The Australian Travel Ban rolls on

But Travel Ban Exemptions are making a lot of clients happy, and the chance of an online wedding has become a possibility! 

I believe that with vaccination, Australia will open up and open up sooner than the more conservative predictions. No more obstacles to your sweetheart from Philippines coming to stay with you, whether for a visit on a Tourist Visa or to stay for good on a Partner Visa. 

May we all get to the end of the tunnel soon! Yes!!

Philippines also has a travel ban right now, which is why you can’t come and visit unless you’re married (get the details from the Philippines Embassy if you think you can get a travel permit right now). So right now you can’t get over here to see your girl and maybe to get married.

But please read on……

Travel Ban Exemptions

If you are married or in a genuine de facto relationship with your Filipina lady or Filipino gentleman? We can apply for an exemption to the travel ban (aka Travel Ban Exemption). Yes, as explained already, it’s a bit of a pain but we’re a persistent lot and we know what we’re doing!

NOTE WELL! The rules change, as do the explanations about travel bans, travel ban exemptions etc. Always double-check with us if the following remains correct!

You can also get a travel ban exemption for the following:

• Children of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents

• Guardians of Children of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents

So, if you have:

• A spouse (by marriage or by de facto relationship)

• A child in the Philippines that is your own biological child

• A lady who gave birth to your child and is legally responsible for that child

Maybe we can help you now?

An Online Wedding – Is this legal?

What an age we live in! My goodness! Those older folk like myself remember the days where the only way you got anything done was my phone, mail (letters and stamps) and by personal appearance. Phones were used for making phone calls only. No internet! Even science fiction never imagined a world like we have now.

Right now, you can’t travel to the Philippines to get married! You can’t bring your lady (in MOST cases) to Australia so you can marry her.

However, a US State has made it legal to marry online!

Utah has made it legal to:

1. Apply for a marriage license, and
2. Get married all via Zoom online!

US Citizens only? No, not at all. Anyone from anywhere may have an online wedding! All legal in the US.

You need to both be present at the online wedding, however you can be in different places (even outside the US)

And of course you need to be:

• Of legal age (18+)
• Legally free to marry (ie not married to someone else)
• Not entering a prohibited marriage, eg marrying cousins, siblings, bigamous marriage etc

So Donny and Marie are NOT the only good things to come out of Utah! (Someone told Donny once that he had “Van Gogh’s ear for music”, and he said “Thank you very much!”)

Under Australian Marriage Law – Is an online wedding OK?

I had advice from an Australian Family Law Specialist lawyer. 

He said that he knew of no precedence for online weddings, as it’s so new. However, Australian marriage law recognises marriages from other countries. Regular US marriages, like regular Philippines marriages, are recognised in Australia under the Marriage Act (Cth) 1961. 

And from an Immigration perspective? Can you marry online and apply for a Partner Visa?

Australian Immigration Law refers to the Marriage Act to decide whether a spouse is a spouse. Same issue came up when same-sex marriages were made legal under Australian Law. The Marriage Act changed, and the moment it did then it became possible to apply for a same-sex spouse for a Partner Visa!

So what is stopping you from having an online wedding and moving forward with your partner visa application? Nothing I can think of.

So, stuck apart because of Travel Bans?

Can you get a travel ban exemption? Please talk to us and get us to help you

Can you have an online wedding?

Well, unless you are married to someone else, or want to marry someone you can’t legally marry, then you can marry online! You will have a US marriage certificate, issued from Utah State, and we can lodge an application for a Partner Visa for you.

As with any Partner Visa, being married and waving a certificate doesn’t get you into Australia. You still need a visa application, and everything that goes along with that. You need to prove that you have a genuine relationship, and didn’t meet in a bar last week. Plus health and character checking, and assurance that you are both who you say you are.

So if you haven’t already done a FREE ONLINE VISA ASSESSMENT, please do so NOW. 

And if you have questions regarding the ONLINE MARRIAGES? We don’t organise these, nor will we. It’s pretty simple and straight-forward from what we can see. Happy to answer questions, and certainly to steer you in the right direction.

Further reading

www.onlinefilipinoweddings.com

Disclaimer: Neither Down Under Visa or any of it’s staff are marriage coordinators or advisers on marriages and weddings, whether in Australia, Philippines or in Utah USA. We have no business arrangements with the Utah Government, nor do we receive any commissions or gratuities. This is purely an information page to allow site visitors to make their own decisions as to whether they wish to take this path.

Down Under Visa also give no guarantees that visa applications based on marriages performed online in Utah (or Australia or Philippines or anywhere else) will result in granted visas. The decision to grant an Australian visa rests by law with the representatives of the Minister and not with us. We guarantee only to do the best job we can to prepare and manage your visa application.

Jeff Harvie is a Registered Migration Agent from Australia, but resident in Philippines since 2010 with his Filipina wife Mila and large extended family. Experienced with the Philippines culture, cross-cultural relationships and bureaucracy as well as Australian visas and Australian Migration Law, he writes with authority and fortunately with enough informality and humour that the average Aussie gets it! Down Under Visa specialises in visas for Australians in relationships with ladies and gents from Philippines, Thailand, China and Vietnam. Read MORE