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| Sham: A surge in bogus marriage ceremonies such as this one last month has been noted |
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Vicars will no longer read the traditional wedding banns before thousands of church ceremonies involving migrants.
In a effort to crack down on sham marriages, the Church of England will instead ask some couples to pay £100 to undergo rigorous background checks.
The move will affect any ceremony involving a bride or groom from outside the EU, even if they are marrying a Briton.
It follows a recent surge in bogus ceremonies, in which couples get married so a foreign national can remain in the UK.
The Home Office and the Church have decided, from today, to put vicars in the front line of ending the abuse.
Normally, couples are permitted to marry in church after the traditional ‘publishing of the banns’ – where their intention to wed is read out on three Sundays in church. In future, where one partner comes from outside the EU, they will be expected to pay for a ‘marriage by common licence’.
They will have to swear affidavits, give proof of identity and address, be visited by the vicar and attend wedding classes.
If a vicar is not satisfied an intended marriage is genuine, he will have to make this clear to the diocesan legal office responsible for granting the licence.
In guidance issued today, vicars have been urged to contact police should they feel they are being threatened or pressured to carry out a marriage.
The Rt Rev John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, said: ‘The House of Bishops is clear that the office of Holy Matrimony must not be misused by those who have no intention of contracting a genuine marriage but merely a sham marriage.’
Immigration minister Damian Green said: ‘The UK Border Agency already works very closely with the Church not only to investigate and disrupt suspected sham weddings but also to provide advice and support.
‘The new guidance is another step in the right direction in tackling these abuses.’
The move comes after the Rev Alex Brown, 61, was jailed last September for four years after he abused his role in St Leonards, East Sussex, to marry 360 illegal immigrants to strangers.
Last month, the Mail revealed how human rights rulings by judges had led to a trebling in the number of suspected sham weddings in four years from 282 a year to 934, or 18 every week.
DAILYMAIL
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