Hi all ,

I am a bit confused on this whole marriage thing and need some advice and confirmation.

If you are from the UK , you can go to Vietnam and complete the paperwork for marriage with a Thai.

However , as an Australian (australian passport holder)this is not possible so what are the other options ?

I heard that NZ accepts or recognises gay marriages ? If this is correct can an Aussie and a Thai fly to NZ to marry ?

or if Australia does not accept or recognise gay marriage then flying to NZ would be useless as it all depends on what passport you have and if that home country accepts or recognises gay marriage ? is that statement correct ?

What about applying for a UK passport , then do the Vietnam thing. ( this maybe difficult ) ????

We do want to get married , ( Complete paperwork & certification ) but I don't know if it is possible.

I really appreciate any help or advice ...

Cheers.

If you want legal recognition from Thai (consular) authority, it won't happen. Thai does not endorse gay marriage. You can have gay wedding ceremonies in Thailand, yes and no problem at all. But no certificate.

You can't get married in Australia, although the ACT may bring in legislation next year.

For non- Australians the ACT is the Australian Capital Territory, where the captol, Canberra, is located.

Read a couple of weeks ago that the immigration is about to recognise civil partner ships (vic, tas and act do them i think but you have to be a resident of those states), so no more 2 years before u apply for spousal PR. If the reason you want to get married is for pr. Go speak to one of the gay lawyers that do immigration in vic or act. http://www.glitf.org.au/Home.htm

NZ is the same as the UK - it doesn't have same-sex marriage, but does have Civil Unions. See the official NZ Govt website: dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Births-Deaths-and-Marriages-Civil-Union?OpenDocument

An Australian can fly to NZ and undertake a union to a Thai (although you need to leave enough time for all the paperwork).

Keep in mind the Howard govt (with the support of the Latham opposition) passed the Marriage Ammendment Act 2004, which states in part "A union solemnised in a foreign country between: ( a ) a man and another man; or ( b ) a woman and another woman; must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia." Consequently you wouldn't officially be recognised as being married.

However the "Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—General Law Reform) Act 2008", passed at the end of last year does mean that even though you won't officially be considered "married", it will help in being considered as being in a relationship (eg for tax, superannuation, medicare, pensions, etc...)

Interestingly enough although same sex marraiges are not legal in Australia. Social security recognizes same sex relationships. So if your out of a job, your other half is working, you want unemployment benefits HIS income is taken into consideration in how much you get, if anything!

Same with same sex couples of pension age.

How's that for irony?

What is it that you want with the marriage is the important question you have to ask yourself.

A gay marriage will not be recognized in many countries, including Thailand. So it will have standing in some countries, but in a lot of countries in will not be of any benefit. You will have to consider that and might opt for a ceremony in Thailand. As pointed out, not a legal marriage but a ceremony non the less and a lot of Thai people only have a ceremony and not a legal marriage.

Interestingly enough although same sex marraiges are not legal in Australia. Social security recognizes same sex relationships. So if your out of a job, your other half is working, you want unemployment benefits HIS income is taken into consideration in how much you get, if anything!

Same with same sex couples of pension age.

How's that for irony?

You will find that many legal systems will openly embrace a concept on the financial side of things, whilst claiming that the same concept is morally repugnant in other spheres.

In the USA you can be taxed on money you make from drug dealing, even though you may have never been convicted of a crime.

How did they get Al Capone in the end? Tax evasion.

The only countries who recognize same sex marriage at the moment are Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa. If you want to get married for nothing more than being able to call yourself married then they are an option, but the legal status in those countries won't affect how other jurisdictions classify you.

The only countries who recognize same sex marriage at the moment are Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa. If you want to get married for nothing more than being able to call yourself married then they are an option, but the legal status in those countries won't affect how other jurisdictions classify you.

Thanks for the feedback cdnvic and others.

Q. so if we were to fly to NZ it would only be for the purpose of a ' Civil union ' correct ? as one post mentioned earlier :

NZ is the same as the UK - it doesn't have same-sex marriage, but does have Civil Unions. See the official NZ Govt website: dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Births-Deaths-and-Marriages-Civil-Union?OpenDocument

An Australian can fly to NZ and undertake a union to a Thai (although you need to leave enough time for all the paperwork).

However , to become actually married we need to go to ' Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium or Sth Africa.... correct ?

The reason we want to marry is purely symbolic, nothing to do with getting PR or Visas or anything else...it's just a way of saying thats how we feel.

cheers

The only countries who recognize same sex marriage at the moment are Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa. If you want to get married for nothing more than being able to call yourself married then they are an option, but the legal status in those countries won't affect how other jurisdictions classify you.

In the UK, different sex couples can be married but not have a civil partnership; same sex couples can have a civil partnership but not be married.

However, to all intents and purposes they are the same thing.