Marital Status Query

[carvets]

I have been thinking about starting the process of applying for a tourist visa for my TGF with a view to eventually getting married. Im Australian. But there is a an unknown element which i need help with. About 20 years ago there was a travel and visa agency offering financial reward for marrying Asian women to obtain visas for OZ. Many i knew were doing it and i got up in it. The details read a bit like an espionage novel with the Agency being raided and the story going to air on 60 Minutes. Needless to say , everyone ran for cover and i never got paid although we did have the ceremony and the union was registered i believe. I never saw her again after that , and to this day do not know the status of that relationship.

I went to the NSW Registry of Births Deaths an Marriages Online but you cant do a search after 1960. I dont know if she can divorce me without my knowledge and if she can whether she has,....so would i have to purchase a certificate from them and if so would that inform me of my current marital status? Also to add more intigue, i was using a different name at the time and cant remember if i was married in that name or my current name. Would i have to apply and pay for two separate applications in both names if i got the first one wrong ?

Its been so long that i forget about this when filling forms and would hate to mess up a visa app by declaring im single when i may be married.

Thanks.

[MaxOz]

ALL I can say is Som Nom Nah to you. I am sure most on here would agree ......

[KamnanT]

I'll do you the favour of not commenting on the wisdom of entering into an arranged marriage of convenience for the purpose of assisting your "spouse" to falsely obtain immigration status in Australia. Clearly, establishing whether or not you were ever legally married would be a good first step - the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will supply a Marriage Certificate to the bride or groom on application. You need to provide 3 current forms of identification with the application, so if your marriage was in your "old" name, you may have difficulty unless you can also provide proof of your name change (ie. deed poll). They can search a range of years if you are not sure of the exact marriage date. Two searches will, indeed, require two fees.

Assuming you were legally married, the next question is whether or not you were ever divorced - the marriage certificate will not include any indication whether or not the marriage was subsequently ended. In NSW, sole divorce without proof that the respondent has been properly served is complicated, so unless you remember being served with divorce papers, it is likely you are still married. If your "spouse" couldn't/didn't want to locate you, she could have applied for either "substituted service" (where the divorce papers are served upon a friend or relative whom the court could be reasonably certain would inform you of the divorce proceedings) or "dispensation of service" (where your spouse satisfied the court that all reasonable attempts were made to locate you but were unsuccessful). If the former, then most likely your friend or relative would have mentioned it to you. The latter, dispensation of service, has a very high burden of proof - your "ex" would have to demonstrate that she attempted to contact you via just about every channel available, including family, friends, past employers, schools, etc. Again, unlikely that this kind of search would not have come to your attention.

If I had to place a bet, I would say that if you were legally married and you have never been served with divorce papers, then you are most likely still married.

[carvets]

ALL I can say is Som Nom Nah to you. I am sure most on here would agree ......

What , you never made a mistake in your life ? And this is you being helpful i suppose.

KamnanT , thanks for that info . The mistakes of the past are just that ,...mistakes,....in the past. Not to be repeated in the present. Thanks again.

[scotto]

What a sad situation to be in i hope you can sort it out, i would contact births deaths and marriages in N.S.W and get them to do a search

for your legal name and if it comes back not married you are clear and free to go get married?

[Arkady]

"Also to add more intigue, i was using a different name at the time and cant remember if i was married in that name or my current name. Would i have to apply and pay for two separate applications in both names if i got the first one wrong ?"

Is this a spoof?

[carvets]

"Also to add more intigue, i was using a different name at the time and cant remember if i was married in that name or my current name. Would i have to apply and pay for two separate applications in both names if i got the first one wrong ?"

Is this a spoof?

No, but i can understand your disbelief. At around the same time i found out that my father was not my father and so i changed my name . Changing by "reputation " ( a legal practice ). And i dont have the Stat dec i submitted so i cant remember exactly when that happened. The rest is quite simple,...it was put to me that this was all legit , being handled by a company who handled visas for many people. being young,..ish , and never having been outside Oz, i knew very little and believed what i was told from a " seemingly " professional company .

[Madivad]

About a year ago I rang NSW BDM and asked if I was divorced. They asked for no proof of who I was and answered all my questions. I told them my name and they replied they had the divorce decree on their system. I quickly realised they meant my first wife and got them to search again for my second wife (yeah, yeah, I know)... She came back and said she had it on file and and gave me the date it came into effect and a file number for future reference in the event I wanted a copy. My situation was that I was served with the papers (by post) and signed and returned them, however, I never got the decree or anything else to confirm she had filed it or not. After explaining that the woman on the line was very helpful.

In writing this I just realised, I was married in Qld, she filed in Tassy, but I dealt with NSW BDM for this who I eventually went to to get a copy.