Sham marriages on the rise as people try to get Aussie visas

The number of foreign fraudsters trying to get partner visas to Australia has doubled over the past two years with authorities uncovering bogus marriages, birth certificates and relationships.

EXCLUSIVE: The number of foreign fraudsters trying to obtain partner visas to allow them to stay in Australia has more than doubled in just two years.

Bogus relationships and fake ­marriage and birth certificates are being uncovered at an alarming rate.

In the past four years, 1500 foreign nationals have had applications for partner visas rejected after being caught out lying or with fake papers.

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In 2015-16, 278 applications for the sought-after visas were rejected. But by 2017-18, that total had soared to 668, ­according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws.

The revelations come weeks after the Australian Border Force shut down a fake-marriages syndicate.

Foreign nationals who have had ­partner-visa applications recently ­rejected include:

A WOMAN accused of paying $80,000 to a man to enter into a fake marriage, who later admitted she was pregnant to a different man;

A MELBOURNE resident whose short-stay visa was running out, who then married a man with Australian residency who was living abroad; and

A MAN who came to Australia on a fake passport and who then tried to obtain a partner visa.

For three years, authorities have been using a new hi-tech system to identify those taking ­welfare ­payments as singles, despite sponsoring overseas partners.

The migration claims and welfare history of tens of thousands of ­people living here on partner visas have been examined under the data- matching program.

Partner visas cost about $7000 but remain extremely popular, with thousands of applicants waiting to be processed at any one time. Border Force and other investigators are rigorous in their interviews to establish that ­relationships are genuine.

A spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs said authorities investigated all allegations of fake relationships and marriage scams.

“Fraud can ­include false or misleading ­information provided by an ­applicant or sponsor, document fraud such as bogus marriage or birth certificates, or identity fraud,” the spokesman said.

The number of foreign fraudsters trying get partner visas to Australia has more than doubled in just two years. Digitally altered image

“Most fraud in the partner program occurs in the form of contrived relationships, where parties make false statements and claims around the nature of their claimed relationship.”

The department used ­“various internal processes” to catch out fraudulent visa ­applications, he said.

“The process for lodging a partner visa application is ­intended to be as thorough as possible, to enable the department to undertake a rigorous assessment of the applicant against the legislative requirements for grant of a visa,” the spokesman added.

The alleged head of a ­Sydney fake-marriage syndicate, Indian national Jagjit Singh, 32, last month faced a NSW court charged over four sham marriages.

According to Australian authorities, at least 160 non-citizens had their partner visa applications rejected after being linked to the Singh ­syndicate.

India is one of the biggest sources of partner visa applications, with about 4000 a year processed in New Delhi.

Over the past four years, a total of 1498 applications for partner visas have been thrown out due to fraud.

But some of the would-be scammers have not given up easily, even trying to convince the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to allow them to stay.

The tribunal has come under fire for overturning ­deportation orders on criminals.

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