Marriage visa age to rise as part of tougher immigration controls
HOME Secretary John Reid today announced plans to "strengthen" UK immigration controls, including stricter rules on those coming in to the country to marry.
He is to raise the minimum age at which foreigners can receive marriage visas from 18 to 21.
His officials calculate this will mean about 3000 fewer people - mainly women from the Indian sub-continent - will come to the UK.
The government, which recently shelved plans to outlaw forced marriages, will also bring in confidential interviews for fiancees and spouses entering Britain to check they have been not forced into a wedding.
Mr Reid also promised tougher identity checks on people entering Britain to make sure that people are who they say they are.
This will be linked to the "next step" in using electronic data such as fingerprints and iris recognition - on UK passports and entry documents.
But the plans provoked an angry reaction from Habib Rahman, the chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
He said: "The new rules could effectively deny UK settlement and citizenship to children in these families indeterminately, while the fees relative to these groups' lower incomes are swingeing."
He is to raise the minimum age at which foreigners can receive marriage visas from 18 to 21.
His officials calculate this will mean about 3000 fewer people - mainly women from the Indian sub-continent - will come to the UK.
The government, which recently shelved plans to outlaw forced marriages, will also bring in confidential interviews for fiancees and spouses entering Britain to check they have been not forced into a wedding.
Mr Reid also promised tougher identity checks on people entering Britain to make sure that people are who they say they are.
This will be linked to the "next step" in using electronic data such as fingerprints and iris recognition - on UK passports and entry documents.
But the plans provoked an angry reaction from Habib Rahman, the chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
He said: "The new rules could effectively deny UK settlement and citizenship to children in these families indeterminately, while the fees relative to these groups' lower incomes are swingeing."
posted by zibmac at 11:10 PM
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