Published on Tuesday 8 November 2011 06:00
Foreign spouses will be able to enter the UK from the age of 18 after the courts ruled that banning under-21s was not a lawful way of dealing with the problem of forced marriages.
Immigration Minister Damian Green told MPs the Government would revert to the lower age limit from November 28.
It comes after the highest court in the land rejected an appeal by Home Secretary Theresa May against a Court of Appeal decision which outlawed the ban on under-21s as “arbitrary and disruptive”.
The 4-1 majority ruling by the Supreme Court last month was a victory for two couples who had fallen victim to changes to the immigration rules that prevented non-European under-21s from obtaining visas to join their British partners in the UK.
Categories: UK, Women Rights