Marrying in Australia takes a minimum of one month, counted from the day an authorised celebrant receives the Notice of Intended Marriage. That is the date to plan around. The marriage itself does nothing to either party's immigration status: it is not a visa, it does not extend one, and it removes no condition and no bar.
The one-month notice period
Section 42 of the Marriage Act 1961 provides that a marriage shall not be solemnised unless notice in writing of the intended marriage has been given in accordance with that section and received by the authorised celebrant not earlier than 18 months before the date of the marriage and not later than 1 month before it.
That notice is the document usually called the Notice of Intended Marriage, or NOIM. Section 42(2) requires each party to sign it under the observation of a listed official on the same side of the border: in Australia, an authorised celebrant, a Commissioner for Declarations, a justice of the peace, a barrister or solicitor, a medical practitioner or a police officer; overseas, an Australian diplomatic or consular officer, a notary public or another official the section lists. Observation may be by audio and visual link.
Under section 42(5) a prescribed authority may authorise a celebrant to solemnise a marriage despite late notice, but only where a circumstance prescribed in the regulations is met. Schedule 3 to the Marriage Regulations 2017 lists them: employment-related or other travel commitments, wedding or celebration arrangements, medical reasons, legal proceedings, and error in giving notice. A visa deadline is not on that list.
Watch out
The month runs from the day the celebrant receives the notice, not from the day you sign it or book the venue. If a visa lodgement, a visa expiry or a departure date depends on being married by a certain day, work backwards and add the month before committing to anything.
Who can solemnise the marriage
Section 41 requires a marriage to be solemnised by an authorised celebrant who is physically present at the place where the marriage takes place and authorised to solemnise marriages there. Section 5 defines that term, for a marriage in Australia, as a registered minister of religion, a person authorised under Subdivision B of Division 1 of Part IV, a registered marriage celebrant, or a religious marriage celebrant. Section 39(1) also lets a person whose function is registering marriages under a state or territory law solemnise them, which is how registry office weddings work.
Two further requirements catch people out. Section 42B says a celebrant must not solemnise a marriage unless they have met separately and in person with each party beforehand. Section 44 requires at least two witnesses over 18. A minister of religion may refuse to solemnise a marriage under section 47, and a religious marriage celebrant under section 47A.
What the celebrant needs to see
Section 42(1)(b) requires each party to produce an official certificate or extract from an official register showing date and place of birth, a passport showing the same, prescribed identification material, or — where those are impracticable — a statutory declaration about when and where the party was born.
Section 42(1)(c) requires each party to make and subscribe, in the celebrant's physical presence, a written declaration as to their conjugal status and their belief that there is no legal impediment to the marriage. If that declaration says a party is divorced or widowed, section 42(10) prevents the celebrant from solemnising the marriage unless evidence of the divorce or death is produced. If an earlier marriage has not been dissolved, read applying before a divorce is final first.
Both parties must be of marriageable age: under section 11 that means 18, subject to section 12, which allows a person aged 16 or 17 to apply to a judge or magistrate for an order authorising marriage to a particular person in circumstances so exceptional and unusual as to justify it.
Marrying while on a visitor, student or bridging visa
Nothing in the Marriage Act conditions marriage on a party's visa. A person here on a visitor, student or bridging visa can marry in Australia if the section 42 requirements are met. What marriage does not do is where the real risk sits:
- It does not extend a visa or change its expiry date.
- It does not remove condition 8503 (no further stay). The Department says a waiver must be approved before a partner visa application can be made. See condition 8503 no further stay.
- It does not lift the section 48 bar on applying onshore after a refusal or cancellation. See the section 48 bar.
- It does not exempt an applicant without a substantive visa from the Schedule 3 criteria, which the Department describes as having to demonstrate compelling reasons for the grant. See Schedule 3 criteria.
- It does not change a bridging visa's conditions. See applying on a bridging visa.
If you are here as a visitor, read applying from a visitor visa before setting a date: the visa questions carry the hard deadlines.
The certificate that matters for the visa
There are two documents, and only one comes out of an official register. Under section 50(1) the celebrant prepares a certificate of the marriage for issue to the parties, plus two official certificates, all signed immediately after the ceremony by the celebrant, the parties and two witnesses. The certificate handed over on the day is the one prepared under paragraph 50(1)(a).
Under section 50(4), within 14 days the celebrant forwards an official certificate, with the section 42 notice, to the appropriate state or territory registering authority, which registers the marriage. The registry then issues a standard marriage certificate from the register on application, usually for a fee.
Order the registry certificate as soon as the marriage is registered rather than assuming the ceremony certificate will do, and check the Department's document checklist for the partner visa to confirm which one it asks for.
Timing the marriage against the visa application
A married applicant has to be married when the application is made: section 5F(2)(a) requires a marriage valid for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958, and the time of application criteria have to be met on the day of lodgement. The sequence is marriage first, then lodgement.
There is no minimum period of marriage. Regulation 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994, which imposes the 12-month requirement, applies only where a person claims to be in a de facto relationship, so a couple married last month can lodge a valid application this month. The Department must still be satisfied about the other three conditions in section 5F and consider the four matters in regulation 1.15A — a certificate answers one limb of four. See married spouse requirements.
If you are choosing between marrying and applying as de facto partners, married or de facto sets out the trade-offs.
An application prepared with an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed where a wedding date and a visa deadline run against each other, because the failure mode here is a calendar one: the notice month, a visa expiry, a no further stay condition that has to be waived first and the onshore presence requirement all have to line up, and none can be fixed after the fact. No one can promise an outcome.
What to do next
Give the notice early — up to 18 months ahead is allowed — and confirm the celebrant's authorisation and the identity documents first. Once married, order the certificate from the state or territory registry, then turn to 820 visa requirements and relationship evidence. The marriage is the smallest part of what the Department has to be satisfied about.
Common questions
How long does it take to get married in Australia?
At least one month. Section 42 of the Marriage Act 1961 requires the authorised celebrant to have received written notice of the intended marriage no later than one month before the date of the marriage, and no earlier than 18 months before it. A prescribed authority can authorise a shorter period, but only where one of the circumstances prescribed in the Marriage Regulations 2017 is met.
Can I get married in Australia on a visitor visa?
Nothing in the Marriage Act 1961 requires either party to hold a particular visa or to be an Australian citizen or resident. What section 42 requires is written notice in time, identity documents showing date and place of birth, and a declaration by each party about their conjugal status and belief that there is no legal impediment. Whether you can then apply for a partner visa onshore is a separate question governed by the Migration Act and your visa conditions.
Does marrying an Australian citizen give me a visa or permanent residency?
No. Marriage is not a visa and grants no status. It does not extend a visa, remove a condition such as condition 8503, lift the section 48 bar or change a bridging visa. It establishes one of the four conditions in section 5F of the Migration Act, and the Department must still be satisfied about the other three before granting a partner visa.
Which marriage certificate do I need for a partner visa application?
The one produced from the official register. The certificate the celebrant signs and hands over at the ceremony is prepared under paragraph 50(1)(a) of the Marriage Act. Separately, an official certificate is forwarded to the state or territory registering authority within 14 days, the marriage is registered there, and the registry issues a standard marriage certificate on application. Check the Department's document checklist for the partner visa to confirm which document it asks for before you lodge.
Should we marry before applying for the 820, or apply as de facto partners?
It depends on what you can establish. De facto applicants normally need 12 months of the relationship immediately before the application under regulation 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994, unless the relationship is registered or there are compelling and compassionate circumstances. Married applicants have no equivalent waiting period but need a valid marriage. If both routes are open, the choice usually turns on which one you can evidence better, not on which sounds stronger.
Sources
Keep reading
Partner Visas for Same-Sex Couples
Same-sex couples apply for the 820 and 801 on exactly the same criteria — what the Migration Act says, and how to evidence a relationship that had to be hidden.
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Is Your Overseas Marriage Recognised in Australia?
The test for recognising an overseas marriage for a partner visa — section 5F(2)(a), section 12 of the Migration Act, Part VA of the Marriage Act, and the exceptions.
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Arranged Marriages and Partner Visas
How the Department assesses a partner visa where the marriage was arranged, the evidence that carries a short courtship, and the line between arranged and forced.
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