HC Deb 07 March 1978 vol 945 c545W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether in view of his previous parliamentary answers, Official Report, 22nd February, column 641, concerning the right of a man to have four wives admitted as immigrants, whether there are any limits on the number of women that can be admitted as wives what the figures are and whether this applies in the case of a woman who wishes to claim the entry of more than one man as a result of marriage.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

Under the immigration rules and the law of this country, relating to marriage, each marriage contracted abroad must be valid in United Kingdom law and, except in the case of Commonwealth citizens settled here on 1st January 1973, the man must be able and willing to give support and accommodation. A woman would be able to bring in more than one husband to join her only if her marriages had been contracted before the United Kingdom had become her place of domicile in a country which recognised polyandrous marriages as legally valid: I am not aware of any which does.