NSW Divorce from Overseas Marriage Before Marrying Again?

[dalia part]

Sorry, sir what I am meant was that if the Australian government knows about his marriage overseas from the second wife, but he did not apply for her to come will it be a problem or no? For example, just if Australia knows from someone, not like my friend to make problem for him?

Thank you

 

[Tim W]

Short answer version:

My friend is overseas now for his wedding next week in his country and he has Australian citizenship and Lebanese citizenship. He wants me to check for him that if he still have separation with his wife in Australia but not divorce yet, now he will be in problem if he marries overseas because he still has a wife here?

Yes, it will be a problem. His marriage in Lebanon will not be recognised ("registerable") in Australia while he still married to someone else.

Also he want his new wife to come to stay with him in Australia for good. Can he apply for her to come or she will get refused because he still has a wife here?

She is not eligible for a Partner Visa, because, as a matter of law, she is not his wife, nor his de facto partner.

Also if he gets married overseas and comes back to Australia to divorce his wife, will it be OK & can apply for his overseas wife to come to Australia or she will get refuse any way because he was have two wives at the same time?

No, this probably won't work. Even if he gets divorced in Australia later, his second wife does not automatically become his legal wife in Australia.
This is because, by getting-married-while-still-married, his second marriage may not be registerable in Australia.

By the way, I did ask the Immigration here they said OK if she come for just visit,but if she come for immigration spouse visa, he have to divorce his wife in Australia before he apply for new wife to come.

Tourism is fine. But don't mistake it for a Partner Visa, and whatever visa she arrives on, she should check the conditions carefully. This is not one of those situations where, once somebody gets here, they can apply to stay.

So my friend wants to know before he get married, what will happened if he gets the new marriage before divorce.

In Australia, his second marriage will probably be invalid, and he may be committing an offence called "bigamy".
Yes, he can be prosecuted for this even if the second marriage occurs overseas.

Long and Detailed Version:

1. I don't know enough about the Law of Marriage in Lebanon to be able to comment
   about that aspect. Except to say that he needs to make sure that he is eligible to marry
   according to the secular (non-religious) law in Lebanon.
   Thing is, if his marriage in Lebanon is invalid for some legal technical reason there,
   then it won't be able to be recognised in Australia either.
   
   
   A lot depends what you mean by "problem".
   
   
2. For example, there is no law in Australia that demands that a married couple live in the same place.
   But, Immigration uses co-residence as one of the indicators of a genuine marriage, when deciding to grant a visa.
   
   
3. Similarly, there is no law that says two married people cannot be in other relationships
   (such as when they are separated, but not yet divorced, and one or other has a new de facto partner).
   
   
4. But it is the law in Australia that a person can only be married to ONE person at a time - no matter where that other person lives. Any other purported marriages are simply invalid. That is, as a matter of law, they simply do not exist.

Here are some things to think about:

1. In Australia, if a person is already married, then they are, as a matter of law,
   simply not eligible to marry somebody else.
   No matter where the existing marriage was made, and no matter where either of them live now.
   
   
2. In Australia, a marriage made while one of the people is married to someone else, is invalid.
   
   There are no religious exceptions to this. In Australia, religious officials (priests, rabbis, imams, etc)
   do not have any powers to vary this. In Australia, religious divorce (such as a Roman annulment, or a Board of Imams sitting as a qadi) has no effect in itself.
   
   
3. In Australia, apart from item 2 above, a person who marries somebody, while still being married to someone else, can commit an offence called bigamy. A person can commit this offence regardless of the fact that the second (bigamous) marriage is invalid.
   
   
4. Concealing a person's marital status (such as by lying about it on immigration papers) can be an offence.
   The person's visa can be cancelled, and the person can be arrested and deported.
   
   
5. Your friend will need very good advice (probably from a lawyer who is also a Migration Agent) about the validity in Australia of his second marriage.
   If, for example, the law in Lebanon also requires that people getting married be at-law unmarried,
   then your friend's second marriage will not be registerable in Australia regardless.
   This is because it has to be valid in Lebanon before it can be registered in Australia.

 

[DANIEL TAMER]

Dear Tim

In relation to Bigamy, would someone be commiting this Act if he/she marries a second time after divorcing their previous partner legally in Australia and not divorcing that same previous partner overseas where the marriage was registered and took place?

 

[Tim W]

Seeing as you are not the original poster in this thread, could you please give me a little more background?

 

[Sammmy]

I have been married to an Australian girl from 2007 and we are separated from Feb 2016. In between, we talked about divorce and she said she will do it as I was not aware with procedure here. Thinking she already did it, I went overseas this year and got married to second wife March this year.

Now after I got back, I was planning to file for her as partner visa but I found out that the first wife didn't go ahead with divorce procedure. Now I have applied for divorce and the hearing is in September. Now what can happen if I want to call my second wife over here? What visa I should apply with?

Some people told me that my second marriage is not legal so in that case, can I marry her again after divorce and of course by launching file for PMV?

But me and my second wife legally married and got marriage certificate too. She got my name as spouse on her passport too. She is from India. Please help me out.

 

[Tim W]

According to the law of Australia, your second marriage is not valid.

Further, divorce from your first wife does not automatically make your second marriage valid.
This is because your bigamous second marriage does not, as a matter of law in Australia, exist in the first place.
You also need separate advice from a lawyer in India about whether or not your second marriage is valid there.

I suggest that you do nothing in Australia until your divorce is finalised.
That will, among other things, give you the time to be sure that your "new" wife
is not just using you to get a visa to Australia.

It will also give you time to see a lawyer who is also a Registered Migration Agent.
You need a lawyer/RMA because you will need to get yourself set up with Binding Financial Agreements etc,
that a layman RMA can't do.

 

[Sammmy]

I m not going to do anything at all until divorce is finalised. I'm just concerned about what file I should put later on, as we are married already so PMV should be ok? Can't put my partner as our marriage is not legal.

 

[Sammmy]

According to the law of Australia, your second marriage is not valid.

Further, divorce from your first wife does not automatically make your second marriage valid.
This is because your bigamous second marriage does not, as a matter of law in Australia, exist in the first place.
You also need separate advice from a lawyer in India about whether or not your second marriage is valid there.

I suggest that you do nothing in Australia until your divorce is finalised.
That will, among other things, give you the time to be sure that your "new" wife
is not just using you to get a visa to Australia.

It will also give you time to see a lawyer who is also a Registered Migration Agent.
You need a lawyer/RMA because you will need to get yourself set up with Binding Financial Agreements etc,
that a layman RMA can't do.

Does it mean i will be charged if immigration find out abt my second marriage ?

 

[Adam1user]

Thank you sir. Last question, if he married in Lebanon by Lebanese ID before he get first wife in Australia divorced & someone told Australian embassy in Lebanon that this man married in Lebanon, so will there be a problem or not since he will not be bringing his second wife here? And also he will not bring her to Australia, we know 2 wife the same time bigamy in Australia, but out of Australia with no Australian ID and he will not apply for her to come to Australia, but someone like second wife told Australian embassy he married me, so what will happen? No problem because he not apply for her to come to Australia or will be problem?

If the person who informs the Australian embassy with proof of the facts, then Australia Law will apply, otherwise, I don't think Australian government will follow up on rumors. Unless the information relates to important or life threatening matter. This is my opinion and I may be wrong.