--- title: "The NOIM, explained | Best Ceremonies" description: "The Notice of Intended Marriage: who it goes to, the one calendar month rule, the eighteen month limit, and the documents you have to produce." url: "https://bestceremonies.com.au/noim/" --- Guide # The NOIM, explained A Notice of Intended Marriage, or NOIM form, is the form that starts a marriage. It goes to your celebrant, not to the registry, at least one calendar month and no more than eighteen months before the day. You each need a birth certificate or passport, photo identification, and evidence that any previous marriage has ended. For comparison ## What the registries charge | Registry | Weekday | Saturday | Certificate | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | -------- | ----------- | | **NSW — NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages**: Sydney (Pyrmont) only for Northern Rivers couples; the fee does not include the certificate. Premium room $1,304; Saturday late slots $802\. Fees effective 2026-07-01. | $482 | $597 | $70 | | **QLD — Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages**: Legal-only is weekdays only, 15 minutes, four people (the couple and two witnesses), no guests, and includes the official certificate. Checked 6 September 2026: the legal-only service was fully booked for the rest of the year and taking dates for the year after. Fees effective 2025-11-24. | $410.60 | $534 | $58.10 | Both schedules are set by regulation and are published here as they stand at the dates shown. They are the registries' fees, not mine. ## The one month rule, exactly One calendar month means the same date in the following month, not thirty days. A notice received on 12 February covers a ceremony on 12 March. Received on 13 February, it does not. The clock starts when your celebrant receives the completed notice, not when you sign it, which is what catches couples who post it from overseas. The notice is also valid for a maximum of eighteen months. If your date moves past that window the notice lapses, you have to lodge a new one, and the month starts again. The same rule applies whether you are having a full wedding or a legals only wedding, because it is the notice the law counts rather than the ceremony. ## Shortening of time The one month period can be shortened, but not by your celebrant and not by agreement. An application goes to a prescribed authority, in practice a nominated officer at the state registry or a court registrar, and it has to fall into one of five categories: employment or travel commitments, arrangements already made for the wedding or religious considerations, medical reasons, legal proceedings, or an error in giving notice. You need evidence, and it is refused often. A wedding booked at short notice is not by itself a reason. The arrangements category means something like a deployment date or a visa expiry, documented. Assume it will not be granted and work to the month. Questions ## Questions people ask What is a Notice of Intended Marriage? The Commonwealth form that gives legal notice you intend to marry. You both sign it and lodge it with your celebrant, who holds it and later lodges the completed paperwork with the state registry. Without a valid notice on file at least one month before the day, the marriage cannot proceed. When does the NOIM have to be lodged? At least one calendar month before the ceremony and no more than eighteen months before it. One calendar month means the same date in the following month, not thirty days. If your ceremony is on 12 March, your celebrant needs the notice by 12 February at the latest. What documents do we need for the NOIM? A birth certificate or a current passport for each of you, photo identification, and a divorce order or death certificate if either of you has been married before. Documents in another language need an authorised translation. Your celebrant has to sight the originals, so copies are not enough on their own. Can the one-month notice be shortened? Only by a prescribed authority, and only for one of five listed reasons: employment or travel commitments, wedding arrangements already made or religious considerations, medical reasons, legal proceedings, or an error in giving notice. You apply in person with evidence, it is not granted often, and your celebrant cannot approve it. Do we sign the NOIM in front of our celebrant? One of you has to sign it in front of an authorised witness: me, a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer, a JP, or an Australian consular officer if you are overseas. The other can sign later, before the ceremony. I can witness it in person or by video link where the requirements for witnessing it that way are met and you are in Australia. In practice most couples sign together at the first meeting. What if we are overseas when we lodge? You can sign the notice in front of an Australian diplomatic or consular officer, or a notary public overseas, and post or email it to your celebrant. The one month clock starts when they receive it rather than when you sign, so allow for the post. Who lodges the paperwork after the wedding? Your celebrant, within fourteen days, to the registry in the state where the marriage took place. You sign three certificates on the day: one for the registry, one for your celebrant's records and one decorative copy for you. The decorative one is not the legal certificate. Is the certificate we sign on the day the official one? No, and this catches a lot of couples. The commemorative certificate you sign at the ceremony is a keepsake. The state registry issues the legal marriage certificate and you order it separately, at $70 in New South Wales or $58.10 in Queensland. That is the one Services Australia and Passports will ask for. Get in touch ## Check my date Send the date, or the season, and where. I will tell you whether it is free and exactly what it costs. No obligation. [0400 110 959](tel:+61400110959) [felicity@bestceremonies.com.au](mailto:felicity@bestceremonies.com.au) Most days, 9am to 7pm. --- This is the Markdown copy of https://bestceremonies.com.au/noim/. Every page on this site has one at its path with .md in place of the closing slash; the index is https://bestceremonies.com.au/llms.txt and the guide for agents is https://bestceremonies.com.au/agents/.