Albanians lead in fictitious marriages in Great Britain: BBC

 At the EU/UK border

 The BBC has published figures showing that 365 couples, of which 146 are Albanian, have attempted to fraudulently take advantage of a post-Brexit scheme giving EU citizens and their spouses the right to stay in the UK.

No one who performed a sham marriage has been evicted in the past two years, and the last eviction was four years ago. It is further revealed that some individuals do this for money. While often some even become part of organized crime gangs.

Doctor Ervin Muço, in Albania, tells the BBC that people pay criminal gangs for what they see as a ticket to a new life.

"These networks know how to cheat the system and are making money from people who are prepared to pay. In recent years, most Albanian men who have left this country have gone to Italy or Greece, but some of them have not been able to obtain citizenship in these countries.

So some try to find women from European countries to marry. They can have all the benefits of being a European citizen. And because Britain was a member of the EU, many Albanians have withdrawn from Great Britain," he said.

Former police chief Krenar Ahmeti, who now teaches at the University of Tirana, admits that criminal gangs are essential.

"Anyone who aspires to live in a wealthy country knows that there are some key documents they need if they are going to integrate into that society, but they also often need an organization to help them achieve this," he said.

The British Home Office told the BBC: “As the public rightly expects, we take the abuse of spousal and partner immigration routes very seriously – and to suggest otherwise is wrong.

We will not hesitate to take enforcement action against individuals found in a sham marriage or civil partnership, including canceling their permit and removing them from the UK," the statement said.