Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what joint actions her Department is taking with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to tackle immigration marriage fraud through bigamy.

We do not separately record the number of allegations of immigration marriage
fraud through bigamy.

We have no plans to change the law on the annulment of marriages. The
Immigration Bill will introduce new measures to prevent sham marriages gaining
an immigration advantage. Immigration Enforcement is strengthening its response to
all cases of suspected immigration marriage fraud, by piloting operational hubs designed to
react quickly to reports of suspicious marriages from registrars or members of
the public.

We do not separately record the number of people deported following a
conviction for immigration marriage fraud through bigamy.
Nor do we separately record the number of successful prosecutions for
immigration marriage fraud through bigamy.

UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement, including the Risk and
Liaison Overseas Network, work with Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff
overseas to investigate suspected immigration marriage fraud. This includes
accessing local records to ascertain whether someone is married already and
providing that information to staff making immigration decisions.

The Home Office will normally pursue the deportation of foreign nationals
where they have been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period
of imprisonment of at least 12 months. Where a foreign national has been
convicted but has received a shorter sentence, consideration will be given to
deporting them. If deportation is not appropriate, administrative removal may
be pursued, for example if the person has no leave to enter or remain in the UK
or if their leave is curtailed.

Bigamy is a criminal offence. Where the Home Office receives information
about suspected bigamy, this is passed to the relevant police force to
investigate. It will also be noted on Home Office systems to inform the
consideration of any immigration application seeking to rely on the
marriage.