Some signs of success in detecting sham marriages

In 2011, government officials tasked with looking into the problem of sham marriages sought out the figures for the number of applications for residence in Ireland made by non-EU nationals on the ground of marriage.

They were struck by the number of Latvians who popped up in the “spouse” column. In 2010, the figures showed, 173 Pakistanis applied for residence on the basis of marriage to a Latvian national. As did 53 Indians and 33 Ukrainians. In all, 400 applications that year came from non-EU citizens who had recently exchanged vows with a Latvian.

When he presented the information at a meeting of EU justice ministers in Luxembourg in 2011, then minister for justice Alan Shatter noted the "highly unusual patterns of marriage" involving Latvians and their non-European partners. But that nugget of anecdotal evidence reflected the nature of the problem the authorities faced: they were convinced marriages of convenience were being used to circumvent the immigration laws but they had no way of knowing with any certainty how prevalent the practice was.

That obstacle remains. So do the statistically improbable patterns that so alarmed government officials in 2011 (though women from Portugal have more recently been cited by the authorities in addition to those from Latvia and elsewhere in eastern Europe). But in the intervening years steps have been taken to detect and block such arrangements. And there have been some tentative signs that those efforts are bearing fruit.

In August last year, a change to the Civil Registration Act gave marriage registrars new powers to prevent sham marriages. Since then, the registrars have had the right to investigate and to form an opinion, based on the information provided by the two parties, of the veracity of the application.

If they have doubts or suspicions, they have the right to refuse to issue a marriage registration form and can inform or make inquiries with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, a division of the Department of Justice.

Ethnic profiling

Some lobby groups expressed concern about the potential for ethnic profiling, but the Government defended the measure as an attempt not only to prevent immigration fraud but to deter traffickers. Minister for Justice

Frances Fitzgerald

said women could be exploited in these transactions, and even if money changed hands there was scope for coercion and intimidation.

Those changes may help prevent some sham marriages, but another prong of the authorities’ effort is better detection of those who profit from the deals. Last November, gardaí arrested 11 people and searched a number of properties in Dublin and elsewhere after a long-running operation involving 200 officers.

Gardaí found about €30,000 in cash, along with a stun gun, false marriage certificates, driving licences and other identity documents. The authorities believe the raids dealt a significant blow to a Dublin-based international crime gang that had arranged up to 1,000 sham marriages in the Republic and generated up to €20 million through the fees it charged.