Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

UK will recognize Gay Marriages performed in other countries ?

Options
  • 19-03-2004 12:27pm
    #1
    yellum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,025 ✭✭✭


    The UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG) have just announced on Gay.com's Immigration message board that a same-sex marriage from another country is valid in the UK if they are legal and valid in the country in which it was obtained.

    UKLGIG have sought, and finally obtained, confirmation from UK Visas, the joint Home Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office Unit which runs the UK's visa service through British diplomatic posts overseas.

    The full text of the UKLGIG posting is as follows:

    18.3.2004: "UK visas" confirms that same sex marriage is valid for immigration purposes if it is valid under the laws of the country in which it was contracted.

    In a website entry dated 8.1.04, under the heading "DIPLOMATIC SERVICE PROCEDURES - ENTRY CLEARANCE - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS", UK Visas (a joint Home Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office Unit which runs the UK's visa service through British diplomatic posts overseas) stated the following:

    Para 13.10 - Validity of marriages

    A marriage is valid under the laws of the United Kingdom if it is valid under the laws of the country in which it was contracted and if both parties had the capacity to enter into it. The fact that a particular marriage could not have been contracted in the United Kingdom is not in itself relevant.

    UKLGIG have since then been attempting to obtain confirmation (from UKVisas) of the practical effect of this instruction and the head of UKLGIG's legal subcommittee received the following response late on 17.3.04:

    "On the basis of the above-mentioned extract, our Entry Clearance Officers are currently under instructions to consider same sex marriages as valid under the Immigration Rules providing that the marriage was conducted in a country where such a marriage was valid under the law of the country where and when it took place and that the parties had full capacity to marry. That a similar marriage could not be conducted under UK law is irrelevant."

    Although it is expected that new UK Partnership legislation will allow mutual recognition of the legal partnership laws of other countries, this instruction effectively pre-empts the legislation in this respect.

    THE TIMING AND CONTENT OF THIS CHANGE IS UNEXPECTED. BECAUSE OF IT'S CONTENTIOUS NATURE, UKLGIG FELT IT NECESSARY TO CONFIRM IT OFFICIALLY. IT HAS, MOREOVER, BEEN POINTED OUT BY UKVISAS THAT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE IMMIGRATION RULES RESTS WITH THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE OF THE HOME OFFICE AND THOSE RULES CAN CHANGE.


Advertisement