Australia is full of micro bureaucracy run amok. I’m half American, half Aussie. People complain about red tape in the US, but it has nothing on Australia. They didn’t even let me get fingerprints for my background check there, as they claimed some bullcock about possible identity fraud if they release print sets to people. Of course I got my single certificate or whatever you call it in the US when I wanted to get married in Taiwan, and there wasn’t any hassle at all.
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Eight hundred and two resident, according to the stats from February 
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Heh, not many of us Aussies these days in Taiwan!
I’ve emailed DFAT in Canberra to see if they have a creative solution. Here’s hoping 
@Watchdog - if you’re still around, some more information about your correspondence would be very welcome.
So, if unable to do this at the Australia Office, here’s what the backup option looks like:
- Complete a DFAT Application for Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage
- Photocopy birth certificate, passport and drivers license
- Visit the Australia Office to get the Application for Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage signature witnessed
- Visit a Taiwanese Notary Public to get the photocopies certified
- Complete a DFAT document legalisation request
- Complete a TECO Australia Application Form for Authentication
- Somehow acquire an Australia Post Express Post envelope and an Australia Post Express Post International Envelope
- Mail #1, #2, #5, #6, #7 to DFAT in Australia, with original identity documents (Passport or Birth Certificate and Drivers License)
- Have the resulting Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage mailed to TECO in Australia and hope that DFAT passes the package along without issue
- Receive the TECO notarised Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage. Hope like hell the original identity documents made it back with it.
- Visit the Australia Office to get the Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage certified
- Visit BOCA to get the Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage legalised
So, Yeah.
Yeah, nice work outlining those steps.
This seems a bit much. I wonder if a photocopy of the passport notarized at the Australian office in Taipei would suffice? What if you only have one passport (like most people) and suddenly need to urgently travel overseas while the CNI and legislations are all being processed?
This is the email I received from the Australian office in Taipei. They say they can’t issue CNI in Taiwan.
Dear [redacted]
Apologies for the delayed response and thank you for following up.
We can witness the application for a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage found on the smartraveller website at https://smartraveller.gov.au/services/legalising-documents/pages/overseas.aspx#i-want-to-get-married-overseas-can-dfat-help
We cannot issue a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage at the Australian Office in Taipei.
If you would like to make an appointment for any notarial services, please do so via our website at Appointment booking
Kind regards
Consular and Passport Section
Australian Office, Taipei
27-28F, No 9-11, Song Gao Road, Taipei 11073, Taiwan
Ph: +886 2-8725 4100
Fax: +886 2 8789 9599
I agree. Mailing identity documents internationally is not something I’d normally consider. The requirement for these documents comes from DFAT: https://smartraveller.gov.au/services/legalising-documents/pages/overseas.aspx#i-want-to-get-married-overseas-can-dfat-help
and I’ve just discovered a line I overlooked:
Documents can be originals or certified as true copies by an authorised local provider.
So, will DFAT accept a Taiwanese notary’s certification if processing it in Australia?
I’ve sent an email to the authentications section of DFAT to confirm.
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Did something change in the last few years? Mine was easy to get, fingerprints in Sydney and mailed in a week, everything else online. Married when we got back to Taiwan. Had to go to Hong kong because I came in on visa exempt, needed to be on visitor visa, did that in a weekend.
Only difference is I use my new zealand passport instead my Australian one, the less I have to think about that stain of a country on the underpants of the planet the better.
Doesn’t seem like it. Sounds like you may be talking about the New Zealand process, and doing parts of it outside of Taiwan?
We did the AU process, including background checks and fingerprints. Didnt need to add NZ ones since I hadnt lived in NZ for 2 decades.
Only thing we did outsite was that, and applying for visitor visa, which was done in Hong Kong over a weekend.
I guess something has changed then after all, since no background checks or fingerprints are required for a CNI according to the documents we’ve got now 
Small victories!
Can’t wait to see what they say
I’ve also just emailed the ‘12-step plan’ to them to see if they think it’s reasonable. Not expecting a helpful response, but figured it was worth a shot.
Me either.
I have followed this through to the conclusion. Australians are not to get a fair go, at least yet. TECO in your state of birth is the only one that can help you if you wish to get married in Taiwan at the moment. Standby while I write it all up.
OK, so, here’s a three-part blog series on marriage in Taiwan based on my experiences going through the (kafkaesque) process over the past few months.
- Marriage in Taiwan: Document Requirements - the laws
- Marriage in Taiwan: Acquiring a Single Status Certificate from Australia
- Marriage in Taiwan: Document Requirements - Registration
Since that’s in wayyy too much detail to paste here, here’s the TL;DR:
At the moment, the local quasi-embassy can’t help. Apply to your home state’s Birth Deaths and Marriages registry for a Single Status Certificate. Arrange with TECO in your home state to authenticate it. Get a Chinese translation from a local notary. Then you’re good to go.
The process is feasible, though hard and takes phone calls to real people, faith in the postal system, months of effort and a couple hundred dollars.
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You Aussies have it not so bad. Germans are required to jump extra hoops. I had to get a marriage ability certificate between me and my wife to be. This is a German thing but Taiwan asks Germans to do it for no specific reason.
You have to prove to German government that your future wife is single, that you are single and that you are not related in any way. Of course they only accept notarized translations in German language, documents from Taiwan must be legalized by German Institute Taipei! $$$
Only with this German document translated to Chinese and legalized by Taiwan office in Germany, you are able to marry in Taiwan. 
All this legalizations, translations and notarizations cost me around 500 Euro. Just to be able to marry here.