Home Office data lists 67 to 1,269 disruptions a year under the Marriage and Civil Partnership Referral and Investigation Scheme for 2021 to 2025, affecting couples who give notice of marriage or civil partnership.
Updated 8 October 2026. The data is provisional and was taken from live operational systems on 5 June 2026.
The Home Office has published figures on disruptions under the Marriage and Civil Partnership Referral and Investigation Scheme, which is set out in the Immigration Act 2014. The figures cover calendar years 2021 to 2025 and appear in the transparency data "Marriage referral and investigation scheme disruptions between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2025".
Under the scheme, suspected sham relationships are referred to the Home Office for assessment before a ceremony takes place. Where concerns are identified, Immigration Enforcement conducts interviews to test whether the relationship is genuine. Interviews are delivered through a national network of reporting centres.
The release counts two outcomes. A case is recorded as "sham" where, after investigation and on the balance of probabilities, the Home Office does not consider the relationship to be genuine. A case is recorded as "non-compliant" where a couple fails, without reasonable excuse, to meet the scheme's requirements, which includes failing to attend a Home Office interview or withdrawing their notice after being invited to attend. These couples are prevented from proceeding. "Disruptions" is the combined total of the two.
For 2024 and 2025 together, 2,125 couples failed without reasonable excuse to comply, and their proposed marriages or civil partnerships were prevented from proceeding. A further 381 couples were identified as non-genuine and referred for enforcement action.
The Home Office states that the figures cover only this scheme, not the full range of Home Office investigation routes, and should not be considered fully representative of the wider system. It also notes known limitations and gaps in end-to-end visibility, which restrict definitive conclusions. Figures may change as records are updated and quality checks are carried out.
What this means for applicants
Couples who give notice of marriage or civil partnership and are referred under the scheme may be interviewed before the ceremony. According to the Home Office, couples who fail without reasonable excuse to attend an interview, or who withdraw their notice after being invited to attend, are recorded as non-compliant and prevented from proceeding.