A Slovak bride was arrested along with her Pakistani groom and five wedding guests in Sheffield, United Kingdom, in September following a UK Border Agency operation targeting suspected sham marriages.
Officers from the Yorkshire specialist Immigration Crime Team interrupted the wedding ceremony at Sheffield Register Office, Town Hall, as it was about to start.
The 29-year-old Pakistani man and the 35-year-old Slovak woman were arrested and handcuffed before being taken to a police station for further questioning. Five other guests were also detained pending further questioning.
This operation is part of planned nationwide action by the UK Border Agency to tackle illegal working, sham marriages, bogus colleges and organised immigration crime.
Steve Lamb, Operations Director for the UK Border Agency in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber said:
“We will not tolerate immigration abuse and our immigration crime teams are cracking down on sham marriages all over the country.
Our main aim is to identify the organisers who profit from and fuel the demand for sham marriages, and destroy their criminal business.
“The UK Border Agency is working closely with registrars to identify marriages that may not be genuine. We do not expect vicars or registrars to be experts in immigration law or spotting forged documents – that’s our job. But if they have any suspicions about whether a relationship is genuine, we would urge them to get in touch with us.”