FOREIGNERS must now prove they are single before they can marry in Zimbabwe as authorities clampdown on the use of fraudulent marriages by mostly Nigerian and Congolese nationals to secure residency permits and citizenship.
Chief magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe said authorities have moved to plug loop-holes exploited by foreign nationals who paid local women for sham marriages in order to regularise their stay in the country.
Guvamombe said under the new measures foreign nationals must now produce a certificate of no marriage from their countries of origin which must be verified before they could marry in Zimbabwe.
"Foreigners have to produce a certificate of no marriage and we verify this. Most of these foreigners trying to marry are arrested by immigration," Guvamombe told the Herald newspaper.
He added that the Registrar General’s office had since computerised and serialised its records to help prevent multiple marriages.
"Marriages are now serialised, meaning that all recorded marriages have a serial number and are computerised at the Registrar General's Office,” Guvamombe said.
“They are no longer just documents, which could be done by anyone. We have, through this system, managed to plug out all loopholes and it's going to be difficult for foreigners or anyone to have multiple marriages.”
Assistant Regional Immigration Officer, Francis Mabika said authorities decided to take action after realising that cases of sham marriages were getting out of hand.
"We are working together under a tripartite arrangement to control the situation of marriages of convenience and multiple marriages that had gone out of hand," Mabika said.
"Previously, some foreigners were using fake documents to marry local women but we have started providing information to the officers so that any illegal immigrant is detected."
The tighter measures had helped bring down the number of marriages of convenience with just 20 cases coming before the courts between October and December last year.
"Some of the marriages were entered into two to three years back, but were unearthed recently. Some of those arrested have been prosecuted, convicted and deported while others are still facing trial," he said.
Guvamombe said there had not been any new cases of sham marriages in recent days suggesting the tighter controls were working.
"What (is) being reported in courts are just old cases resurfacing, but otherwise we don't have any case reported recently. The situation is under control," he said.