Misuse of the Right to Family Reunification. Marriages of convenience and false declarations of parenthood (2012)
Не весь вміст на цій сторінці доступний українською мовою.
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Abstract
This study aims to provide an overview of the Norwegian legislation and regulations pertaining to the misuse of the right to family reunification for citizens of countries that are not members of the European Union or EEA/EFTA, and the experience with attempted and actual misuse. It represents the Norwegian contribution to the focussed study on this subject prepared by the European Migration Network (EMN). Unless otherwise stated the information refers to the situation in March 2012.
The report has been written by staff members of the Department of Managed Migration (OPA) in the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). Unless otherwise stated the statistics presented have been prepared by UDI’s Statistics and Analysis Division (ESA).
The numbering of the sections refers to the template provided by EMN for the national contributions. In this template there is a systematic distinction between marriages of convenience and false declarations of parenthood.
Marriages of Convenience
Directive 2003/86/EC has not been implemented in Norwegian domestic law. However, it has been considered important in the development of the current legal framework in Norway, given the objective to harmonize Norwegian law with EU-law.
In the Norwegian immigration regulations marriage of convenience is recognized as one of the possible means of fraudulently obtaining the right to reside in Norway, and eventually also obtaining Norwegian citizenship. Thus this is one concern when examining an application for a residence permit based on marriage or cohabitation with a person who has the right to live in Norway. Available statistics on rejected applications as well as on subsequent divorces suggest that the issue is a real one, but that it involves only a small number of all couples applying for a residence permit on the basis of marriage.
False Declarations of Parenthood
In the Norwegian immigration regulations a false declaration of parenthood is recognized as one of the possible means of fraudulently obtaining the right to reside in Norway, and eventually also obtaining Norwegian citizenship. Thus this is one concern when examining an application for a residence permit based on parenthood, and DNA testing is offered when available documentation is judged to be inadequate. Following the introduction of this measure, the issue is believed to be of limited importance numerically.