Minister Paula Cox vowed yesterday.

And she warned that the move could mean tougher questionnaires for spouses in a bid to beat wedding bell fraud.

Ms Cox told MPs during the Budget debate on her Ministry that the problem with marriages of convenience was that neither the marriage laws or the Constitution covered them.

She said: "They are not defined in law and there are no legal sanctions against them.

"By extension, it's difficult to take action against a man married to a Bermudian unless he commits an offence against the Immigration Act.'' And the issue is complicated by a non-Bermudian woman's Constitutional right to live on the Island if she is married to a Bermudian -- whether she is living with him or not.

Ms Cox said: "While there is an attempt to see if there is any way to rectify the situation, there is no remedy in law before us.'' The issue came up after angry Bermudian women came forward to claim that they had been duped into marriage for residency rights -- then dumped.

And one added that "marriage brokers'' operated in Bermuda, offering money to Bermudian women to marry men, allegedly mostly Jamaican, so they can gain the right to live and work in Bermuda.

Afterwards, Ms Cox said that the simplest remedy was divorce -- but that many people were reluctant to take that route.

And she added that existing provisions could not be altered without amending the Constitution.

But she said that Bermuda could take the same route as the UK and US and make it tougher for fake marriages to slip past the authorities -- and that a more exhaustive questionnaire for marriages contracted with an overseas partner was a possibility.

Ms Cox added: "That route, I think, is probably a preferable one to adopt because it's similar to the UK and US. A much more rigorous questionnaire is an option.'' But she admitted that a "more intrusive'' set of questions was likely to upset more people than arranged marriages did.

Ms Cox said: "I think we're going to find much more of an uproar about that than marriages of convenience.'' But she added: "The main thing right now -- because the Constitution is one aspect -- is that the first port of call is looking at this within the Immigration Department in terms of questionnaires.

"In terms of doing things more expeditiously, it would be better to deal with it like that.'' But Ms Cox said: "It doesn't come without pain, because the process will be a bit more intrusive.'' IMMIGRATION IMM