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Increase in marriage age is unnecessary and discriminatory - 1 Dec 2008

New marriage laws could inhibit marriage and lead to misery

Speaking at a seminar on new issues in immigration law in Cardiff, Cathays Park, on 1 December hosted by the Welsh National Government Keith Best, IAS Chief Executive, condemned the recent change requiring spouses/partners in the UK and those seeking to join them to have to be aged at least 21.

“We all support measures aimed at curbing forced marriages but there is no substantial evidence to suggest that this measure will have that effect” said Keith Best, Chief Executive of IAS. “There are already many restrictions on persons settled in the UK wishing to marry a foreigner and this affects deeply the ability of people to choose freely their partner. The Government should be careful not to introduce new restrictions which may have the effect of inhibiting marriage and causing misery.

“In April 2003 the age at which a person could sponsor a partner to enter the UK for the purpose of marriage was raised from 16 to 18 years. In December 2004 the age of spouses seeking entry to the UK was also increased to 18 years. These measures were introduced ostensibly to help tackle the problem of forced marriage with the aim of giving young people extra time to mature which would help them to resist inappropriate family pressure to marry. Yet in June 2008 the Home Affairs Committee concluded that “We have not seen sufficient evidence to determine whether or not raising the age of sponsorship would have a deterrent effect on forced marriage. Given the potential risks involved, we urge the Government to ensure that any changes it proposes to its policy on visa application procedures in respect of sponsorship are based on further research and conclusive evidence as to the effect of those changes. This evidence must demonstrate that any changes will not inadvertently discriminate against any particular ethnic groups.” All we have seen from the Government in response in justification is that reports of forced marriage peak sharply at ages 18 and above and by age 21 begin to decline sharply. This is hardly conclusive evidence based only on reports and not actual forced marriage data. Only two other EU countries have such restrictions: the Netherlands (age 21 from 1 November 2004) and Denmark (age 24 from 1 July 2002).

“As a result of the prior consultation (in which IAS set out its objections) at least the Government has temporarily dropped the proposed pre-entry requirement for spouses to pass an English language test before being given entry clearance. We claimed that this would be discriminatory against citizens of those countries where English is not widely spoken or there is only limited access to good quality English language classes. The new rules require a spouse to give an undertaking to learn English and then to demonstrate in due course that they have done so – but the Government has signified that they intend in the future to bring in the full English language pre-entry test. Even the new test introduced on 27 November has financial implications – the applicants will have to show entry clearance officers what steps they plan to take rapidly after entry to the UK to learn English. No public funding is available for spouses before they have been here for twelve months so plans should show that they have the means to fund the learning they need. Insufficient or inadequate steps could be grounds for refusal of a visa. They will have to show the UK Border Agency soon after arrival in the UK that, where required to do so, they are learning English, honouring the promise made to the entry clearance officer. Failure to prove this could be grounds for leave to stay in the UK being cancelled.

“These measures are potentially discriminatory and may well be challenged in the courts.”