New Laws introduced to tackle ";marriages of convenience"

20 August 2015

According to the Department of Justice, “statistically improbable patterns of marriage, from a cultural and linguistic perspective, notably between women from Eastern Europe and, more recently from Portugal, and men from the Indian sub-continent” have been recorded in Ireland.

Under the legislation, Marriage Registrars will have powers to prevent sham marriages for immigration purposes.

Marriages of convenience or sham marriages are defined as marriage where at least one of the parties is a foreign national and wants to get married solely for the purpose of securing residency rights.

It is believed hundreds of such marriages take place in Ireland every year.

Under the new laws, registrars now have the right to investigate an application made by a couple to marry and can ultimately refuse to issue a marriage registration form.