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—
- a
a British citizen,
- b
a national of an EEA State other than the United Kingdom, or
- c
a national of Switzerland;
- a
“United Kingdom immigration law” includes any subordinate legislation concerning the right of relevant nationals to move between and reside in member States.
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.