Checks on office put paid to 70 sham marriages

The UK Border Agency’s special investigation team said they spent four weeks interviewing everyone planning a wedding at the office in Leeds Town Hall.

Officers estimate that in that period alone they prevented at least 70 fake marriages going ahead, sparking concerns that the problem is on the increase.

Two weddings which actually took place were also halted during the month-long operation, with officials bursting in before vows were exchanged.

Det Insp Adrian Watkins, from the UK Border Agency, said both involved men living in the country illegally. In the first operation, officers swooped on a wedding between a French bride and an Indian groom whose leave to remain in the UK had been revoked.

A second wedding between a Pakistani man and a Lithuanian woman was also halted.

Mr Watkins said: “Certainly since we started looking at these last March there’s been an increase and they’ve been brought to our attention on a more regular basis, probably because the registrars are more aware of the problem.

“We’ve done an awful lot of work leading up to the operation. We’ve also got excellent co-operation with the registrars. It’s the registrars themselves who inform us after asking certain questions which raise their suspicions.”

The Border Agency said church officials were also now having to closely check the credentials of people who were getting married.

Rector of Leeds Parish Church Canon Tony Bundock said: “Because of some of the abuses that did take place a few years ago, we’re now required to check that the address that they’ve given us is genuine by actually visiting them, going to both houses, both the bride and the groom.

“Also we’re required to check their identity by seeing some documentary evidence that proves that they are who they say they are.”

The Border Agency also released a list of businesses which have been caught employing illegal immigrants and then failed to pay fines issued for the offences.

Officials said the aim was to “name and shame” those who have flouted immigration laws and said that in Yorkshire alone £150,000 is owed in unpaid fines by 25 firms.

Steve Lamb, the UK Border Agency’s regional director, said each of the businesses named had failed to prove that the correct right to work checks were carried out on workers .

He added: “Employers are responsible for carrying out document checks and we work with businesses to let them know what they need to do.

“Those who choose to break the law should know that we are looking for them and they will face heavy fines.”

The agency said that in 2011 it served more than 1,100 penalty notices on employers, collecting nearly £7m in penalty fines.

The total collected last year was an increase of £600,000 on 2010 when £6.34m was collected and an increase of £3.7m on 2009 when penalties totalling £3.24m were collected.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “The message is clear for employers – we will not tolerate illegal working and we will take firm action against those who ignore the rules.”

Details of Yorkshire businesses which have failed to pay immigration fines can be found on the UK Border Agency’s website at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/listemployerspenalties

The sham marriage services were filmed by the BBC’s Inside Out Yorkshire programme, which will be shown tonight on BBC1.

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