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• We are Australian residents
• We are visitors from outside Australia
• We want to elope!

Marriage laws in Australia - Australian residents - Please read the following information carefully.

Before you marry, the law requires that you sign and lodge a Notice of Intended Marriage - you can download a copy here or complete a form when you come to see Melanie.

(For overseas visitors and tourists or for australian residents currently living overseas and wishing to marry in Australia, this document can be obtained from any Australian Consulate or Embassy. For more details see Overseas Visitors)

When you have printed the Notice of Intended Marriage, complete both pages. Sign the second page in front of any approved witness listed on the form. This document has to be signed and lodged with me not less than one month and one day prior to the wedding and not more than eighteen months prior to the wedding.

Post it together with copies of your Birth Certificates. If there has been a previous marriage, enclose copies of the Decree Absolute (Nisi), divorce certificate or Death Certificate, as appropriate.

If you cannot supply these documents immediately, they may be produced at a later date. However, they must be produced before the marriage can take place - when we meet to discuss your ceremony you must show me the original documents.

Please Note: under Australian law, marriage of any person under 18 years of age, without an order of a Judge or Magistrate is invalid. Under no circumstances can two people under 18 years of age marry each other.

If you were born in Australia you will need to produce an original copy of your birth certificate. This can be obtained at the Registry Office in your State of birth - NSW Register website.

If you were born overseas you will need either your birth certificate or a current passport. If these documents are in a language other than English, you will need a certified translation of the documents.

If you are widowed you will also need a Death Certificate, this can be obtained from the State Registry office in the State where the death was registered.

If you are divorced, a copy of the Decree Absolute can be obtained from the Family Law Court in the State where the Marriage was dissolved. (please note - this only apples to Marriages dissolved after 1975). For Marriages dissolved prior to 1975, a copy of the Decree Absolute can be obtained from the Supreme Court in the State where the Marriage was dissolved.

Email Melanie or phone (m) 0434 572 482 or home office (02) 4938 3814 to discuss your particular requirements.