Eloping in QLD from interstate
Queensland is the perfect place to elope and we love being Celebrants for couples that are eloping in QLD from interstate.
With the introduction of NOIM form signing by video call, eloping in Queensland from other states in Australia has never been easier!
Whether one or both of you are based in a different state, with beautiful QLD being such a popular elopement destination, it’s a simple and straightforward process for you to get the official pre-marriage paperwork known as the ‘NOIM form’ lodged with one of us as your Celebrant, so your marriage can take place.
Here’s the process for couples based in other states to get married in Brisbane or Queensland, to comply with marriage paperwork requirements. First and foremost, it’s important to note:
your marriage can take place once your pre-marriage paperwork known as the NOIM form (Notice of Intended Marriage) is received by us, your Celebrant no less than 1 calendar month before the date of your marriage.
The NOIM form must be signed by yourselves in the presence of an authorised witness, usually one of us, your Celebrant. We can witness you sign your printed NOIM form during a video call meeting. This also allows us to ensure it’s been completed correctly, and we can also discuss your vision and inclusions of your ceremony during this meeting.
Marriage Paperwork process for couples that live interstate
1. Complete the NOIM form via the online link we will send you.
For the convenience of our couples, we use an online system that you enter your details in to once, and it populates nearly all of the marriage documents for you. This saves you from having to complete multiple forms. By using this system, we can also check this form has been completed accurately and correctly (e.g. in Sentence Case, without acronyms in job tiles and addresses), before we return it to you as a PDF file, to print and get signed.
2. Email us to confirm once you’ve completed this form.
We’ll check that your information has been added in the correct format, then convert this to a PDF file which we will email to you.
3. We then return your completed NOIM form to you as a PDF document,
Please print this ready for our video call meeting where we will witness you signing this. Please note we are required to witness you signing the printed NOIM form, so you are unable to sign this electronically on a device or desktop.
4. Then scan and email pages 3 + 4 of your NOIM form to us.
Once we receive your scanned signed NOIM form, this is lodged with us from that date. You can get married as soon as 1 calendar month from the date we receive this by email. For example, if you email your completed signed NOIM form to us on the 15th of this month, your marriage can take place anytime from 15th of next month.
Contact us here to lodge your NOIM form
See more of this wedding by viewing the full blog post here.
QUESTION 1: How do we sign the NOIM form if we each live in different states in Australia?
One of you can sign your signature field on the NOIM form with us witnessing you signing this during our video call or in person meeting. If you are in different states at this time when one of you is signing, as it isn’t possible for you to both sign at that time, we are permitted to accept and lodge your NOIM form, with the second person signing this in our presence at a later date, before the marriage takes place. This can even be signed on the day of your wedding, prior to the ceremony.
QUESTION 2: I am based in Brisbane and my fiancé is based interstate. How do we both sign the NOIM form separately & can you accept and lodge the NOIM form with just my signature?
In the event that is highly inconvenient or not possible for one of you to sign the NOIM form, the Celebrant (at our discretion) can accept and lodge the NOIM form with 1 witnessed signature. The other person will need to sign the NOIM form before your marriage can take place. In this case, while still preferable, the second signature does not need to be signed and witnessed within 1 calendar month of the date of the marriage, given the NOIM form has already being lodged with us.
QUESTION 3: What is a NOIM FORM or ‘NOTICE OF INTENDED MARRIAGE FORM’ and what’s the process?
The Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) form is your official way of providing notice that you intend to legally marry within Australia. Your signed and witnessed NOIM form must be received by us, your Celebrant no less than 1 calendar month before the date of your marriage.
For your convenience, we use an online program which allows our couples to complete their details via an online form which pre-populates your provided information into the NOIM form, which we then check has been completely correctly, before returning to you as a PDF document to print.
Once printed, the NOIM form must be signed by the marrying persons, in the presence of an authorised witness prior to your marriage taking place.
There’s no need for you to go searching online for this form (and if you were to, you risk finding an outdated version of this form which cannot be accepted or completing it incorrectly).
QUESTION 4: What happens once our NOIM form is lodged with you, our Celebrant and we’ve made our payment to secure our elopement date?
Once your date has been secured and your NOIM form has been lodged, and all required Identification and documents have been sighted (passports are the preferred form of ID for us to sight), we will confirm your date is secured.
Then we’ll put together your ceremony wording based on the inclusions you confirmed during our meeting, so you know exactly what to expect on the day. If you indicated that you intend to write personalised vows to each other, we will also provide you with our vow writing worksheet resources to assist you with this process, along with any wedding vendor recommendations you requested, e.g. an elopement Photographer, information on elopement locations etc.
QUESTION 5: What other forms are required in order for us to get married
The Declaration – Before your marriage takes place, we’ll ask you to sign a form called ‘The Declaration’ to declare that you can legally marry each other.
To make this quick and easy for you, we’ll have this form pre-completed and printed with the information that you previously provided via our online system, ready for you to sign. This form can be signed on the wedding day, just prior to your marriage taking place, at which time we’ll also confirm your consent to marry.
Marriage Certificate Application – For your official registry issued marriage certificate to simply be sent to you in the post by BDM QLD after your marriage has been registered, you have the option to complete a marriage certificate application form. If you complete this we can submit it to BDM QLD (the department that officially registers your marriage), on your behalf, along with your marriage documents. Completing this saves you from having to apply for your ‘registry issued marriage certificate directly (which would require a bunch of JP witnessed ID – in short, it’s a bit of a pain applying directly).
Your official marriage certificate, issued by BDM QLD is usually required for the purpose of changing your last name or as proof of marriage for visa applications.
QUESTION 6: Is there anyone else other than you, our Celebrant that can witness us signing our NOIM form?
While it’s generally a lot easier to have us witness you signing your NOIM form during our video call meeting, other authorised parties that can witness your NOIM form include:
- An authorised Marriage Celebrant – that’ll be one of us!
- A Commissioner for Declarations under the Statutory Declarations Act
1959, - A justice of the peace,
- a barrister or solicitor,
- a legally qualified medical practitioner (e.g. a Medical Doctor),
- or a member of the Australian Federal Police or the police force of a State or Territory.
In the event that it was more convenient to have one of these alternative authorised persons, witness you signing your NOIM form, after we’ve returned your PDF completed NOIM form to you, you can print this and take it to either a local JP or pop into your local police station, and sign in the presence of the authorised person, with that person signing to confirm they’ve witnessed your signatures, and if available stamping with their job title and reference details.
We hope you found this information helpful, and we hope you can relax and enjoy the amazing experience of eloping in Queensland from interstate!
With a wonderful variety of beautiful Brisbane elopement locations or Cairns elopement spots, why not elope in Queensland.
Expert elopement Celebrants Cara and Jamie would love to assist you in planning your QLD wedding from interstate. Let’s get the ball rolling for your elopement!
Images by Cloud Catcher Studio from a styled shoot collab alongside With Love – Brisbane Wedding Decorators. Wildflower Weddings, Still Wild Love & Heart & Soul Media.
Jamie + Cara – With Love Elopements