Ghanaian woman wins UK residency despite proxy marriage

Proxy marriages are recognized under Ghanaian law and registration was not a legal requirement.

A Ghanaian woman has been granted the right to remain in the UK after an immigration tribunal ruled in favor of her proxy marriage, which took place 12 days before the Brexit deadline, despite her and her husband’s absence from the ceremony.

The tribunal was told that Elizabeth Owusu claimed to have married Tamba Dumbar Matrui, an EU citizen in the UK, on December 19, 2020, just days before the UK officially left the European Union. Under immigration rules, individuals who can prove they were legally married to an EU national before Brexit are entitled to apply for UK residency.

Ms. Owusu informed the tribunal that her marriage was conducted via proxy in Ghana, meaning neither she nor her husband attended the ceremony in person. However, the marriage was not legally registered until May 7, 2021, more than four months after Brexit had taken effect.

Lower Tribunal Blocks Residency, Upper Tribunal Overturns Ruling

Initially, a lower-tier tribunal ruled that Ms. Owusu was not entitled to remain in the UK, citing the fact that she had not obtained a registration certificate before the Brexit deadline and had not lived in a “relationship akin to marriage” with her husband before December 31, 2020.

However, an upper tribunal overturned the decision, ruling that proxy marriages are recognized under Ghanaian law and that immediate registration was not a legal requirement.

Tribunal Judges Sarah Pinder and Jessica Smeaton ruled in favor of Ms. Owusu, granting her the right to remain in the UK on humanitarian protection and human rights grounds.

A Growing Trend in Immigration Rulings?

The case adds to a growing list of controversial immigration rulings, where foreign nationals have successfully challenged deportation orders on human rights grounds.

Recent cases include:

An Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets.
A Pakistani pedophile, convicted of child sex offenses, who won the right to stay in the UK because deportation was ruled “unduly harsh” on his children.

According to government reports, there are currently 34,169 outstanding immigration appeals, with many citing human rights violations. These cases pose a significant challenge to the UK government’s efforts to fast-track the deportation of illegal migrants.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the ruling, arguing that sham marriages should not be used to bypass immigration laws.

“If this is a sham marriage concocted for immigration purposes, it should certainly not be allowed to enable this person to stay. All too often, immigration judges make decisions that defy common sense on the most tenuous of grounds. This may be another such case.”

The ruling follows a similar case last month, in which a Ghanaian tourist was granted UK residency after organizing a proxy wedding in December 2018.

Because the marriage lasted for three years, she was eligible to claim settled status under the Brexit deal’s EU settlement scheme. This was possible because her husband, a German national, qualified for EU settled status, making her eligible for the same residency rights.

The ruling has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of UK immigration laws, particularly concerning marriage-based residency claims.

As the government moves to tighten loopholes, cases like Ms. Owusu’s continue to spark debate over whether immigration courts are prioritizing human rights over legal integrity.