Istanbul police operation against citizenship via fake marriage: Marriage officers also detained
In Istanbul, the Immigration Branch police conducted an operation against suspects who enabled foreigners to apply for citizenship through fake and irregular marriages. During the raid, 11 suspects, including marriage officers, were apprehended. It was learned that the suspects charged foreigners high fees for these procedures.
Müslim Sarıyar
Müslim SARIYAR/12punto.com.tr
Teams from the Istanbul Immigration Smuggling and Border Gates Branch Directorate identified several foreigners who had applied for residency and citizenship through irregular marriages. During the follow-up, a criminal network was identified that produced fake marriage documents for foreigners wishing to obtain citizenship in our country. It was understood that the suspects, who enabled foreigners to stay in our country by showing them as married in exchange for money, made significant profits through this method.
MARRIAGE OFFICERS ALSO DETAINED
Investigations identified 11 suspects acting in an organized manner, including marriage officers, intermediaries, company owners, consultancy employees, and translators. The suspects were detained in an operation conducted on November 28. During searches at the addresses, student residency application forms, marriage application documents, certificates of celibacy deemed to have been issued irregularly, and 2,270 euros, 1,440 dollars, 930 pounds, and 80,000 liras, which were considered to be proceeds of crime, were seized.
The detained suspects were referred to the courthouse following their processing at the police station.