Australia is the land of beautiful beaches and picturesque parks. What many people might not know is that it is also a popular wedding and honeymoon destination where people vow to spend their lives with each other in front of their family and friends. According to data on abs.gov.au, 113,595 marriages were registered in Australia in the year 2015. Even if you randomly pick a list of the top wedding destinations in the world, at least one Australian city is likely to make it to the top 5.
However, you need to make sure that all your legal documents and procedures are in place before the d-day to ensure that everything goes smoothly as planned. Firstly, it is a good thing that one does not need to be an Australian citizen to get married in Australia. All foreigners are welcomed to marry on the Australian land provided you follow certain basic rules. Both the bride and the groom need to be single or unmarried at the time of the marriage. This means that both of you must be more than 18 years of age and not legally married to someone else. Also, you cannot marry a family member. The written Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) must be produced before the Australian government at least one month prior to your decided wedding date. This NOIM is valid for 18 months so your NOIM shouldn’t be older than 18 months. A silver lining here is that there is no minimum duration for which you should have lived in Australia before the day of the marriage. The only requirement is the submission of the NIOM.
You can get wedded by a wedding celebrant or a civil servant celebrant on beaches, in parks, in a church or a synagogue. There must be two witnesses present for your marriage. Your parents and siblings or friends or any other accomplice can serve as a witness. The wedding celebrant cannot be called a witness. At the time of the marriage, you need to have important documents for your wedding such as original birth certificates, passports, divorce documents (in the case of a divorcee) and death certificates (in case either of the partners is a widower or a widow). All these documents should be in English only, translated by a valid translator. The certificate of marriage given by your celebrant will be a proof of your wedding. Also, if you have changed your name, you will need to produce original Name Change documents as well. Whether this marriage is recognizable in your own land is a subjective matter and you need to confirm it from your countries’ embassy.
Same-sex marriage is not allowed currently in Australia but it is recognized is some regions such as Queensland and Tasmania.