14th August, 2008

To tackle forced marriages for young people, the UK government's Home Office has introduced stringent new rules on marriage visas.

The minimum age at which foreign nationals can apply for a UK marriage visa is to rise from 18 to 21. This is aimed at preventing girls and young women, mainly from Asian countries, from being pressured into marriage – sometimes to older relatives or strangers – in order to obtain residency in the UK.

The move comes after a two-month consultation by the government into ways of preventing forced marriages. Under the new rules, anyone abusing the marriage visa system will be removed from the UK. The UK Borders Agency has a new power to revoke people's right to stay in the country. Spouses will also be asked to sign an agreement that they learn basic English.

There will also be checks that people are entering the country on marriage visa are doing so of their own free will.

Also, Britons will have to register their plans to sponsor a marriage visa – and name the prospective partner – before the leave the country, to clamp down on pressure into marriage while overseas.

Border and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said : 'British citizens have the right to marry whoever they choose. But we want newcomers to succeed in our society and sign-up to the standards we have in common. That means freedom, not being forced to marry someone, and it means newcomers quickly acquiring a command of English, with consequences for those who break the rules.'

Critics say the move discriminates against immigrants and threatens to keep those in real and happy marriages apart. But the government argues it is protecting vulnerable people.

In 2005, the Home Office said 5,140 people under 21 entered the UK either as spouses or for marriage – 35 were aged 16 and 60 were aged 17. A phone line set by the Home Office to help young people escape unwelcome marriages receives 5,000 calls each year, 100 are from children and some are as young as 13. Nearly a third of the cases dealt with involved people aged 18 to 21.

The marriage visa route can be abused. In 2006, 47,000 people entered Britain as a spouse or fiance(e), more than double the number a decade earlier.