My dear old mother wouldn't call my marriage a sham, neither would the rest of my family, thank you very much.
What Ded and a great many others on here are saying, ME INCLUDED is that we are sick and tired of all the bogus marriages of people mostly from the sub continent trying to gain entry illegally.
You only got to watch border control which consists mainly of people from the sub continent (I wonder why) and watch the desperate measures these people are willing to go through.
Thus, the UKBA raise the requirement bar.
In turn making it very difficult for many of the forum members to get there loved ones here.
Visit visas are notoriously difficult to obtain because that's the main one that's been abused. We have members settled here with young families who have great difficulty getting that visa now when it wasn't the case a while back.
Hence all the bitterness.
Yes, Pakistan is/was? a commonwealth and they have just as much right to be here as Filipino partners but, be here legally. Not through a bogus marriage![]()