Woman will move to UK despite not attending own wedding | UK | News
An African woman has reportedly been given permission to move to the UK to be with her husband despite not attending the “wedding”. This came after her initial application was rejected by the Home Office, who believed their wedding never took place.
Smaou Faal from Gambia has now been allowed to join Britain, along with German citizen Mustafa Faal and his two children, following an appeal. It was confirmed that they had been granted family leave under the EU Settlement Scheme, despite authorities previously concluding that the couple were not “permanent partners”.
As reported by SunSmaou and Mustafa met in Gambia in 2017 before “getting married” in a mosque in 2019. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had previously said the ceremony was not legally valid, while Mustafa had moved abroad for the relationship less than two years ago.
Immigration court judge Joanna McWilliam said she was “not happy” the wedding actually took place. He heard that only the couple’s families attended the ceremony.
However, Ms Faal appealed the decision after the judge accepted that the couple had a civil marriage. He will now be able to legally join his wife and children in the UK.
The 30-year-old actress is also pregnant with her third child. The judge said there was evidence the couple were in a permanent relationship despite previous concerns.
Judge McWilliam said: “The undisputed evidence is that the appellant was pregnant with her third child. There is no objection to the fact that the civil marriage took place… this is further evidence in support of the durability of the relationship.”
A civil marriage is a legally binding marriage registered by a government official rather than a clergyman. It provides the same legal rights as religious marriage.
