This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Amend the forced marriage act to require UK registration of foreign marriages.
Sajid Javid MP has proposed to raise the marriageable age to 18. The way around it is to take an under 18 abroad to where it is legal & force the victim to marry against their will. This could be a relative, or it could be a marriage with a large age difference. The couple then comes to the UK.
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Compulsory registration at a UK registry office on arrival would help stop this. The Registry office would ideally have the powers to demand DNA testing to see if both parties are related or to see proof of the age gap or to see if either party had been forced against their will. If need be the police or Forced Marriage Unit can be called in.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action. We understand that you are concerned about forced marriage, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.
Marriages or civil partnerships are only recognised in the UK if the couple followed the correct process in the country where they got married, and the marriage or civil partnership would be allowed under UK law. This means that marriages such as those you describe would not be recognised in UK law.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.