Desperate times call for desperate measures. The strain of a year and a half of separation due to Australia’s international border restrictions has seen a rise in people enquiring about proxy marriages with the hope that a marriage by proxy will help the overseas partner to obtain a visa to enter Australia to reunite with their Australian partner.
A marriage by proxy is where one or both partners are not physically present at the wedding. Not what most couples had in mind when planning their wedding day, however with no end in sight to the current COVID-19 travel restrictions in Australia, couples are willing to do almost anything to reunite.
The question that couples have been asking is: “Will a marriage by proxy be recognised by the Department of Home Affairs as satisfying the partner visa eligibility criteria?”
The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) who represent immigration professionals, put this question to the Department of Home Affairs and then made this recent announcement:
“Department advice is that if a proxy marriage is legally accepted in an overseas country it will most likely be accepted under the Australian Marriage Act and if it does not breach any of the sections of that Act eg underage marriage.”
Whilst the above news is promising for couples considering a proxy marriage and then an offshore partner visa application, a marriage (or a defaco relationship) certificate will not of itself usually be enough to ensure a partner visa grant. Evidence of the 4 pillars of the relationship is still paramount:
- Financial;
- Household;
- Social;
- Level of commitment.
Written by Adam Byrnes (Principal Immigration Lawyer)
a week ago
