Two men were arrested at Dundee Registrar’s Office after immigration officers swooped to stop a sham wedding.
The pair the would-be groom and a witness for the bogus service were detained and now face deportation.
Jayne Allan was the registrar who had been set to carry out the ceremony.
“The two people had both come from Manchester to get married,” she said. “The wedding was to be at 3pm.
“Just before that, four immigration officers were here waiting for them. They lifted the groom and one of the witnesses.”
A spokesman for the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Team said: “Acting on information that the relationship might not be genuine, officers attended Commercial Street Registrar’s Office.
“They arrested a 35-year-old Pakistani man who had overstayed his visa, along with a 29-year-old Pakistani man who had also overstayed his visa and was acting as a witness to the wedding ceremony.
“We arrested them and detained them until such time as they can be removed from the country.
“The would-be bride was a Polish woman who was interviewed by officers and then released.
“All of them had travelled from Manchester to Dundee to take part in this attempted wedding ceremony.”
Ms Allan, 52, said immigration officers had visited the Commercial Street office several times this year.
“At least half a dozen people have been apprehended by the immigration officers,” she said, adding many travel from England as it is easier to get married here.