspicion of similar offences as the UK Border Agency continues its ‘crackdown’ on marriages(…)
On Monday, the Irish Times reported on a new operation which has been undertaken by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) to detect and prevent what they believe to be marriages of convenience for the purpose of securing EU residency rights. A Pakistani man, Muhammad Shafi, was recently convicted of offences related to the possession(…)
