In 1996, the Australian Immigration Department approved its first prospective marriage visa for an Internet couple, a Balmain electrical contractor and his Canadian fiancee. Now they arrive weekly. We always question them pretty closely. They're coming here to get married and they haven't even met their lover yet. Australian immigration won't issue a prospective marriage visa unless the couple has actually met.
Most couples meet here on a tourist visa and then get married and apply for residency.
First, they're granted a temporary spouse visa, which is made permanent if the couple is still together after two years. Most lovers are old-fashioned enough to want to meet before they decide to marry. Surveys of online lovers find that almost all of them intend to meet in the flesh and many go to extraordinary lengths to do so, flying across the world to meet up. I stood back to see what her reaction was and we hugged but we steered clear of the touchy-feely stuff for two hours or so. But we were holding hands in the car as we got over the initial shock.