Church warns of rise in sham marriages

London: Illegal immigrants are exploiting a legal loophole to gain British citizenship by getting married in the Church of England.

Bishops have warned their vicars to be on the look out for migrants who are applying to marry in church to get an "immigration advantage".

The bishops issued their warning after noticing a massive increase in the number of non-EU foreign nationals getting married in church, with some dioceses reporting a 400 per cent rise.

The increase coincides with a crackdown by the Home Office on civil weddings involving non-EU foreign nationals, who now have to obtain a certificate of approval before being allowed to go ahead.

But church weddings are exempt from the rules - a loophole that bishops believe hundreds of immigrants are trying to exploit.

Sham marriages were discussed recently by the bishops at a private meeting at which they looked at new guidance on church marriages, but a number have taken action separately to tackle the problem.

In a letter to his diocese, the Reverend Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark, urged priests to be wary of migrants looking to get married who have obtained a common licence.

"The new regime does not apply to marriages by banns, common licence or special licence, which probably explains the increase in demand for bishops' common licences," he writes.

Significant abuse

"It is hard to avoid the conclusion that there is significant abuse of the availability of Church of England marriage in order to try to gain some immigration advantage."

Common licences are issued by registrars at the request of clerics. They do not need Home Office approval. While some may be granted to British couples looking to get married outside their parish, most tend to involve foreign nationals.

The diocese of Southwark, which covers Greater London south of the Thames, has seen the number of applications for common licences rise from 90 in 2004 to 493 last year.

Such dramatic increases are being repeated across the country. In the diocese of Ripon and Leeds, there has been a tripling from 24 applications in 2004 to 69 last year, and in London diocese they have gone from 159 to 383 over the same period.

Government figures show the number of suspected sham civil marriages has fallen from 3,500 in 2004 to as few as 400 last year following the Home Office crackdown.