Pakistani man arrested before wedding in UK
LONDON:
Sleuths from Britain’s immigration services disrupted the wedding of a 32-year-old Pakistani groom and a 22-year-old Czech bride and arrested the pair on the pretext that it was a sham union, media reports said on Saturday.
Abdul Majid, a Pakistani national, and his would-be bride Andrea Kalejova were arrested at a registrar’s office in Manchester just before their nuptials. Both Majid and Kalejova were charged with conspiring to obtain a right to stay in Britain.
Bystanders watched in astonishment as the couple were led away from the Oxfordshire registrar’s office in handcuffs. They were questioned and ushered into cells where they spent two days waiting for their court date, the Daily Mail reported.
Kalejova was granted bail at the Magistrates’ Court while Majid was remanded in custody till his appearance before the Crown Court in September.
However, the couple’s lawyer said that they genuinely wanted to marry and they would “strenuously” deny the charges.
Britain’s Immigration Minister Damian Green announced a crackdown on sham marriages earlier this week. He promised an overhaul of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), saying that the UK government was determined to send out a signal that Britain was no longer a soft touch for those who arrived illegally. The number of sham weddings in Britain soared to 529 in 2009, a 54 per cent rise from 2008’s figures.
An increasing number of EU citizens are marrying non-EU foreigners to help them settle in the country and enjoy the same rights as British nationals. Similarly in June, a 19-year-old Polish woman and her Indian groom, Amrit Singh Dhanju, 30, were arrested on suspicion of perjury.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2010.
Sleuths from Britain’s immigration services disrupted the wedding of a 32-year-old Pakistani groom and a 22-year-old Czech bride and arrested the pair on the pretext that it was a sham union, media reports said on Saturday.
Abdul Majid, a Pakistani national, and his would-be bride Andrea Kalejova were arrested at a registrar’s office in Manchester just before their nuptials. Both Majid and Kalejova were charged with conspiring to obtain a right to stay in Britain.
Bystanders watched in astonishment as the couple were led away from the Oxfordshire registrar’s office in handcuffs. They were questioned and ushered into cells where they spent two days waiting for their court date, the Daily Mail reported.
Kalejova was granted bail at the Magistrates’ Court while Majid was remanded in custody till his appearance before the Crown Court in September.
However, the couple’s lawyer said that they genuinely wanted to marry and they would “strenuously” deny the charges.
Britain’s Immigration Minister Damian Green announced a crackdown on sham marriages earlier this week. He promised an overhaul of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), saying that the UK government was determined to send out a signal that Britain was no longer a soft touch for those who arrived illegally. The number of sham weddings in Britain soared to 529 in 2009, a 54 per cent rise from 2008’s figures.
An increasing number of EU citizens are marrying non-EU foreigners to help them settle in the country and enjoy the same rights as British nationals. Similarly in June, a 19-year-old Polish woman and her Indian groom, Amrit Singh Dhanju, 30, were arrested on suspicion of perjury.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2010.