LEGISLATION designed to curb “sham marriages” that are intended to
circumvent immigration law will be published shortly by the Government,
the Minister for Justice has said.
At a meeting of EU justice
ministers in Luxembourg last week, Alan Shatter warned there was
evidence that EU rules guaranteeing free movement for citizens were
being abused by third-country nationals marrying EU citizens.
He
said “highly unusual patterns of marriage” between Latvians and
nationals of Pakistan, and to a lesser extent nationals of Ukraine and
India, had been detected in Ireland.
He said there were almost 400
applications for residence in Ireland based on marriage to Latvians by
non-EU nationals last year.
Some 173 applications were made by Pakistani
nationals, 33 by Ukrainians and 53 by Indians.
Under an EU
directive, which was given effect in the Republic in 2006, the non-EU
spouses and family members of EU citizens have the right to live in
Ireland and travel freely within the union.
There were 1,894 applications for residency from non-EU nationals based on marriage to an EU citizen in 2010.
Government
efforts to crack down on sham marriages have been hindered due to a
lack of legislation making it illegal to marry purely to circumvent
immigration law.
A landmark ruling in the High Court in February ruled
that the Garda had no power to prevent non-EU citizens from entering
marriages of convenience for immigration purposes.
At least 28 of 150 marriages to which the Garda had objected have since been registered by registrars.
Mr
Shatter told his EU counterparts he has asked his officials to draft
new legislation that dealt with immigration-related marriages of
convenience and sham marriages. There was no “silver bullet” to deal
with the problem, but he would be bringing forward proposals when he
introduced the Immigration Protection Bill.
Mr Shatter said
co-operation between gardaí, marriage registrars and his department had
been stepped up.
He said his concerns about the marriages were echoed at
the meeting in Luxembourg by British home secretary Theresa May.