How To Get Your Marriage Certificate in Bangalore

After 8 months of my marriage, I finally managed to get my marriage certificate from the Government. And by God’s grace it happened without giving any bribe. So,  in order to help others I am just listing down the things you need to do in order to get your certificate.

1. First, pray. You are going to face a lot of situations where you will be asked for a bribe. You need to stoutly say ‘No.’
2. Go to the nearest Sub-Registrar’s office to your house and buy the relevant Application form (This form will correspond to Special Marriage Act).  The Application forms differ based on whether you are already married or you are going to get married. They are also available online.
3. The Form is fairly simple to fill up. However, you may want to fill it up with the help of those in the Registrar’s office.
4. Now, once the form is filled up you need to also get the following documents ready for you and your spouse (fiancée)
   • Address Proof ( Ration Card, BSNL Landline, Electricity Bill, Voter’s ID or Passport)
   • Identity Proof (Any Central of State Government Card will suffice)
5. You must now go to the Sub-Registrar’s office which corresponds to the address mentioned in your Address proof. For eg. I bought the application forms in HRBR Layout but had to go to BTM Registrar’s office since my Ration Card had that address. Check here for the details.
6. You have to take 3 witnesses along with you ( preferably not your relatives) and of course your spouse(fiancée).
7. Once you fill up the form and sign it along with your witnesses you need to submit it to the sub-registrar’s office and get a receipt for the same. It is at this point they will ask for a bribe. If you don’t give them, they may force you to buy some other stuff (they asked me to buy Army stamps worth 200/- which were not even postal stamps). However, if you stand your ground, things should go fine.
8. Once you are through this process, you have to wait for about a month and then once again go to the same Sub-Registrar’s office along with your spouse and witnesses. You must of course carry the receipt with you. Go before 90 days or the application will expire.
9. The Sub-Registrar’s Office will issue you the marriage certificate and you will need to sign it along with your witnesses. They will put their official stamps and you are done. You will have 2 copies and the Office will keep 2 for themselves.
10. You will need to pay Rs 84/- for this second time. They will issue a receipt for the same.

I took the pain to put this process on my blog because many of the so-called “Christian Registrars” prey on Christians’ ignorance and naivety and swindle money while issuing the marriage certificate. I hope this post will help people from getting exploited.