What You Need To Know About Getting Married In Bali
Please note: Couples marrying overseas in Bali will have their marriage registered in Indonesia, rather than Australia, UNLESS the legal formalities are completed in Australia before their ceremony in Bali.
This means all of your legal paperwork, marriage registration and history will not be accessible by the Australian Government if you have a wedding in Bali under Indonesian law.
Therefore, if the couple wishes to take their spouse’s name, they will need to do so by Deed Poll / State Name Change in Australia, rather than using their Marriage Certificate, which will not be recognised as an authority to use their married name in Australia.
However, by completing all of the legal marriage requirements in Australia before they go, couples will have their marriage registered in Australia and all of their paperwork and duplicates of their Marriage Certificate will be available in the State in which they registered their marraige.
Also, using a local Indonesian priest or celebrant can often be a challenging and very costly process and involves certain procedures and payments to local officials (in some cases up to $1,100) which still do not always guarantee that your wedding will be recognised by Australian authorities. Using the Indonesian priest also requires couples to declare a recognized Indonesian religion and both partners must also be of the same faith. For example; Hindu, Buddhist or Islam are acceptable, however Atheism or Agnostic are not recognised by Indonesian marriage law.
Couples of Non-Islamic faith are then required to file a Notice of Intention to Marry and a Letter of No Impediment in the district they are staying and their ceremony must then be recorded by the Civil Registry (who you can request to do so at the ceremony, for an additional fee). The Notice and Letter must be obtained from the Consular Representative of Australia however there is a 10 day waiting period from the date of filing. (This can be waived in some cases by lodging the Form A: Guest Registration Form.)
For couples who are having, or have already had a civil ceremony overseas (Not an official ceremony) and require their marriage registered in Australia, the Perth Marriage Office can assist with this paperwork.
