I have been an interested and impressed reader of this area of the forum and now find myself with a question that I feel confident I can get some ideas from wiser contributors than myself.

When applying for a fiance visa to Australia, the applicant needs to have evidence of the marriage date and details of the ceremony ie: where and by whom. How does one do this when you cannot be sure, if the visa is granted, when it was granted and when the nine months, that is given to organise the event, expires.

I am stumped as to how I can book a marriage celebrant for a marriage at an unknown future date. Do I assume that the visa will be granted and have an educated guess as to how long it will take to be granted and book accordingly?

It is a bit of the cart before the horse scenario. You confusion is certainly understood.

The marriage (s/c 300 prospective marriage visa) must take place within nine months of the visa being granted. If you didn't know s/c 300 visas can only be applied for and granted offshore.

With processing times being around 3 months +/- after submission you would not want to set a date for say 2 months in advance of the application date. 7 to 8 months is a good idea. You can always change the day.

Make arrangements to see a marriage celebrant and choose your appropriate date. A letter from the licensed celebrant should be submitted with the application. The Notice of Intention to Marry (NOIM) must be lodged no less than 1 month before the wedding day.

Hope this has helped

Good Luck

Bridge

i am going through the process now, after speaking to the immi dept, i am confident that the actual date is not critical to the process.

I.E. they want to know that you are serious about getting married and have taken the time/trouble to speak to a celebrant and actually made a booking, but after that, as long as you get married within the 9 month period after the visa is granted, they seem to be flexible.

they are trying to weed out the pretenders as such, so if you pay the money for the visa application and have a quasi date set, they seem to accept that as being ok.

i cannot confirm 100%, because my/our app is in progress, but that is the advice i have been given (within the last 2 months) from aus immi.

hope it works out for you.

i am going through the process now, after speaking to the immi dept, i am confident that the actual date is not critical to the process.

I.E. they want to know that you are serious about getting married and have taken the time/trouble to speak to a celebrant and actually made a booking, but after that, as long as you get married within the 9 month period after the visa is granted, they seem to be flexible.

they are trying to weed out the pretenders as such, so if you pay the money for the visa application and have a quasi date set, they seem to accept that as being ok.

i cannot confirm 100%, because my/our app is in progress, but that is the advice i have been given (within the last 2 months) from aus immi.

hope it works out for you.

All True, I went through the process of getting a Fiance Visa and set the wedding date for 6 months in advance from when I submitted the application. After the visa was granted, we decided to change the wedding date and I spoke with immigration beforehand and they told me they didnt care as long as the marriage took place before the visa runs out.

Booked in today with a Marriage Celebrant to fix a date - one more step done!

Thanks Bridge, saameetommy and acron45 for your advice.

Our Notice of Intention to Marry was valid for 18 months by the celebrant. Even though we picked a date she said we could change it to when ever we wanted anytime within that 18 months.