Part I Immigration: General

Reporting suspicious marriages

24AF1Duty to report suspicious civil partnerships

1

Subsection (3) applies if—

a

a registration authority to whom a notice of proposed civil partnership has been given under section 8 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004,

F3aa

a registration authority that receives information in advance of a person giving such a notice,

b

any person who, under section 8 of the 2004 Act, has attested a declaration accompanying such a notice,

c

a district registrar to whom a notice of proposed civil partnership has been given under section 88 of the 2004 Act, F6...

F4ca

a district registrar who receives information in advance of a person giving such a notice,

d

a registrar to whom a civil partnership notice has been given under section 139 of the 2004 Act, F5or

da

a registrar who receives information in advance of a person giving such a notice,

has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the civil partnership will be a sham civil partnership.

2

Subsection (3) also applies if—

a

two people register as civil partners of each other under Part 2, 3 or 4 of the 2004 Act in the presence of the registrar, and

b

before, during or immediately after they do so, the registrar has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the civil partnership will be, or is, a sham civil partnership.

3

The person concerned must report his suspicion to the Secretary of State without delay and in such form and manner as may be prescribed by regulations.

4

The regulations are to be made—

C1a

in relation to England and Wales, by the Registrar General for England and Wales with the approval of F2the Secretary of State;

b

in relation to Scotland, by the Secretary of State after consulting the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Scotland;

c

in relation to Northern Ireland, by the Secretary of State after consulting the Registrar General in Northern Ireland.

F75

A civil partnership (whether or not it is void) is a “sham civil partnership” if—

a

either, or both, of the parties to the civil partnership is not a relevant national,

b

there is no genuine relationship between the parties to the civil partnership, and

c

either, or both, of the parties to the civil partnership enter into the civil partnership for one or more of these purposes—

i

avoiding the effect of one or more provisions of United Kingdom immigration law or the immigration rules;

ii

enabling a party to the civil partnership to obtain a right conferred by that law or those rules to reside in the United Kingdom.

5A

In subsection (5)—

  • “relevant national” means—

    1. a

      a British citizen,

    2. aa

      F9an Irish citizen; or

    3. ab

      a person who is not an Irish citizen and who—

      1. (i)

        has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom which was granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules, or

      2. (ii)

        is an applicant for the purposes of regulation 4 of the Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (applications which have not been finally determined by the deadline) where the relevant period within the meaning of that regulation has not expired.

    4. b

      F10...

    5. c

      F10...

  • F8...

6

“The registrar” means—

a

in relation to England and Wales, the civil partnership registrar acting under Part 2 of the 2004 Act;

b

in relation to Scotland, the authorised registrar acting under Part 3 of the 2004 Act;

c

in relation to Northern Ireland, the registrar acting under Part 4 of the 2004 Act.