Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber

[2024] UKUT 71 (AAC)

Fecha: 11-Ene-2024

The information request that led to the IC decision notice and its context

The information request that led to the IC decision notice and its context

The IC decision notice related to information requested by PLP from the Home Office (“HO”) (a public authority) in November 2020 about a “triage model” operated by HO’s ‘marriage referral assessment unit’ (“MRAU”). Amongst other things PLP requested copies of

“any equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments completed in relation to the model”; and

“any internal policies, guidance or standard operating procedures which deal with the process of handling marriage referrals and the use of the model”.

Context for this is provided by one of the documents before the FTT: Marriage Investigations, a HO guidance document, version 6.0, 30 December 2021. This explains:

under section 24 and 24A of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, a sham marriage is one in which all of the following apply:

• one or both of the parties is not a ‘relevant national’ (British, Irish, EU settled status)

• there is no genuine relationship between the parties to the marriage

• either, or both, of the parties enter into the marriage for the purpose of circumventing UK immigration controls

sham marriages are viewed as a significant abuse of the immigration rules. HO investigates and takes action against individuals suspected of assisting others to engage in sham marriage activity, and against those whose relationships are suspected to have been established to enable either, or both, of the parties to circumvent UK immigration controls

Part 4 of the Immigration Act 2014 introduced a referral and investigation scheme for proposed marriages and civil partnerships across the UK. Under the sham marriage referral and investigation scheme, all proposed marriages and civil partnerships in the UK will be referred to HO by the registration official if they involve:

• a person who is not a relevant national and who has limited or no immigration status in the UK

• a person who is not a relevant national and who does not provide specified evidence that they are exempt from the scheme

MRAU are responsible for initial enquiries in relation to the sham marriage referral and investigation scheme. Referrals from England and Wales are referred electronically from the registration officers through data feeds and include information provided by the couple when they gave notice and, if appropriate, a section 24 or 24A report setting out the registration officer’s suspicions about the marriage. This information then enters a triage process, where is it assessed against risk factors to determine the potential risk of the couple engaging in a sham marriage. Referrals from Northern Ireland and Scotland are triaged manually by MRAU against the same risk factors.

following triage, all referrals are allocated either a:

• ‘pass’ or ‘no extension’ outcome indicating no interest in investigating the relationship at this time - the couple’s notice period will not be extended

• ‘fail’ or ‘extension’ outcome, indicating there are factors raising a reasonable suspicion that the relationship is not genuine, and there is a need to investigate the relationship further - the couple’s notice period will be extended for that purpose.

MRAU process these outcomes and are required to send letters to the couple confirming whether they will be investigated, within 28 days of the couple giving notice to marry or form a civil partnership. The letters ask the relevant parties to comply with requirements of the investigation and to confirm their contact details and explains that failing to comply without a reasonable excuse means the couple are unlikely to be granted permission to marry.