The immigration-marriage topic is one that is close to
my heart as I have performed many marriages for couples
where one party has come from outside Australia.
The first question I ask is 'what is your immigration
status'. Around 90% of the couples I have married have
made an application for a prospective spouse visa and
from this stage I accept the NOIM (Notice of Intention
to Marry) and provide the letter for immigration stating
so and the details of the arranged marriage
(date/venue), as requested. Most couples I have spoken
with have had to support their request with extensive
phone records, emails and letters to show a longstanding
relationship.
I will tell a story of a celebrant who has since retired
who inadvertently helped a couple do the wrong thing out
of ignorance on their part.
The couple approached the celebrant to marry them
before they applied for any visa - so they were married
as requested and provided with a letter for immigration
etc.
However, for this couple in their particular situation
this was the wrong thing to do. The bride ended up back
overseas in her native land and the couple suffered
tremendous stress and heartache to their relationship
and hence their short marriage ended, and her visa
application was rejected. Had they applied for the
prospective visa first, none of this would have
happened. In the celebrant’s ignorance, the celebrant
did not know that what he/she was doing in marrying this
couple was not the best thing in their situation. Had
they approached a migration agent first, they would have
been told to apply for the visa first and then go ahead
and marry once the visa was issued, and none of this
awful situation would have happened.
The celebrant in question had since met with the
migration agent feeling very poorly about what had
happened and the part the he/she played in the whole
shemozzle.
To make the celebrant feel a smidge better the migration
agent did point out that the couple really should have
done their homework and consulted a professional before
they approached the celebrant, but the past is the past
and actions cannot be taken back.
Life’s most valuable lessons are always learnt by
mistakes that are made.
I believe as celebrants we cannot just sit back and
think, okay, someone wants to marry a person from
overseas and I'll just do up the papers and send them on
their merry way. That's the easy way out and while it
nets us a few bucks in the interim, it may be the wrong
thing for that couple depending on their situation. My
policy is to always say to couples from overseas that
I'm happy to do up the papers but I ask them if they
have consulted professional advice first to ensure they
are doing the right thing for their situation.
I cannot force any couple to consult an agent.
However by letting them know their options and
how involved the process can be I can then be safe in
saying that I did all the right things to achieve their
Happily Ever After. I
know that I have ticked all the boxes and am not liable
if things go pear shaped.
This weeks ZIP or
ZAP
Failing to prepare is like preparing to fail
Regards,
Annie.
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