KembaraXtra - Legal Terms - Sham Marriage A sham marriage is a marriage entered into for an ulterior purpose rather than for the genuine purpose of establishing a marital relationship. The parties do not intend to live together as spouses or build a family life. Instead, the marriage is used to obtain another advantage, such as immigration status, financial benefits, or some other legal benefit. Under English law, a sham marriage is not automatically void simply because the parties never intended to cohabit. Provided the legal requirements for a valid marriage have been satisfied, the marriage will generally be regarded as legally valid despite the parties’ motives. However, a sham marriage may be voidable if genuine consent was lacking. This may occur where one party was deceived about the identity of the other spouse or where consent was obtained through duress or coercion. An example of duress is where a person enters into marriage solely to escape threats to life, physical safety, or liberty, such as escaping imprisonment under oppressive conditions in another country. In such circumstances, the marriage may be annulled because the apparent consent was not freely given. Modern immigration legislation specifically targets sham marriages entered into for immigration purposes. Criminal offences exist to deter individuals from using marriage as a means of unlawfully obtaining immigration status or circumventing immigration controls. Accordingly, while a sham marriage may remain legally valid unless annulled, those involved may nevertheless face criminal prosecution where the marriage was entered into for fraudulent immigration purposes.