Certificate Of Approval Scheme Undergoes Changes

27 Jul 2010

On 26 July 2010, the UK government has announced its intention to abolish the 'certificate of approval' scheme as it is no longer an effective method of preventing sham marriage. Changes made following court rules weakened the ‘certificate of approval’ scheme.

In case an applicant is subject to immigration control. The certificate of approval scheme remains in operation until the Remedial Order comes into force which is expected to come into effect in late 2010 or early 2011. Until further notice, the current process needs to be followed.

Earlier, any migrant who is already in the UK and is subject to immigration control must apply for a Certificate of approval before they can get married or register a civil partnership in UK (unless they are getting married within the Anglican Church.

Since 31 July 2009, migrants who applied for a certificate of approval between 2005 and 2009 have been able to apply for their fee to be repaid. They must show that paying the fee caused them real financial hardship at the time of payment.

The formal repayment scheme comes to an end on 31 July 2010. This date has been advertised since the start of the repayment scheme. All requests for repayment received by 31 July 2010 will be processed under the terms of the scheme.