Eight men have been arrested by immigration officers moments before six allegedly “sham” wedding ceremonies.
A Home Office immigration enforcement team said the men, from Pakistan and India, were in the UK illegally when they were arrested at Gretna registration office in Dumfries and Galloway on July 18.
Five of them are said to have been there as grooms-to-be while the other three were guests and all of them, aged between 27 and 40, are said to have travelled from Bradford, Manchester, Southall, Blackburn and Wolverhampton.
Officials said six have been detained and are to be removed from the UK while two others are to report regularly to the Home Office while their pending immigration cases are concluded.
The brides-to-be are said to be from Romania, the Czech Republic and the UK. They were interviewed and released.
Home Office immigration officers went to the registration office after receiving information that the marriages may be not be genuine.
Anna Beattie, from the enforcement team, said: “Anyone in the UK illegally and seeking to evade our immigration laws should take heed of this latest operation. Expect to be caught by us and removed from the UK.
“The Home Office is working with colleagues at registration offices throughout Scotland and receives intelligence from a wide variety of sources. We will not hesitate to act against those who mistakenly believe that they can abuse the immigration system.”
A sham marriage or civil partnership is described by the Home Office as the union between a non-European national and someone from the European Economic Area in an attempt to gain long-term residency, the right to work and the right to claim benefits in the UK.