It gives marriage Registrars extensive powers to prevent marriage for immigration purposes.
There have been increasing allegations of sham marriages in recent years.
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These involve statistically improbable patterns of marriage from a cultural and language perspective, including women from Eastern Europe and more recently Portugal, with men from the Indian sub-continent.
Registrars are being given the right to investigate and form an opinion of the accuracy of marriage applications and they can refuse to issue a marriage registration form.
They will also be able to inform and make inquiries of the Naturalisation and Immigration Service.
