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Registering Foreign Marriages
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Siddhartha Shah
A practicing advocate of Mumbai High Court. He specialises in Civil, Criminal, International and Matrimonial Laws. He opines on Indian Laws and the Legal System. Have a question? Click here...
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Foreign Marriage Act
Maria asks,
My friend is a Hindu and I am a Christian girl. He wants to convert into Christianity and we will be moving to USA soon on H1B visa and L1 visa. Can we get married there? If so what are the rules and regulations to be followed?
Dear Maria,
As per the limited facts narrated by you, you can definitely get married to your proposed spouse in India or in the U.S. You may after complying the appropriate ceremonies as per your religious rites, get your marriage solemnised and register the same as per Indian laws before the Indian embassy in the U.S. And get married and register your marriage under the provisions of Foreign Marriage Act 1969 by following the statutory compliances as required. It is preferable that you may comply and complete the marriage procedure at the place where you reside in India before travelling to the U.S. Hope this should suffice your query in brief.
Special Marriage Act
Libi asks,
I am from Czech Republic having work permit in England where I've stayed for 3 yrs. My fiancé is an Indian living in India. We would like to get married in India and come back to England after marriage. It would be a great help to get any advice about what legal documents I need to take with me for getting married in India, what formalities it will take. What we need to arrange before and after marriage so that everything would be legally right and we could come back to England to work and live as a married couple without troubles?
Dear Libi,
You can definitely get married to your proposed spouse in India and get the marriage registered in India under the provisions of Special Marriage Act 1954 by following a systematic procedure as laid down by the law.
The Special Marriage Act, 1954 requires certain preliminaries to the solemnisation of marriage. It should be kept in view that marriages under the Act are essentially civil marriages, and the Act provides for civil formalities.
Notice of marriage and its publication - Under the Act, notice of marriage is to be given by both the parties. It has to be given to the marriage officer of the district where one of the parties has resided for a period of not less than 30 days immediately preceding the date on which such notice is given. In the notice, the names, the status (unmarried, widow/widower or divorcee), ages and dwelling place of both the parties are to be stated. The length of residence and the permanent dwelling (if the present dwelling place is not a permanent residence) are also to be stated.
Solemnisation of marriage - Before a marriage can actually be solemnised, the bride and bridegroom are individually required to file a declaration. Each declaration should contain: the status of the bride (or bridegroom as the case may be) at the time of marriage i.e. whether he or she is unmarried, divorcee or widow/widower, the age and the statement that he or she is not related to the other within the degrees of prohibited relationship. No marriage under the Act shall be complete and binding unless each party says to the other in presence of the Marriage Officer and three witnesses and in the language understood to the parties.
Both of you need to get the following documents viz
- Passport or any document showing your nationality.
- A document showing proof of residence.
- Any document showing your proof of birth and age, viz birth certificate or school leaving certificate.
- A declaratory affidavit duly notarised stating your current matrimonial status and also providing more information with regards your domicile, age, and the place of your permanent residence.
- And also a single document showing the residential proof and status in India of each witness. i.e passport or ration card or any other property document.
Hope this should suffice your query in brief.
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