Minimum 21 years age requirement for foreign spouses declared unlawful

The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, stated that the new rule would reduce the number of forced marriages. Supreme court judge, Lord Wilson said, “I would acknowledge that the change in rules is rationally connected to the objective of deterring forced marriages. But the number of forced marriages which it deters is highly debatable. What seems clear is that the number of unforced marriages which it obstructs from their intended development for up to three years vastly exceeds the number of forced marriages which it deters”.

UK Immigration Minister Damian Green criticised the High Court Judgement: “This is another very disappointing judgement, which overturns a policy that exists and is judged to be consistent with the ECHR in other European countries. The judges themselves agreed increasing the marriage visa age had a legitimate aim. We believe this decision will put vulnerable people at risk of being forced into marriage. We will come forward with our response in due course.”

Commonwealth Contractors

At Commonwealth Contractors we partner with OISC Registered Private Immigration Firms and Tier 2 Licensed Healthcare and IT Consultancies who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor an individual on a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). If you are a highly skilled International professional and you would like to work in the UK Commonwealth Contractors can help. Our OISC Registered Partners specialise in Tier 1 General (formerly Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) visa applications and can assist those highly skilled individuals that either wish to apply or extend a Tier 1 General Visa.

For more Information call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get right back to you. Please see other areas of the Commonwealth Contractors site for interesting articles on tax, immigration and contracting.

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