Basseterre, St. Kitts. March 7, 2025. Corrective measures have been implemented to curb sham marriage schemes in St. Kitts and Nevis. This was confirmed by Attorney General Garth Wilkin, while speaking at a government press conference yesterday, March 6.
However, ongoing investigations into approximately 1,200 potentially fraudulent marriages remain a complex process that requires time due to the scale and intricacy of the cases, he outlined.
While giving an update on his office’s efforts to ensure the legitimacy of marriages, AG Wilkin revealed that when the government assumed office, it uncovered an illicit marriage-for-citizenship industry involving legal professionals and other actors. He emphasized that swift action was taken to halt the scheme and introduce a formal verification process.
“When we took office (2022), we discovered that there was a sham marriage industry happening between counsel, lawyers, and the ministry at the time. When a list was compiled of the potential sham marriages… we discovered that there were approximately 1,200 incidents of this in the Federation,” AG Wilkin disclosed.
The fraudulent practice involved non-citizens paying Kittitian and Nevisian nationals to enter into marriages of convenience, to secure citizenship, passports, and even voting rights in an expedited manner.
To address this issue, the Labour government initially introduced an informal verification process within the Ministry of National Security, which has since evolved into official regulations. These regulations, enacted in July last year, now govern the process of acquiring citizenship through marriage.
Under the new system, a marriage verification officer is assigned to each case. These officers conduct thorough investigations, including interviews, home visits, and background checks, to confirm the legitimacy of the union.
“They can show up to your house, see if you have pictures of you, your wife, and the dog to determine whether it’s actually a legitimate marriage,” Wilkin explained, illustrating the level of scrutiny involved.
He noted that for long-standing marriages, such as those involving Kittitian and Nevisian nationals who have lived abroad for decades, the verification process can be expedited swiftly, if sufficient proof of a genuine relationship exists.
While the Attorney General gave the assurance that loopholes that enabled sham marriages have been addressed, he admitted that an extensive backlog of suspected fraudulent marriages remains under investigation.
“There is currently one person that is already charged with an offense in relation to sham marriages, and that matter is progressing through the court system,” he stated.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Office is responsible for conducting investigations into the remaining 1,200 questionable cases.
The Attorney General also reiterated that all individuals involved would be subject to due process under the law.
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