In India, marriage is more than a grand affair. It is a soulful agreement between two individuals/ parties to share their entire life. Hence, making it legitimate should be a priority.
Marriage registration is no longer a complex process. It is because we have simplified it for you. You can comfortably register your court marriage in India irrespective of state, caste, religion, and various factors involved in it.
In this article, we will take you through an easy marriage registration process. We will address all the fundamental components and other essentialities along with this.
Marriage registration establishes a legal set of roles and responsibilities by recognizing the legal bond of the married couple. It helps to claim survivor or social security benefits, insurance, etc. Let’s collect a comprehensive insight into the significance of marriage registration in India. Here are a few reasons you should know why marriage registration is so crucial.
As a married couple must go for a marriage registration within a few days or weeks of marriage. This time varies from state to state but is a mandatory process. Moreover, if a couple ignores it, it imposes several penalties.
Court marriage is a simple and more economical marriage procedure on legal terms. It saves time and money. Additionally, several eligibility criteria are there based on the marriage acts for the court marriage registration process. The marriage is solemnized under various acts that include; The Hindu Marriage Act, The Special Marriage Act, etc.
Let’s go through the eligibility criteria for the court marriage:
It is a tedious task to discover the best of the best advocates for court marriages or get your registration of marriage done in court from the pool of lawyers in India. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the eligibility criteria to make a correct decision. Here we have shortlisted a list of the essential components you must look for to get your marriage registered in India.
A couple is interested in registering their marriage online. There are a couple of conditions that couples should fulfill for their marriage registration.
They need to follow the correct methods for the online registration of marriage. We have enlisted here steps to register online.
Note: The witness of marriage needs to be present before the ADM with a legal witness age, legitimate PAN card, and residence proof.
The marriage is registered under the following laws of the constitution of India. The normal registration process requires submitting an application and various other steps as described by the law. Here is the stepwise procedure for the couple to register their marriage:
Step-1 Drafting and Applying For Registration
In this step, the couple creates a draft of their marriage to register under The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. The couple can apply at the office of the sub-Divisional Magistrate with the properly filled-out application form duly signed by both parties. The Rupees 100 should be submitted by the couple along with the application while submitting it under The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
After the submission of the application, there will be proper cross-verification of the details and documents of both parties by the authorities on the same day.
Step-2 Marriage Registration Witness by Gazetted Officer Along With The Additional District Magistrate
For marriage registration, a date is allotted and communicated to both parties. On the allocated date, the parties have to present before the additional district magistrate with the gazetted officer for their marriage registration. If all the formalities are smoothly completed, the marriage certificate is issued to the parties on the same day.
Note: It is advised to the applicants to take the witness with them at the time of appointment for applying to the sub-registrar’s office. A witness can be anyone in front of the sub-registrar who has attended the wedding of the parties. The witness needs to carry a PAN card and address proof for verification.
There is a complete list of the documents required while applying for the registration of marriage according to the law as follows:
Note: Usually, the appointment date is assigned within 30 days of application submission under The Hindu Marriage Act,1955. In case of marriage registration under The Special Marriage Act, the appointment time can extend to 60 days.
There are different categories of marriage registration according to the laws and amendments explained in the constitution of India. Here are the acts under which registration of marriage takes place.
To register marriage under this act, the wedding should have taken place according to the Hindu customary or non-customary manners. The bridegroom and bride must be Buddhist, Jains, Hindu, or Sikh. Other things that fall under the jurisdiction of the registering officer include;
To register marriage under The Special Marriage Act, the couple should attain the legal age of marriage.
It is essential to register your marriage within 90 days of the marriage to register marriage under this act. The couple can also register their marriage within 90-150 days by submitting the fine. After that, the couple cannot register their marriage under this act.
Christian couples can register their marriage by priests or under the License Act.
Before moving forward to understand how the registration process proceeds, let’s get familiar with the checklist for it. Here is the list of the documents you need to get along with you for registering your marriage in India, under The Hindu Marriage Act, of 1955.
Marriage is the most beautiful and sacred affair in India. Documenting such a bond helps to recognize it legally. It establishes legal rights and obligations for both parties. There are a few criteria and documents required from both parties that need to be ensured before going for marriage registration. Also, in the case of court marriages and special marriages, things should be carried out properly, as explained in the discussion above.
Yes, it is possible to register your marriage online. This is readily available in smart cities like Delhi. Married individuals can apply online on the official website of the respective state where the wedding ceremony was solemnized or in the state where either of the spouses has been residing for the last six months or more. Or, they can request Delhi Lawyers to carry out the registration process.
For executing the procedures of court marriage, the presence of a marriage witness is crucial. Whereas, in the case of the registration of marriage presence of a marriage witness may not be required sometimes. It is because court marriage is an official procedure that occurs in front of the judge without marriage ceremonies. On the other hand, marriage registration is quite a simplified process.
Marriage witnesses can be either the parents of the spouse, or maid of honor, the best man, or any of the friends the couple decides to nominate. They should be physically present while signing the marriage license & they must sign it. Additionally, in some states, the marriage witness must be over 18 years of age.
Yes, in case of court marriage, it is possible to receive the certificate of marriage on the same day. Else, it takes up to 30 days as the certificate of marriage is released by SDM’s office.
Yes, such couples can request to the registrar’s office of the city where their marriage registration took place. Some states offer online or mail options to receive the marriage certificate for the requesting couples.
It is necessary to match the details on the marriage certificate that must correspond to the original paperwork. The couple should confirm the details and review it before signing it officially to make it free from omissions and errors.
In case corrections are required, the couple needs to send an application to the registrar’s office where the marriage was originally registered. In addition to this, the process of getting corrections done does vary as per the jurisdiction.
Registering a marriage without a ceremony is impossible. Such type of marriage registration is considered null or void. Although there is no legal obligation for the specification of vows, the legislation must include ceremonies for registering a marriage.
If the marriage is normally registered under The Hindu Marriage Act 1955, it normally takes 30 days to receive a certificate of marriage in India. On the other hand, the time duration may increase if the marriage is registered under The Special Marriage Act, which is up to 60 days.
