[Daphne – Marriages of convenience happen all the time, Claude. It depends what sort of convenience. It’s not ‘marriages of convenience’ that are against the law, but marrying so as to obtain residence.]

From the information given in the article it is quite obvious that this is a marriage of convenience and hence an abuse of the system.

[Daphne – From the information given in the article it is quite obvious, to me if not to you, that it’s what many people would recognise as a fairly standard marriage, Claude, and not a marriage of convenience. What are you suggesting here – that all couples who row, make up, walk out, return, separate, divorce, get back together, whatever, are ‘marriages of convenience’? In a marriage of convenience there tend to be no rows at all, simply because there is no emotional engagement whatsoever.]

Granted that these situations are always going to be uncomfortable and to a certain extent you never know the truth but it would be wrong to let abuse happen without at least trying to do something about it. The nationality is irrelevant.

If you are genuine in that you fall in love with a Maltese person and want to get married then there should be the least possible red tape but if you are found to be abusing a system to circumvent rules and regulations then I think justice needs to be made also to ensure that others are dissuaded.

[Daphne – I hate to break it to you, Claude, but marriage is not predicated on being in love. In fact, being in love doesn’t even come into it, so much so that NOT being in love at the time of marriage is not grounds for declaring that marriage null and void, either by the Church tribunal or the civil courts. Marriage is a contract, and it’s absolutely nobody else’s business why that contract is entered into, nor is it relevant.]

The couples they should focus on are those couples who do not marry simply for the woman to be able to claim single mother benefits. There are so many of these.

Many who have a good income and just do this because they are experts at fleecing the system.

This is not just abuse but theft and those caught doing it should be treated as thieves so less.

Something else. I don’t know if this still happens but eight years ago the marriage registry acted like big brother and actually did not give me permission to marry my wife!

The official at the marriage registry actually advised me to consult a lawyer to ask him/her to protest this decision with the attorney general. I did so and I was given the permission to wed my wife.

They also tried to dissuade me in bringing the argument that she could go to her country and divorce me and (at that time, since there was no divorce in Malta) I could do nothing, therefore I could end up divorced whether I wanted or not.

My and my lawyer’s reply was that I had the right to marry whoever I wanted. My lawyer had also warned the marriage registry/attorney general that she was ready to pursue this in the courts and even at the European court of human rights if needed. This wasn’t 1900 but 2004.

And what about the issuing of visas by the police immigration section? Would you believe that they had actually refused to issue my (future at the time) wife with a visa to enter Malta after I had explained in an official letter that we would get married while she was here?

When I had asked for the reason why they had refused the visa, the official convenient reply was that they could not tell me due to data protection reasons.

So the police actually refused my future wife permission to enter Malta for us to get married and I did not even have the right to know why.

Tey even refused a visa to her parents to visit us for the birth of our second child after I had again supplied them with all the documentation required, including proof of the fact that my in-laws had already visited Malta for our wedding with no incident, the fact that they both work and also after officially assuming financial responsibility for them during their stay.

And this was only three and a half years ago.

The case he was referring to was a married couple made up of a Danish man and an Indian woman. He maintained that if they would reside in Denmark (which they were not at the time that this was related to me) and they had marital problems he could get rid of her very easily because she was not Danish.

I found this incredible at the time and I can’t believe that it’s happening in Malta. At least I hope not.

These same people would be at the forefront demanding help if they ever are in a sticky situation.