Marriage Registration Application

To, The Marriage Officer / Registrar of Marriages [registrar_office] Date: [application_date] Subject: Application for registration of marriage Sir/Madam, We, the undersigned, apply for the registration of our marriage and state as follows: 1. PARTICULARS OF THE HUSBAND Name : [husband_name] Date of birth : [husband_dob] Address : [husband_address] 2. PARTICULARS OF THE WIFE Name : [wife_name] Date of birth : [wife_dob] Address : [wife_address] 3. PARTICULARS OF THE MARRIAGE Date of marriage : [marriage_date] Place of marriage: [marriage_place] Rites / form : [marriage_rites] Registration sought under: [act_applicable] 4. DECLARATIONS 4.1 That our marriage was duly solemnised on the date and at the place stated above. 4.2 That neither of us had a spouse living at the time of the marriage. 4.3 That both of us had attained the age prescribed by law at the time of the marriage, and were of sound mind and capable of giving valid consent. 4.4 That we are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship, save where a custom governing at least one of us permits a marriage between us. 4.5 That the particulars given above are true to the best of our knowledge and belief. 5. We request that our marriage be registered and that a MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE be issued to us. Husband Wife [husband_name] [wife_name] WITNESSES 1. Name: ______________________ Signature: ______________ Address: ______________ 2. Name: ______________________ Signature: ______________ Address: ______________ 3. Name: ______________________ Signature: ______________ Address: ______________ DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED 1. Proof of date of birth of both parties 2. Proof of address of both parties 3. Photographs of the parties, and of the marriage ceremony 4. Wedding invitation card, where available 5. Identity proof of the witnesses 6. Affidavit of marital status 7. Death certificate or decree of divorce, where either party was previously married ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── REGISTER IT EVEN THOUGH THE MARRIAGE IS ALREADY VALID A marriage solemnised according to the applicable rites is valid whether or not it is registered. Registration does not create the marriage; it PROVES it. The Supreme Court has directed States to make registration of marriages compulsory, and most have, but the practical argument is simpler than the legal one. WITHOUT A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE you will meet friction at exactly the moments it is hardest to fix: - a spouse visa or a dependent visa application - adding a spouse to a passport, or to insurance and employment records - a joint bank account, a joint home loan, or a nomination - claiming provident fund, gratuity, pension or insurance after a death - inheritance and succession, where the relationship is questioned - any proceeding for maintenance, where proving the marriage becomes the first battle rather than a formality WHICH ACT APPLIES: HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955 — registration under Section 8 of a marriage already solemnised by Hindu rites, where both parties are Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh. SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT, 1954 — for an interfaith marriage, or for a civil marriage. Note that SOLEMNISING under this Act requires a THIRTY-DAY PUBLIC NOTICE before the marriage, which is a very different process from registering one already solemnised. DELAY IS USUALLY CURABLE but gets harder. Several States prescribe a period within which registration should be sought, with a late fee afterwards, and some require an affidavit or a magistrate's direction where years have passed. Witnesses also become harder to produce as time goes on. TAKE THE SAME THREE WITNESSES who can speak to the ceremony. Their identity documents are required, and a witness who was not present is worse than useless.