Police and immigration officers stopped a sham marriage just moments before it was due to take place, a court heard.
Hungarian-born Dezso Szilagy was about to marry Indian national Grace Albert for cash so she could remain in the country.
The proceedings were interrupted at Leicester's Register Office after it became obvious the pair were strangers.
They knew nothing about each other's personal details when quizzed, and were arrested.
Both were jailed at Leicester Crown Court yesterday. Albert faces deportation on her release.
Szilagy (45) admitted facilitating a breach of immigration law.
Albert (42) admitted seeking to obtain leave to remain by deception. Jonathan Cox, prosecuting, said suspicions were first aroused when the pair attended a pre-ceremony appointment with a registrar to complete advance paperwork.
The Border Control Agency was then notified about the suspect "wedding", due on January 20 this year.
Mr Cox said Albert arrived in the UK on a 12-month student visa in August 2008, later extended until October 2010. She was technically an over-stayer when she attended the register office, but the fact she intended marrying an EU national took precedent.
When questioned, Szilagy was unable to give any information about his bride-to-be's birth date, address or occupation. There was little interaction between them when police arrived.
Mr Cox said: "Neither showed any concern for the welfare of the other."
Szilagy was found to have a crib sheet with fabricated details of their relationship.
Albert, formerly of Hampshire, whose address was given as Larchmont Road, off Blackbird Road, Leicester, was jailed for 12 months.
Szilagy, formerly of Portsmouth, whose address was given as Weymouth Street, Belgrave, Leicester, was jailed for 14 months.
Sentencing, Judge Philip Head said: "You agreed to enter into an utterly fake marriage.
"I accept your introduction was through someone else who hasn't been identified.
"What you did was a crime and it was designed to cheat everyone from abroad who patiently and honestly seeks to obtain the right to remain in this country by open and frank means.
"The inescapable conclusion is you, Szilagy, stood to gain financially by lending yourself to the arrangement."
Rebecca Herbert, mitigating for divorced nurse Albert, said she left India because her former husband's family treated her badly. She came to the UK to pursue her studies and when her visa ran out she resorted to illegal means, without realising the seriousness of her actions.
Gary Short, for Szilagy, said the divorced father-of-three came to the UK in 2009 after his marriage ended and found himself short of money.
Neither defendant had any previous convictions.
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