Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the numbers of sham (a) marriages and (b) civil partnerships since March 2015.
Since the marriage referral scheme commenced on 2nd March 2015, the number of marriages considered to be a sham has reduced slightly although these numbers are too small to indicate any trend.
Referrals under Section 24 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and allegations have remained stable since March.
From the data extract it is not possible to determine if a notification under the scheme relates to a Civil Partnership or a Marriage as the referrals are identical.