Having Your Wedding Overseas
Wonderful Overseas Destinations>>
You may have always dreamed of getting married in Paris, Rome, Hawaii or Las Vegas and if your fiancé likes the idea too then why not go ahead and make that dream come true! Once you’ve chosen the destination, in addition to the standard wedding planning, there are a couple of additional tasks to do to make sure that your marriage will be recognized as legal.
The best place to do your research on requirements for marriage overseas is on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Your marriage will need to comply with both Australian laws and the laws of the country where you are going to marry, so contact the Consulate of the country where you want to get married in, as each country has different requirements.
Some countries may require a “Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage” which you can get through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or at the local Australian Embassy or Consulate in the country where you are going to be married. This certificate is not a requirement of Australian law, but is a certificate requested by the overseas country to ensure a marriage between two Australians overseas is recognised as a valid marriage by Australian authorities.
Other possible requirements may be evidence that you are both free to marry such as a statement from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages that there is no record of a previous marriage, divorce papers, or death certificate of the previous spouse if one of you has been widowed. Some countries require blood tests and there are some that require both a civil and religious ceremony.
In addition, a few countries have a waiting period or require you to stay in the country a certain amount of time before the marriage takes place. This means you have to take special care planning your travel dates and other arrangements.
Once you have taken care of the legal requirements you can plan your trip and your wedding! Don’t forget to allow plenty of time to arrange passports, visas and any necessary vaccinations. Give your family and friends plenty of notice so they too have time to organize their travel.
If you always dreamt of that overseas marriage, once you’ve ensured the marriage will be legal you can look forward to that very special day in your chosen overseas location!