Marriage Certificate Not Registered (India)

[Steven and Ashish 0]

Hi, All. I would really appreciate some advice on my situation...

I am U.S. citizen (born here) and I was married in India (Chandigarh) on December 28, 2010. I filed the I-130 with a priority date of March 1. I received an RFE dated June 16 and received the hardcopy on June 30.

The issue is that my Church marriage certificate was not registered in India and therefore cannot be accepted by the USCIS. I am going to India in 2 weeks to get this taken care of but I have a few questions before I go.

1) Question for the Indians...Under Indian Law, (Special Marriage Act), I believe I have to be there for about 2 months (is this true?) The first month to apply for the marriage and show that I am in the country for 30 days and then 30 more days for the marriage registration application. Correct?

2) If I get my marriage registered as a fresh marriage in India and not as my Church marriage date (12/28), will this cause issues at the USCIS/NVC/Embassy? Would I have to change the date of my marriage on the I130 to the new state recognized marriage date?

3) I have until September 16 for the USCIS to receive this registered marriage license, is there any way to get an extension from the USCIS?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Navyk 78]

I took the asy route of getting a marraige certificate from sub-registrar's office. After applying for the registered marraige, one has to wait for a month to get marraied in the sub-registrar od marraige's office.

Based on the above experience, I don't think getting the church marraige with the sub-registrar od marraiges should take more than 30 days and I don't think you need to be in India for any length of time to get it registered.

Finally the marraige date will not change just becuase it is registered late. Also you can always call USCIS and take time, if you need - but you will not need it.

[Dave and Kinnari 31]

Mine was registered by the sub-registrar and I had no issues getting my NOA2.

I am not sure why it would take that long. Mine took about 2-3 weeks.

I would go the sub-registar route and see if you can get a rush order done.

[GOD CAN DO IT 1]

As per special marriage act, you need to appear two times in front of the marriage registrar, first to just put your request and exactly after 30 day's for registration the next day you can leave and any body can pick up the certificate. You have to be there at least for 30 day's. Another recommendation is if you and your spouse are from different city, the person from different city that you are registering should get a NOC from his/her city with in those 30 days. Does it making sense? If not, reply to me, I will give you more explanation. But it is not 60 days but 30 days.

[Steven and Ashish 0]

As per special marriage act, you need to appear two times in front of the marriage registrar, first to just put your request and exactly after 30 day's for registration the next day you can leave and any body can pick up the certificate. You have to be there at least for 30 day's. Another recommendation is if you and your spouse are from different city, the person from different city that you are registering should get a NOC from his/her city with in those 30 days. Does it making sense? If not, reply to me, I will give you more explanation. But it is not 60 days but 30 days.

Thanks all for your replies.

God can do it, I do have some more questions with more background about my wife n I. I am a US born citizen (indian parents).

In this scenario it seems like the Special Marriage Act and Foreign National Acts are similar, is that correct? Like, would having a Christian Marriage and being a Foreign national go under the same process?

Also, since I am USC, would I get the NOC from USA? If not, where would this NOC be obtained and what documents would I need to receive this?

After putting request and the 30 day's for registration, is the certificate available immediately?

Do I need blood relative to be there for witness?

Really appreciate the help. Thank you.

[Navyk 78]

I think we may not be on the same page.

One needs to be in India first i) to file the application to get married and then ii) after 30 days to get married. This is for getting married at the sub-registrara office.

If we are talking about registering a marraige which was solemnized in a church. Christian marraiges are difficult to be done directly at the sub-registrarr's office - it is difficult, trust me. All one needs to do is to take the marragige certificate with the letter from the pastor of the church where it was somemnized and apply at the sub-registrara's office to register it. In this case, I don't think there is any waiting involved in this process - even if it is, it can not be more than 30 days.

If you are lucky, you can get this done in a day else you know what to do in India.

[Deep2009 18]

You can also do one thing.... like other has recommended to register your marriage at marriage-registrar (sub-registrar).

It is not that difficult.... Your spouse will be the primary that file the application from her and she is married to you on your marriage date.

They will register.... you should have the following people -

1 or 2 witness from you your side (atleast one of the parents)

1 or 2 witness from her side (atleast one of the parents)

Couple of other witnesses.

Good luck or you can follow 30 days thing.

[Dave and Kinnari 31]

You can also do one thing.... like other has recommended to register your marriage at marriage-registrar (sub-registrar).

It is not that difficult.... Your spouse will be the primary that file the application from her and she is married to you on your marriage date.

They will register.... you should have the following people -

1 or 2 witness from you your side (atleast one of the parents)

1 or 2 witness from her side (atleast one of the parents)

Couple of other witnesses.

Good luck or you can follow 30 days thing.

This is what I would do...

[Navyk 78]

Just ask your spouse to go to the office of local sub-registrar of marraiges with a copy of your church marraige certficate and talk. Each office has their own personal styles.

We went the registered marraige route. In Hyderabad, the Sub-Registrar office gave us trouble (insisted that I be there to submit application) and we just went to our native place, where they allowed scanned application to be mailed back to them with signature and notarized documents (Passport & Citizenship certificate) and din't insist that I be there at the time of application. The bottom line is that each one has their individual style - just go to the one that helps. Probably in your case you may have to go to the sub-registrar office, where the church is located.

[Steven and Ashish 0]

Thanks All.