Italy Investigating 5 People for Securing Work & Residence Permits Through Sham Marriage

Five persons—three Italians and two foreigners— are being investigated by police officials in Italy for forging documents and aiding irregular residency.

According to the Marsela Prosecutor’s Office, the three Italian nationals and two foreigners orchestrated a fake marriage in order to secure a residency permit for one foreigner and faked a job for another foreigner so he could renew his permit in exchange for money, Schengen.News reports. 

The investigation began in 2020 by the Digos branch of Catania police in Sicily in the “ghost landings” along the coast near Catania in order to detect potential terrorist cells. 

During this investigation, police officials found evidence of the involvement of a 52-year-old Tunisian man, who is still on the run and wanted for multiple sentences related to organised crime aimed at facilitating irregular migration. 

According to a report from Info Migrants, in order to stay in Italy, the Tunisian man allegedly asked two Marsala residents (aged 37 and 33) to help him find a bride for a sham marriage that would help him get a residency permit. 

The two Marsela residents arranged for him to marry a 32-year-old woman who was undergoing psychiatric treatment. In 2020, the couple had a civil wedding ceremony. However, investigators found that the marriage was fake. The Tunisian man was in a relationship with someone from his country, and the couple did not live together. 

Over 7,100 Returned Migrants From Italy 
Italy is subject to the increasing number of migrants attempting to reach the country in an irregular way.

According to the figures provided by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), in the third quarter of 2024, a total of 7,130 third-country nationals were ordered to leave Italy. 

The figures from the same source revealed that in the first quarter of 2024, Italy issued 6,965 orders for third-country nationals, urging them to leave the country and 6,380 in quarter two. 

The figures from Eurostat revealed that Italy is ranked fifth on the list of countries with the most significant number of granted orders to leave the country to third-country nationals. 

More Than 330,000 Residence Permits Issued in 2023 
The figures from the Italian Institute for Statistics (Istat) revealed that in 2023, Italy issued a total of 330,730 residence permits to foreigners. 

The same source revealed that in 2023, the number of foreign nationals in Italy with regular residence permits was 3.6 million. 

According to Istat, about 39,000 residence permits for employment were granted to foreigners in 2023, a decline of 42.2 per cent compared to figures registered in 2022.

Source: https://schengen.news/italy-investigating-5-people-for-securing-work-residence-permits-through-sham-marriage/