In the August 1st telecast of the BBC World Service the BBC did an investigative report on a new trend in London where Polish women were taking payments for marrying non-EU citizens so they could remain and gain legal status in London. The report went into great detail to present the problem, going as far as sending a reporter under cover as someone looking to marry an EU citizen to gain status in London and filming the "brokers" of these marriages in the process.
After the accession of new EU member states such as Poland, the UK was the first country to fully liberalise its economy in letting in foreign workers within the EU rules without any restrictions or time limits past the date of accession of new member states. For that reason, London absorbed many Eastern European workers who often drifted into both blue collar jobs as well as many professionals who were "brain-drained" out of countries such as Poland towards the UK and London. Today it is not uncommon to see few traditional brits working the shops and restaurants of London as many labour jobs have been taken by Immigrants and EU-citizens alike.
While marrying for papers was not uncommon before the accession of the new EU member states, an added fear that in some new communities there could be an outbreak of false marriages is an understandable concern. While the report did not give actual numbers of marriages in the Polish community or any others under false pretenses, their primary research well illustrated the problem. Despite this, I do not believe that it is an issue in one community in London only, but is a general issue that existed well before Polish citizens became part of the EU. Please search the BBC World site above for further information
