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Amarriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as apolitical marriage. Cases where those married do not intend to live together as a couple, and typically married only for one of them to gain the right to reside in a country, are considered to besham marriages. In many cultures, it is usual for parents to decide their adult children's marriages; this is called anarranged marriage.
Marriages of convenience that are sham, and arranged marriages that areforced, are against the law in manyjurisdictions.[1]
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Marriages of convenience are often contracted to exploit legalloopholes of various sorts. A couple may wed for one of them to gaincitizenship orright of abode, for example, as many countries around the world will grant such rights to anyone married to a resident citizen. In the United States, this practice is known as agreen card marriage. In Australia, there have been marriages of convenience to bring attention to the government'sYouth Allowance laws. On 31 March 2010 two students were publicly and legally married on the University of Adelaide's lawn so that they could both receive full Youth Allowance.[2] In the United States during the era of the Vietnam War, some couples were wed during the man's time of exposure to the military draft; the couple agreed to no contact, followed by an annulment at the end of the (typically one year) marriage. Advertisements were commonly placed in student newspapers to this effect. Because they exploit legal loopholes, sham marriages of convenience often have legal consequences. For example, U.S. Immigration (USCIS) can punish this with aUS$250,000 fine and five-year prison sentence.[3][4][5]
The term "contract marriage" is used by U.S. military personnel to describe marrying mainly in order to receive extra pay and housing benefits that the couple would not otherwise be entitled to.
Another common reason for marriages of convenience is to hide one partner's homosexuality in places where beingopenly gay is punishable or potentially detrimental.[6] A sham marriage of this type, sometimes called alavender marriage,[7] is usually performed to keep the appearance of heterosexuality[clarification needed] to prevent negative consequences ofLGBTdiscrimination.[8] Such marriages may have one heterosexual and one gay partner, or two gay partners: alesbian and a gay man married to each other.[9] In the case where a gay man marries a woman, the woman is sometimes said to be his "beard", while in the case where a lesbian marries a man, the man is sometimes said to be her "merkin".
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The phrase "marriage of convenience" is used metaphorically to mean any partnership between groups or individuals for their mutual (and sometimes illegitimate) benefit, or between groups or individuals otherwise unsuited to working together. An example would be a "national unity government", as existed in Israel during much of the 1980s or in the United Kingdom duringWorld War II. More specifically,cohabitation refers to a political situation which can occur in countries with asemi-presidential system (especially France), where the president and the prime minister belong to opposed political camps.
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Marriages of convenience, often termedmarriages of state, have always been commonplace in royal, aristocratic, and otherwise powerful families, to make alliances between two powerful houses. Examples include the marriages ofAgnes of Courtenay, her daughterSibylla,Jeanne d'Albret, andCatherine of Aragon. Marriage equality played a major role in princely families, less in England and Scotland than in the monarchies of the continent. Even among the non-rulingnobility, great importance was attached to marriages appropriate to their status.
The topic was treated literary throughThomas Mann's 1909 novelRoyal Highness, which describes a young unworldly and dreamy prince who forces himself into a marriage of convenience that ultimately becomes happy. The story was modeled after Mann's own romance and marriage toKatia Mann in February 1905, which was to be blessed with six children, although it was not reasons of state or equality that motivated this marriage of convenience, but rather theauthor's homosexuality which made him want acceptance and starting a family (along with, incidentally, the prospect of a rich dowry) at a time when homosexuality was still punishable and ostracized. However, his love for boys remained, but was lived out platonically.[10]
The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments Act of 1986 amended § 1325 by adding § 1325(c), which provides a penalty of five years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for any "individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws."
"The maximum sentences for the above charges are:
- Conspiracy: 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine
- Mail fraud: 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine
- Wire fraud: 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine
- False statement in immigration matter: 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine"
Garland's marriage to Vincente Minnelli is described as a classic lavender marriage which enabled both partners to have guilt-free bisexual flings.
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