7 July, 2021

Couple forced to marry in order to attend own wedding

Closeup of groom placing a wedding ring on the brides hand. Couple exchanging wedding rings during a wedding ceremony outdoors.

A couple has been forced to get married in order to attend their own wedding ceremony in Australia after being refused entry no less than eight times.

Sydney-based Alicia Tucker told The Sydney Morning Herald that she and her now-husband have been stranded in the Netherlands for almost six months before they came up with the solution that would allow them to travel together.

Tucker said she met Simon van Oordt, who is from Amersfoort, five years ago while he was visiting Australia with cousins, and they have been travelling between the two countries to see each other since.

Van Oordt proposed to Tucker while she was visiting him in the Netherlands in March, and the two arranged to marry at her family church in December.

However, despite trying to return to Australia since February, van Oordt has repeatedly been denied entry into Australia by Border Force.

Tucker said that while Border Force has not provided a reason for the rejections, she thinks it’s because the two can’t prove they are together as they have decided not to move in with each other until they are married.

“It’s nearly like our relationship doesn’t exist, because we can’t prove that we live completely together and that we share bills together, that sort of thing, which is quite hard,” Tucker told SMH.

“Our relationship is real. We are planning on getting married. Just because we decided on not living together and not starting our family together until we’re married because of our religious beliefs, it’s a bit hard to think then in their eyes it isn’t good enough.”

After spending 10 months living with Van Oordt’s family, Tucker said she needed to return home to finish her studies at the Australian Catholic University.

“I have to go back to Australia because I need to finish my degree, but … I can’t leave him. If we were apart that would impact on [my mental health] even worse,” she said.

The couple decided to have a civil ceremony in the Netherlands this month to try and prove their relationship is not fake.

“We realised this is the only option … for us to get to Australia to attend our own wedding. So we have to get married to attend our own wedding,” van Oordt told SMH.

“The thing I don’t understand is, if they spend time going through your case, why they can’t include two sentences on why you actually got rejected, so you can actually update your exemption.”

Featured image source: iStock/jacoblund

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