Asylum: Polygamy
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims were granted to people in polygamous marriages in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Norris
It is government policy to prevent the formation of polygamous and polyandrous marriages in the UK. Only one spouse can be included as a dependant, with any subsequent spouses being unable to apply as a partner unless the other spouse has died or the marriage has been dissolved, in accordance with Section 2 of the Immigration Act 1988 and paragraphs 278-279 of the Immigration Rules.
There is no prescribed format of how a polygamous marriage would be recorded in an asylum claim. Therefore, the information requested is not recorded in a reportable format and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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