Mad rush to register marriages

MARRIED couples who hasten to register their marriages at the Registrar General’s Department may be doing so for reasons other than consolidating their unions.

The registration of marriages which is said to have increased lately is ostensibly not to strengthen marriage bonds but to increase the chances of prospective visa applicant’s wishing to travel abroad to seek greener pastures, to secure visas.

This has become necessary because some Embassies in the country, particularly the European and American missions usually request for the marriage certificates of prospective non-student adult travellers.

The Embassies are said to be doing this in their bid to ensure that such travellers are married with children who may be compelled by their marital responsibilities to return home at the expiry of their visas.

A source at the department told The Mirror that marriage certificates presented at the Embassies are critically scrutinised and those suspected to be fake, are sent back to the department for verification and added that those issued in Accra are usually not questioned.

This, the source said, may be part of the reasons why registration of marriages in Accra have increased lately as against those in the districts, pointing out that in areas like Kumasi where many people tend to travel abroad, the Embassy staff are very keen on checking the genuineness of certificates presented.

“Even when the officer responsible for the signing of the certificates proceeds on leave and another officer takes over, the Embassies sometimes question the authenticity of the new signature and refer the certificate back to us for confirmation”, the source said.

According to the source there are two kinds of marriage licences, the Special Licence and the Ordinary Licence. The Ordinary Licence are issued to couples whose applications do not indicate any urgency while the Special one is issued to those who urgently need a marriage certificate for some reasons such as the application for visa.

Further investigations by The Mirror also showed that some Ghanaians who travel abroad enter into marriages of convenience with their foreign counterparts in order to acquire the necessary permits to regularise their stay.

This, however, has not been smooth for some people as several factors such as a clash of cultures as well as the fact the Ghanaians may have spouses in Ghana, tend to ruin the marriages.