AN INDIAN national from Southall who used a false passport and tried to enter into a sham marriage has been jailed, following an investigation by immigration officers.
Yogesh Kumar, aged 30, of Lady Margaret Road, was arrested for over-staying his visa moments before he was due to marry a 22-year-old Hungarian woman at Brent Register office on March 4.
Immigration officers discovered his passport contained a counterfeit visa stamp which made it look like he had the right to live and work in the UK. It is thought he had used the passport to get a job working as a cleaner.
Kumar’s Hungarian bride was questioned by immigration officers and released, but her groom was later charged with possessing a false identity document.
At a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court last Thursday (June 13) he pleaded guilty and a judge sentenced him to five months in prison.
Assistant director Sarah Burton, from the Home Office West London Immigration Enforcement team, said: "We are working closely with registrars across London to prevent abuse of the marriage system and where we have reason to believe a wedding may not be genuine we will, if necessary, intervene. Those who use false identity documents face prosecution and, as in this case, jail. We will seek to remove Kumar from the UK once he has served his sentence."
A sham marriage or civil partnership occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area as a means of trying to get long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits in the UK.
