Just three of 150 objections to marriages upheld

MARRIAGE REGISTRARS have upheld only three of 150 Gardaobjections made against suspected sham marriages aimed atcircumventing immigration rules.

Twenty-eight of the 150 marriages with objections have so fargone ahead. Registrars have told the Government they cannot blockthe proposed weddings because there is no law against marrying tocircumvent immigration law.

The Garda has made the objections to the proposed marriages underOperation Charity, an intelligence-led operation that has resultedin almost 20 arrests so far. However, it is reviewing the strategyfollowing a recent High Court ruling that marriages of convenienceare valid in Irish law.

Most of the suspected sham marriages are between eastern Europeanwomen - mainly from Latvia and Lithuania - and men from Pakistan,Bangladesh and India. The men seek residency rights through marriageto an EU citizen and are willing to pay the women several thousandeuro to go ahead with a wedding ceremony.

Under an EU directive, which was given effect in the Republic in2006, the non-EU spouses and family members of EU citizens have theright to live in Ireland and travel freely within the union.

Last year there were 1,894 applications for residency based onmarriage to an EU citizen in 2010. Some 378 of these applicationswere made by Pakistanis, 172 were to Latvians and 39 to Lithuanians.

The Government has told its EU partners it believes a largenumber of these are sham marriages to circumvent immigration laws.The authorities are investigating some of the marriages with a viewto blocking the non-EU spouses residency applications.

However, a landmark ruling in the High Court last month hasthrown the operation against sham marriages into disarray.

The case involved a Lithuanian woman, Juztinia Izmailovic, and anEgyptian, Mahmoud Ads. Mr Ads faced deportation following a failedasylum application. They met on the internet and planned to marry inCavan last January.

The Garda objected at the registrar's office to the wedding andarrested Mr Ads. The couple appealed the arrest and marriageobjection to the High Court.

Last month Mr Justice Gerard Hogan ordered Mr Ads's release andruled that the Garda had no power to prevent non-EU citizens fromentering marriages of convenience for immigration purposes.

A Garda spokesman said it could not comment until it was clearwhether the judgment would be appealed by the State, but it isunderstood the policy of objecting to marriages is under review.

The General Register Office recently confirmed it had registered28 of the 150 marriages that had been the subject of objections. Ithas upheld three of the objections, typically due to identity-fraudconcerns.

The office has requested legal advice on whether draftlegislation to block such marriages for immigration purposes isconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the increase in suspected sham marriages has promptedone of Dublin's imams to speak out about the practice, which he saysrisks hurting the reputation of Pakistanis in Ireland.

Sheikh Ismail Kotwal, the imam at the Blackpitts mosque, told TheIrish Times that sham marriages were 100 per cent against Islam andhe had repeatedly spoken out against the practice.