UK Wedding News
16/10/2013
Speaking to Sky News, Mark Rimmer, Chairman of the Local Registration Services Association, said that the number of suspected cases being reported to the Home Office is "just the tip of a very large iceberg", as many more people could be abusing the country's immigration law.
The number of reported cases has tripled in the last three years to 1,800, according to Home Office figures. However, Mr Rimmer feels that the actual number could be almost 10 times more, with 15,000 of the 173,000 civil ceremonies taking place each year actually being a 'sham'.
He told Sky News: "We have seen huge increases in potential sham marriages presenting themselves to us, we now have more reports from registrars going to the Home Office, but I think that is the tip of a very large iceberg, and effectively the real scale of the problem is far greater than that that is reported to the Home Office officially.
"Most registration officers are not immigration officers, they came into this business to facilitate marriage. So therefore they don't want to be cynical.
"Unfortunately therefore what happens is the ones that are absolutely blatant get reported and there are some that are borderline that slip through without being reported – and that is the iceberg under the water and that's huge – it is absolutely huge."
(JP/MH)
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Fears Over 'Sham' Civil Ceremonies
One of Britain's most senior registrars has warned that up to 20% of civil ceremonies in the UK could be a sham.Speaking to Sky News, Mark Rimmer, Chairman of the Local Registration Services Association, said that the number of suspected cases being reported to the Home Office is "just the tip of a very large iceberg", as many more people could be abusing the country's immigration law.
The number of reported cases has tripled in the last three years to 1,800, according to Home Office figures. However, Mr Rimmer feels that the actual number could be almost 10 times more, with 15,000 of the 173,000 civil ceremonies taking place each year actually being a 'sham'.
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He told Sky News: "We have seen huge increases in potential sham marriages presenting themselves to us, we now have more reports from registrars going to the Home Office, but I think that is the tip of a very large iceberg, and effectively the real scale of the problem is far greater than that that is reported to the Home Office officially.
"Most registration officers are not immigration officers, they came into this business to facilitate marriage. So therefore they don't want to be cynical.
"Unfortunately therefore what happens is the ones that are absolutely blatant get reported and there are some that are borderline that slip through without being reported – and that is the iceberg under the water and that's huge – it is absolutely huge."
(JP/MH)
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