15 Aug 2012, 8.19AM
Original thread created on 10 Jul 2012, 4.06PM
Several proposed changes to the Immigration Act were introduced in Parliament yesterday. One of the proposed amendments was the criminalising of sham marriages, with the amendments expanded to include middlemen and criminal syndicates who facilitate such illicit practises.
Currently, sham marriages are not a criminal offence and people suspected of it are charged with providing false information to get immigration facilities and people found guilty can be fined up to $4,000, jailed up to one year, or both. Under the amendments, people found guilty of such marriages will face a maximum fine of $10,000, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.
Other proposed amendments include making it an offence to manufacture, traffic and possess paraphernalia used to forge immigration documents and empowering the ICA to cancel the re-entry permit of Singapore Permanent Residents who have contravened any law.
The proposed changes are in line with recent government measures to tighten the requirements for immigration.
Share with us your views on these changes.
Updated as of 14 Aug 2012
Fake brides or grooms who tie the knot in “marriages of convenience” as well as syndicate leaders and middlemen who arrange such unions will face a maximum fine of $10,000, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both, if found guilty under a tough new Bill passed on 13 August 2012. The Bill also introduced several other changes to the Immigration Act. These include making it an offence to manufacture, traffic and possess tools for forging immigration documents and the empowering of the Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to cancel the re-entry permit of foreigners’ permanent resident status if, for example, they break the law.
Read the Straits Times’ article, “
Tougher penalties aim to stamp out sham marriages” for more details.