Case No. UKUT-00180-(IAC)

: For the Respondent: Mr T Melvin, Senior Home Officer Presenting Officer For the Claimant: Ms D Ofei-Kwatia, Counsel, instructed by Bedfords Solicitors 1. It will be for an appellant to prove that their proxy marriage was in accordance with the laws of the country in which it took place, and that both parties were free to marry. The burden of proof may be discharged by production of a marriage certificate issued by a competent authority of the country in which the marriage took place, and reliance upon the statutory presumption of validity consequent to such production. The reliability of marriage certificates and issuance by a competent authority are matters for an appellant to prove. 2. The means of proving that a proxy marriage was contracted according to the laws of the country in which it took place is not limited to the production of a marriage certificate, as is recognised in Kareem (Proxy marriages – EU law)