getting married in India harder than getting a visa?

[Lilly Jathol 7]

I married my husband in India in February 2011. We hired a lawyer who took us to a small Gurudwara where we were married in a Sikh Ceremony, then we reported to court a couple days later. We both thought we had registered our marriage but we found out after I came back to the United States that we had not registered it, we had gotten a protective order for our marriage.

Sooo.....

I am going to India at the end of this month and I am going to convert my religion to Sikhism, meet his parents for the first time,have another marriage ceremony and try again with the registering thing. My husband seems to think that getting a marriage registered in India is harder than getting a Visa because apparantly, we need a lawyer to do it. He just called me and told me he talked to a 'good' lawyer that said I need to stay in India a minimum of 40 days in order to register the marriage. From what I have read online, as long as we are the same religion, we dont need to wait the 30 days for the registering process. He says that we need to get married under the special marriage act because to get married under the HIndu marriage act, he would have to say he is Hindu, which he refuses to do (no offence to Hindus).

I purchased my ticket months ago and I am stayin in India for 37 days. I have already changed the date on my ticket once at the cost of $200 and I am not willing to change it again. Also my job is on the line and I am already taking the maximum number of days off for this trip.

ok now to my questioin.....

Is it really that hard to get a marriage registered in India? What is the process exactly? Am I missing something? because it looks pretty straightforward online.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Ryan H 3,810]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to India regional forum; topic is country specific.

[dirk_diggler 107]

Sikhs can get married under the Hindu Marriage Act

[GaganGoel 7]

We got married under Special Marriage Act in Nov 2012. Under this act, any two religions can get married.

For this, we had to file court notice a month before the date of legal marriage. I did that on behalf of both of us. My husband mailed me the docs with his signatures, and our lawyer filed for court notice in district court in Oct 2012. (which states that we want to get married and if anybody has any problems, they could report it in a month. We had to give newspaper publications as well.)

After a month was over, we took appointment and my husband came for 2 weeks for legal wedding. They issued us Marriage Certificate on the spot.

This is what wiki says:

1. marriage performed under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is a civil contract and accordingly, there need be no rites or ceremonial requirements.^[5]
2. The parties have to file a Notice of Intended Marriage in the specified form to the Marriage Registrar of the district in which at least one of the parties to the marriage has resided for a period of not less than thirty days immediately preceding the date on which such notice is given.^[6]
3. After the expiration of thirty days from the date on which notice of an intended marriage has been published, the marriage may be solemnized, unless it has been objected to by any person.
4. The marriage may be solemnized at the specified Marriage Office.^[6]
5. Marriage is not binding on the parties unless each party states "I, (A), take thee (B), to be my lawful wife (or husband)," in the presence of the Marriage Officer and three witnesses.^[6]

We would be happy to help if you need more information on this.

Edited September 10, 2013 by GaganGoel

[Lilly Jathol 7]

We got married under Special Marriage Act in Nov 2012. Under this act, any two religions can get married.

For this, we had to file court notice a month before the date of legal marriage. I did that on behalf of both of us. My husband mailed me the docs with his signatures, and our lawyer filed for court notice in district court in Oct 2012. (which states that we want to get married and if anybody has any problems, they could report it in a month. We had to give newspaper publications as well.)

After a month was over, we took appointment and my husband came for 2 weeks for legal wedding. They issued us Marriage Certificate on the spot.

This is what wiki says:

1. marriage performed under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is a civil contract and accordingly, there need be no rites or ceremonial requirements.^[5]
2. The parties have to file a Notice of Intended Marriage in the specified form to the Marriage Registrar of the district in which at least one of the parties to the marriage has resided for a period of not less than thirty days immediately preceding the date on which such notice is given.^[6]
3. After the expiration of thirty days from the date on which notice of an intended marriage has been published, the marriage may be solemnized, unless it has been objected to by any person.
4. The marriage may be solemnized at the specified Marriage Office.^[6]
5. Marriage is not binding on the parties unless each party states "I, (A), take thee (B), to be my lawful wife (or husband)," in the presence of the Marriage Officer and three witnesses.^[6]

We would be happy to help if you need more information on this.

Thank you very much for your information. I thought it wasnt hard. I will show my husband this post and hopefully he will listen to you because he doesnt like to listen to me hahah

[Lilly Jathol 7]

Ok so I showed my husband your post and he said he will show it to his lawyer . U didnt use a lawyer did you? He also asked exactly which documents you needed to get the process started (which ones your husband sent you before he came). He also said that the Special marriage act has more than one section and he asked which one you used.

Thank you again for your help.

Please reply soon

[GaganGoel 7]

Ok so I showed my husband your post and he said he will show it to his lawyer . U didnt use a lawyer did you? He also asked exactly which documents you needed to get the process started (which ones your husband sent you before he came). He also said that the Special marriage act has more than one section and he asked which one you used.

Thank you again for your help.

Please reply soon

We used a lawyer. It was perhaps Section 5 under which we had given notice. I'm not sure though.

And for the process, he mailed us some forms which we had to sign. My husband signed it and sent us scanned copy. I had to sign it in front of the Marriage Registrar. We also mentioned in the court that it was hard for him to come here for notice and he would come for legal wedding.

Our parents (my and his parents) were there though.

Here is the link to forms.

http://www.karunadu.gov.in/karigr/download/special%20marriage%20forms.pdf

OR

http://www.bundi.nic.in/bunweb/tender%20n%20form/intended-marriage.pdf

We used the page 1 forms for the notice.

Also, some other documents like his driving license, his passport, my residence proof in India, my identity proofs were required.

Edited September 11, 2013 by GaganGoel

[Harsh_77 716]

First thing I will tell you is the lawyer you guys had was of no use he did not do #######.

As Gagan mentioned, you have to file the intent to marriage 30 days ahead of your marriage and one party is required to be there to file it, if your lawyer is competent than he can take care of it without either of you actually going to the court.

Something that stood out was you did not meet his parents or had any other function on your fist visit, pictures from such occasions would be required as a proof of the marriage.

[Lilly Jathol 7]

Thank you. Finally someone who agrees with me.

It is true I did not meet his parents the first time I went to India, nor the second time I went to India, but I am meeting them this time

[Harsh_77 716]

Thank you. Finally someone who agrees with me.

It is true I did not meet his parents the first time I went to India, nor the second time I went to India, but I am meeting them this time

If you have questions feel free to message got married by special marriage act.

My wife did not have to change her religion or nothing...