423.Part IX of the Bill makes procedural changes designed to tackle abuse of the immigration system by those who are prepared to enter into marriage for the purpose of evading immigration control. There is evidence to show that a large number of sham marriages are being contracted in the United Kingdom every year.
424.Part IX is to be read with section 24 which places a duty on superintendent registrars to notify immigration authorities of suspected cases of sham marriages. Part IX amends the Marriage Act 1949, which applies to England and Wales, to ensure that both parties attend to give notice of marriage, thus giving the superintendent registrar the opportunity to meet both parties and obtain suitable documentation from them as to their name, age, marital status (where someone has been previously married) and nationality. The provisions also allow only one procedure for giving notice by reducing the existing 21 day waiting period to a 15 day notice period (which can be reduced on the authority of the Registrar General in exceptional circumstances) and abolishing the existing licence procedure by which parties can currently give one day’s notice of their intention to marry. Part IX also applies to Northern Ireland in respect of evidence of name, age, marital status and nationality and amends the Marriages (Ireland) Act 1844 and the Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act 1863.
425.The provisions apply to all civil and religious marriages after civil preliminaries. The Act does not extend to marriages after ecclesiastical preliminaries because the procedure involved is considered already sufficiently detailed to ensure that the system is not abused for immigration advantage. There is no evidence that religious marriages after ecclesiastic preliminaries are abused for immigration advantage.
Schedule 13: Escort arrangements Part IX: Registrar’s certificates: procedure