Engaged couples will now have to wait long to get married. The move comes in the wake of the increasing number of sham marriages in the country.
Deputy Prime Minister- Nick Clegg
At present, anyone wanting to marry must give 15 days’ notice, but that will increase to 28 days to give Home Office officials longer to investigate suspect couples, reported The Sunday Times.
Deputy prime minister leader Nick Clegg has pledged to clampdown on sham marriages to tackle an “industry” where nearly 2,000 immigrants manipulates rules to live in Britain every year.
The Lib Dem leader has also outlined plans to put bogus marriages on hold for up to 70 days to prevent them from being rushed through register offices. The same rules will apply to civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
Meanwhile, PM David Cameron and Theresa May, the home secretary, are targeting a net immigration figure of less than 100,000 a year, even though the current figure is more than double that number, the newspaper reported.
Further, Clegg also announced plans to invest over £1m on hiring 30 more enforcement officers to target companies who pay migrant workers less than the minimum wage.