---
title: "The Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships) (Amendment) Regulations 2026"
id: aaf1cf8a-9e80-4232-9746-3d4088a0a506
authority: uk
place: "United Kingdom"
applies_also_from: []
kind: regulation
in_force: true
publisher_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/85
attribution: "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
solon_url: https://solon.orangecat.ch/law/aaf1cf8a-9e80-4232-9746-3d4088a0a506
language: en
in_force_from: 2026-02-25
date_basis: publisher
status: consolidated
source_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/85/data.xml
read_on: 2026-11-10
sha256: 75ecffb4582b234b46c6ba292169316d267f964d1c66ef4b302314557b2d5a1a
provisions: 5
---

# The Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

## Title and introductory text {#prelims}

2026 No. 85
MARRIAGE, ENGLAND AND WALES
MARRIAGE, SCOTLAND
MARRIAGE, NORTHERN IRELAND
CIVIL PARTNERSHIP, ENGLAND AND WALES
CIVIL PARTNERSHIP, SCOTLAND
CIVIL PARTNERSHIP, NORTHERN IRELAND
IMMIGRATION
The Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Made
29th January 2026
Laid before Parliament
2nd February 2026
Coming into force
25th February 2026
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 28G(2), (3)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Marriage Act 1949 (“the 1949 Act”), section 9E(2), (3)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) and sections 54(2), 54(3), 60(1), (2)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f), and paragraph 3(1), (2)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of Schedule 5 to, the Immigration Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”).
In accordance with section 28G(5) of the 1949 Act and section 9E(6) of the 2004 Act and sections 54(7) and 60(3) of the 2014 Act, the Secretary of State has consulted the Registrar General for England and Wales, the Registrar General for Scotland and the Registrar General for Northern Ireland before making these Regulations.

## 1 Citation and commencement {#regulation-1}

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 25th February 2026.

## 2 Extent {#regulation-2}

(1) Regulations 1 and 2 extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
(2) Regulation 3 extends to England and Wales.
(3) Regulation 4 extends to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

## 3 Amendment of the Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships Regulations 2015 {#regulation-3}

(1) The Referral of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships Regulations 2015 are amended as follows.
(2) In Schedule 1 (evidence of particular immigration status), for paragraph 2(2) substitute—
(2) Instead of the evidence referred to in paragraph 2(1)—
(a) the party may provide a notice accompanied by the evidence specified in paragraph (2A); or
(b) paragraphs (2B) to (2D) must be satisfied.
(2A) The evidence specified in this paragraph is a letter from the Secretary of State confirming that the party is exempt from immigration control for the purposes of section 49 of the 2014 Act.
(2B) The party must provide a notice accompanied by—
(a) evidence of the party’s date of birth; and
(b) a valid share code, giving access to the party’s online UK Visas and Immigration account.
(2C) The party’s UK Visas and Immigration account must display a digital record demonstrating that the applicant is exempt from immigration control by virtue of a provision listed in the left-hand column of the table in paragraph 2(1).
(2D) At the request of the superintendent registrar, a further share code must be generated and provided to the superintendent registrar, allowing access to the party’s online UK Visas and Immigration account for the period specified in that request.
.
(3) In paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 1, after the definition of “force” and “sending State” insert—
“online UK Visas and Immigration account” means an online account maintained by the Secretary of State that allows individuals to access, manage and share their immigration status digitally,
“share code” means electronically generated code to allow a third party to access information about an individual’s immigration status.
.

## 4 Amendment of the Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland and Northern Ireland) (Administrative) Regulations 2015 {#regulation-4}

(1) The Sham Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland and Northern Ireland) (Administrative) Regulations 2015 are amended as follows.
(2) In Schedule 1 (evidence of particular immigration status) for paragraph 2(2) substitute—
(2) Instead of the evidence referred to in paragraph 2(1)—
(a) the party may provide a notice accompanied by the evidence specified in paragraph (2A); or
(b) paragraphs (2B) to (2D) must be satisfied.
(2A) The evidence specified in this paragraph is a letter from the Secretary of State confirming that the party is exempt from immigration control for the purposes of section 49 of the 2014 Act.
(2B) The party must provide a notice accompanied by—
(a) evidence of the party’s date of birth; and
(b) a valid share code, giving access to the party’s online UK Visas and Immigration account.
(2C) The party’s UK Visas and Immigration account must display a digital record demonstrating that the applicant is exempt from immigration control by virtue of a provision listed in the left-hand column of the table in paragraph 2(1).
(2D) At the request of the superintendent registrar, a further share code must be generated and provided to the superintendent registrar, allowing access to the party’s online UK Visas and Immigration account for the period specified in that request.
.
(3) In paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 1, after the definition of “force” and “sending State” insert—
“online UK Visas and Immigration account” means an online account maintained by the Secretary of State that allows individuals to access, manage and share their immigration status digitally,
“share code” means an electronically generated code to allow a third party to access information about an individual’s immigration status.
.