File on 4 Investigates - Fake Marriages - The real story

Fake Marriages - The real story

Download Fake Marriages - The real story

File on 4 Investigates how Immigration Enforcement officers are tackling sham marriages. Claire Jones follows Home Office officials as they apprehend people entering into, and organising fake marriages in order to circumvent the UK’s immigration laws. She discovers details of criminal gangs charging people up to £30,000 for a partner and 'marriage pack', a set of photos and documents designed to create a convincing back story of the fake relationship. After File on 4 Investigates asked the Home Office why more statistics are not available on suspected fake marriages, they have now committed to regularly publishing these numbers 'in due course'.

Presenter: Claire Jones
Producer: Ashley Kennedy
Editor: Tara McDermott
Production Co-ordinators: Tim Fernley & Tom Dunster
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford

Published on Tuesday, 23rd June 2026.

Available Podcasts from File on 4 Investigates

Subscribe to File on 4 Investigates

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the File on 4 Investigates webpage.