In order to register a marriage in our country legally, a marriage certificate is issued. This certificate is a proof of the marriage of the two parties. Also, in case one of the spouses dies, then the other can claim insurance smoothly with the help of a marriage certificate.
A marriage certificate is a legal document that declares that the marriage between two individuals is valid. In India, marriages are registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or the Special Marriage Act, 1954. It was mandated by the Supreme Court in the year 2006 to obtain a marriage certificate in order to legalise the marriage.
It is known to a lot of people that it is mandatory to register a marriage in India, but they are still unaware of the process for marriage registration. Here, we will discuss both the online and offline process for marriage registration in India.
Just like all the other things that are available online, it is possible to do a marriage registration in India via online platforms. Online marriage registration is opted over offline registration because it is a time saving and hassle-free way. The steps to register a marriage online are listed below:
On submission of the marriage registration form, the applicants will be summoned by the marriage registrar on a specified date and time. The applicants must be present at the marriage registrar’s office on the specified time along with all the necessary documents. It is also necessary that at least two witnesses from each of the parties are present in the office of the marriage registrar at the time of marriage.
It should also be noted that the date and time of marriage is specified by the marriage registrar at least after 15 to 30 days from the date of submission of the form as per the guidelines of the Hindu Marriage Act. Also, in case of the Special Marriage Act, this duration may extend up to 60 days.
As per the above discussion, it is clear that a marriage is registered in India either under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act. All the individuals must register their marriage irrespective of their religion i.e. either hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhists. The applicant has to go to the office of the sub-registrar under whom the marriage has been solemnised. It can also be performed in the office of the sub-registrar of that region in which one of the individuals has been living for more than six months.
No matter what the religion of the individuals is, they can do marriage registration Under the Special Marriage Act. As per the guidelines of this registration the couple is given solemnization by the marriage officer. As discussed above, the applicant must provide a 30 days’ notice to the sub-registrar under the jurisdiction of whom one of the individuals has been residing.
The marriage will be registered if the registrar does not receive any sort of objections regarding the marriage during a period of 30 days for which the notice is put up on the notice board. The sub-registrar also keeps a copy of the notice with him.
This process helps in the completion of the marriage without any sort of religious ceremonies. The Special Marriage Act is an alternate option for those individuals who can not register themselves under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The documents that are required in order to do a marriage registration in India are listed below:
As discussed above, a marriage registration can be done both online and offline. The online process of marriage registration has been made available in some of the big cities in India. All one has to do is log in to the official website of the concerned state and fill out the marriage registration form which is present on the website. On completing this process, the applicant will be called to the office of the sub-registrar for a meeting in which the documents of the couple and the witnesses will be verified and the marriage will be registered.
For those people who wish to register their marriage offline, the applicant will have to visit the sub registrar’s office of the place where the marriage was solemnised. Then, the applicant will have to manually fill out the details in the application form and attach all the required documents along with their signatures. If there are no objections, then the marriage will be registered after 30 days.
In this blog, we came across marriage registration in India. We discussed the procedure of marriage registration in both online and offline mode. We also discussed the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act and the documents required for marriage registration and the place where marriage registration is done.
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