§ Mr. CrausbyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many suspected sham marriages reported under section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 he has accepted as sham marriages; [159840]
(2) how many marriages have been reported by registrars as sham marriages since the introduction of section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; and from which registration district they were reported [159839]
§ Mrs. RocheSince 1 January this year, superintendent registrars have reported a total of 201 marriages which they suspect to have been contracted solely for immigration purposes. These figures cannot be broken down into registration districts. However, of the total number reported, 115 were from the London metropolitan district, 20 from the midlands, 14 from the south-west, 12 from the north-west, 11 from the south-east, 10 from the south and seven from Wales. Figures are not available for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Good grounds have been given in these reports to suggest that the relationship may not be genuine, but many of the cases are still under investigation.