Number of sham marriages declining

The number of marriages of convenience is decreasing in Belgium, reports Le Soir. The number of cases handled by the prosecution has dropped from 5,770 in 2011 to 4,711 in 2012, a decrease of nearly 25%, according to latest statistics supplied by the College of Attorneys-General. The Prosecutor-General of Mons, however, recommends the utmost caution in interpreting these figures, noting that "it is still difficult to offer a rational explanation for this decline. " For the foreign affairs ministry, the decline is undoubtedly due to the exchange of information between communes, police forces, prosecutors and the immigration office, which helps fight weddings of convenience.

Fraudsters nowadays increasingly shun marriages of convenience so as to evade dedicated control teams, and choose the legal cohabitation option instead. The certificate of legal cohabitation grants right of abode to illegal aliens but, unlike marriage, is not subject to a preliminary investigation by the commune. New measure will soon be implemented, however, enabling communes to verify the authenticity of legal cohabitations; offenders will face the same sanctions as bogus married couples.