The Public Security Police Force (PSP) has recently been notified of three more cases of allegedly fraudulent marriages, where Macau residents have apparently forged marriages with mainland residents so that they could apply for residency in Macau, the PSP revealed yesterday.
Two of the cases were forwarded to the PSP by the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) for investigation.
In the first case, a 68-year-old male from Macau reportedly married a 50-year-old mainland resident in the mainland in 2016 after divorcing his first wife two years earlier.
However, the man had no apparent relationship with the new wife and the authorities found that he continued to live with his ex-wife as a couple.
Upon searching the man’s apartment, the PSP found no proof of the wife’s existence or any of her belongings.
The man later admitted to the police that although they are legally married, they have never lived together.
Mobile phone records also show that the man has had no contact with his wife.
In the second case, a local 47-year-old woman also requested residency status for her husband, a mainland man whom she married in 2016.
As in the first case, the couple lived separate lives. The husband spent most of his time traveling on the mainland for long periods without his wife.
According to the PSP’s records, the two have never entered or exited Macau together over the past five years.
Upon being questioned by the police, the woman confessed that she received compensation of 30,000 patacas to help the man obtain the local identification card so that he could engage in renovation and decoration activities.
In a third and separate case, the PSP found that a local 63-year-old woman married a mainland man and requested residency status for the man as well as for his three children, who were from a previous marriage.
The case, which occurred about 10 years ago, was discovered following an anonymous report which prompted an investigation. It was found that the couple never lived together over the course of these years.
According to the PSP, both the husband and the three children now hold permanent residency status, and the man, since granted a Macau Identification card, has been working as a bus driver.
None of the suspects admitted the fraudulent marriages to the police, despite being unable to prove that they have ever lived as couples, or even maintained any form of contact with their supposed spouses.
All the cases were forwarded to the Public Prosecutions Office between December 2 and 4 and are being charged under the provisions of Article 78 Law 16/2021 (New immigration law) which states that anyone who simulates a marriage for the purpose of obtaining a residence permit or special permit to stay in Macau, whether for themselves or someone else, may receive a penalty of two to eight years imprisonment.
Additionally, the suspects are also charged with making false declarations and statements to the immigration authorities.
