Marriage referral and investigation scheme disruptions between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025
Updated 23 June 2026
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This note outlines the Home Office’s approach to identifying and disrupting sham marriages and civil partnerships, providing transparency on an area of ongoing operational and public interest.
Between 2024 and 2025, a total of 2,125 couples failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply with requirements under the Marriage and Civil Partnership Referral and Investigation Scheme. As a result, these proposed marriages or civil partnerships were prevented from proceeding. A further 381 couples were identified as non-genuine relationships and were referred for enforcement action.
Sham marriages are entered into to gain an immigration advantage rather than to form a genuine relationship. They are often associated with organised criminality and can involve the exploitation or coercion of vulnerable individuals.
Under the Marriage and Civil Partnership Referral and Investigation Scheme (Immigration Act 2014), suspected sham relationships are referred to the Home Office for assessment prior to a ceremony taking place. Where concerns are identified, Immigration Enforcement conducts interviews to test the genuineness of the relationship. These are delivered through a national network of reporting centres to ensure accessibility.
The Home Office has strengthened its approach in recent years by enhancing coordination, detection and disruption across the system. Immigration Enforcement now operates a national coordination and operational governance model, improving oversight, ensuring consistent decision-making, and enabling resources to be targeted more effectively against organised abuse and exploitation.
Marriage referral scheme disruption data:
| Calendar year | Recorded sham | Recorded non-compliant | Total disruptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | 59 | 67 |
| 2022 | 87 | 365 | 452 |
| 2023 | 140 | 591 | 731 |
| 2024 | 149 | 1,120 | 1,269 |
| 2025 | 232 | 1,005 | 1,237 |
Notes
The data and statistics contained within this notice are provisional and were taken from live operational systems on 05 June 2026. As a result, data may differ from previously published numbers and are subject to further revision and change. This may occur due to open records being updated and closed, or because of regular data quality and assurance exercises being undertaken.
The activity included in this release is specific to the Marriage Referral & Investigation Scheme and does not capture activity across the full range of Home Office investigation routes. As such, it should not be considered fully representative of the wider system response.
Reporting is subject to known limitations and gaps in end‑to‑end visibility, which restrict the ability to draw definitive conclusions. What the data does provide is a clear indication of adverse outcomes, specifically where individuals are identified prior to ceremony as attempting to enter into a sham marriage/CP or are prevented from proceeding following non‑compliance with Scheme requirements. Both outcomes represent effective disruption & deterrence.
A case is recorded as a ‘sham’ where, following investigation and on the balance of probabilities, the Home Office does not consider the relationship to be genuine.
‘Non-compliant’ refers to couples who fail, without reasonable excuse, to meet the requirements of the Scheme and are therefore prevented from proceeding with a marriage or civil partnership. This includes those who fail to attend a Home Office interview or withdraw their notice after being invited to attend.
‘Disruptions’ represents the combined total of ‘sham’ and ‘non-compliant’ cases.