Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman is investigating 136 suspicious marriage reports as the department cracks down on unions of convenience.
Mervin Manderson, WORC deputy director of compliance and enforcement, confirmed that from January to June the department had received 150 reports for investigation into marriages, with 136 still being scrutinised.
“No charges have been laid in regards to marriages of convenience; however, several investigations have revealed that there were marriages that were unstable, or broken down,” he told the Cayman Compass in a recent email.
Reports on those marriages, he said, will be provided to the Caymanian Status and Permanent Residency Board for review and consideration for “revocation of the residency facilities”.
Sham marriages and civil partnerships are those “entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws or obtaining other benefits,” according to a Ministry of Border Control and Labour press release.
Manderson said the WORC compliance team continues to work closely with marriage and civil partnership officers to address suspicious activity.
“This relationship and the ability to improve detection of suspicious marriages or civil partnerships should only be positively impacted, with the impending Regulations that are being drafted,” Manderson explained.
New regulations critical to crackdown
In May, Cabinet approved the drafting of the new Immigration (Arrangements of Convenience) Regulations 2024, aimed at weeding out people in sham marriages and cracking down on marriage officials who facilitate them.
The new regulations will also empower WORC to take action against those abusing the system.
“These regulations will provide additional guidance to marriage and civil partnership officers in regards to the information that that they should be collecting from couples, prior to deciding to marry or enter persons into a legally recognized union,” Manderson said.
The introduction of the regulations, the ministry said last month, will be “a decisive move to strengthen the integrity of marital/civil partnership unions”.
Last year, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson called on Caymanians to stop “selling” their birthright as he denounced the rise in sham marriages when he raised the matter in Parliament in December.
He warned couples in these marriages to “go to the court and file for divorce before we get you”, as WORC continues to crack down on immigration-related marriages of convenience.
In 2023, Manderson said he had received 930 naturalisation applications, 257 of which were through marriage.
“Cursory checks have uncovered cases of concern,” he said in December.
The Marriage Act (2010 Revision) and Civil Partnership Act (2020) lack explicit provisions addressing arrangements of convenience, the border control ministry release said.
The new regulations should address the gaps in the law.
The proposed legislative changes will also establish a clear legal framework for officials to report any suspicions that may arise during their interactions with couples in question.
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