UK - Declaring someone dead when there's no body, and who arrests a possible illegal immigrant.

[reynardo]

Two things to be considered here, people.

Comments

[belleweather]

They'd have to wait the full seven years. The circumstances you describe are not close to strong enough to get a declaration earlier. (Source: One of my jobs at work is petitioning for presumptive death declarations in various commonwealth countries, including the UK. Even in cases where it's very clear how and when a person died (ie. plane crash, everyone knows who was on board, bodies obviously not recoverable because plane crashed into a mountain/desert/ocean/etc.) it's very, very hard to get a person declared dead before the statutory time period has run. In the case you're describing, where the cause/time of death isn't clearly established at all, I'd expect the chances are close to zero.

[reynardo]

Excellent. Thank you. I'll just have to tweak the backstory a little.

[thekumquat]

Re 2 - look up 'sham marriages' - usually the news articles are about preventing them as they happen (need to try to go ahead to prove that they are doing something illegal, but have to stop the ceremony before they are actually married).

IIRC they use police, and a couple Home Office staff in the background - it wouldn't be called Immigration as those are generally only at ports.

In these circs, they'd probably be visited at home "just to ask you a few questions" and then taken to a police station if there seemed to be inconsistencies in their stories. Then they might be released on bail, remanded in custody, or sent to an [immigration] detention centre if it seemed clear they were illegal immigrants (probably after custody and some brief court hearing)

[reynardo]

That sounds fair - I might move that around a little, as the returned person was picked up for something else, so his wife was asked to bring her documents to pick him up. I'll have them expecting a visit later in the week, and him on bail until HM Govt is satisfied that they're legally properly married.

Thank you muchly!

[occasionalhope]

I work next door to a register office, and we sometimes see UKBA vans arriving to pick up people after a suspicious wedding. On other occasions it's just the police.

[lilacsigil]

It's rare that a house fire leaves no traces of bone or teeth, so the full statutory wait would definitely be in effect.

[reynardo]

Yeah, I thought that might be the case, but wasn't sure if they were that meticulous 20 years ago. (Have read "The Body Farm" with great interest).

I shall work on that assumption, then, and decide if the child wants to go through the paperwork later. Hmmm - more suspicious if they *do* declare the parents dead or if they *don't* ... (heads back to plot).