The Conservatives want to make it harder for Britons to marry foreigners in a move that they say will protect vulnerable young women from abuse.
Potential spouses should be over 21 and be subject to English and citizenship tests before being allowed into Britain, Damian Green, the Shadow Immigration Minister, will say today.
The new policy, only the second announcement on immigration since David Cameron became Tory leader, would also prevent divorcées from marrying a second overseas person for up to ten years.
And the party says that British citizens who want to marry abroad should be made to give the Home Office notice of their plans six months in advance to prevent fraudulent and forced marriages.
The tightening of the immigration rules on marriage would help to stop teenage brides from being duped, according to Mr Green.
He said: “Too many young women are brought to England to marry when they cannot possibly integrate with our society. They need better protection.”
Of the 41,560 spouses and fiancées who came to Britain in 2005, 39 per cent travelled from the Indian sub-continent. More than 104,000 grants of settlement were made to spouses and dependents, an increase of 17 per cent on the previous year. Both husband and wife must be over 18 and wait two years before the foreign partner is given the right to stay in Britain.
The Tories claim that there is strong anecdotal evidence that men are abusing the probationary period, serially marrying – and then abandoning – young women to collect dowry money.
The Home Office concedes that the rules on marriage need tightening and recently raised the minimum age from 16 to 18. Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, has hinted that he is considering a further increase as well as imposing English tests.
The Conservatives say that he has failed to produce any concrete proposals.
Aides deny that the new immigration policy is being unveiled now simply to calm activists angered by David Cameron’s stance on grammar schools.
Requiring potential spouses to speak English is vital to ensure that they are not mistreated when they arrive, besides ensuring that their children flourish at schoool, Mr Green says.
Too many young women with little or no knowledge of English are being brought to Britain, according to Mr Green.
“It is not fair on them, and it is not good for their integration into this country. Families in which English is not spoken are much more likely to have children who struggle at school and adults who cannot engage in work.”
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has previously objected to suggestions that the minimum age of overseas spouses should be raised from 18 to 21.
Habib Rahman, its chief executive, has said that the council was “concerned it would prevent large numbers of genuine marriages”.
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