This book focuses on a series of judgments by the UK's Supreme Court on the application of the right to respect for family life, contained in article 8 ECHR, to immigration decisions. These judgments have required the government to amend several aspects of its family migration policy and have become the centre of legal and political controversy, raising questions about the judicial function in a modern democracy, the influence on the legal system of European human rights law and the difficulties of controlling immigration in a globalised world. They have drawn judges into new territory and there is evidence that the senior judiciary is itself divided. Meanwhile, attempts by the government to reverse these judgments through rule changes and legislative amendment have added new layers to an already complex legal framework. In so doing, the book explains why the relationship between Article 8 and immigration is so legally and political complicated.

Marriage migration is a controversial and problematic issue in the UK as elsewhere in Europe. This timely analysis is a comprehensive examination of the regulation of marriage migration into the UK. With international relevance, the book uses the analysis to examine the relationship between government priorities and the dynamics of transnational family life. The book is one of the first to scrutinise the control of UK marriage migration after 1997 and explores the dilemmas faced by the post-1997 government in managing this form of migration in a changed domestic and international environment. Using high-quality sources from across the political spectrum, it analyses regulatory decisions made by government, the judiciary and the visa service, and suggests that there is an unofficial and unarticulated hierarchy predicated on assumptions and beliefs about acceptable marriages. Finally, the book establishes a principled basis for the future regulation of marriage migration.

Marriage migration is a controversial and problematic issue in the UK as elsewhere in Europe. This timely analysis is a comprehensive examination of the regulation of marriage migration into the UK. With international relevance, the book uses the analysis to examine the relationship between government priorities and the dynamics of transnational family life. The book is one of the first to scrutinise the control of UK marriage migration after 1997 and explores the dilemmas faced by the post-1997 government in managing this form of migration in a changed domestic and international environment. Using high-quality sources from across the political spectrum, it analyses regulatory decisions made by government, the judiciary and the visa service, and suggests that there is an unofficial and unarticulated hierarchy predicated on assumptions and beliefs about acceptable marriages. Finally, the book establishes a principled basis for the future regulation of marriage migration.