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.
- 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.’
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
- You have to take 3 witnesses along with you ( preferably not your relatives) and of course your spouse(fiancée).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Hi,
I got married in Kerala and now settled in BLR.
Would this procedure be valid for me or should I go to Kerala itself?
Thanks,
Stancy
There is two more thing that one can do if they feel pressurised to give bribe ( this one’s after saying the stout “No’ )- 1) tell them you’ll invoke the RTI act as a citizen of this nation.RTI (Right to Information ) is an act any citizen can invoke to claim scrutiny of any transaction with a gazetted officer/government. 2) call then LokYukta ( officers who investigate and prosecute government officials who take bribe ). their number is
Lokyukta: 011-24618891
Stancy,
usually you are asked to go to a sub-registrar’s office that is in the same locale as your address for which you need a proof – such as a ration card, electricity bills, BSNL landline bill etc. if you have the same for your address in Bangalore, then you need to find the sub-registrar’s office in that locality and go.
Hi Venkatesh,
I got married in Gujarat according to Muslim ceremony, 2 months back. Now we are in Bangalore. I want to register my marriage in Bangalore under Special Marriage Act.
I have my rental agreement and HR letter as local address proof of Bangalore. My wife has address proof of Gujarat only. Will these docs suffice as address proofs of us?
And, will the certificate issued by Karnataka state gov be valid when we apply for passport in Gujarat, as our permanent address is in Gujarat?
Thanks & Regards…
Hi Mohammadi,
I am afraid that Rental Agreement or HR letter would not do. You must have either a ration card, driving license, BSNL bill or passport. Only this would constitute as an address proof. If your wife’s address is in Gujarat, thats fine. Get the address proof for that address and meet the registrar. Carry some identity proof for her. What is important is at least one of you has a proper address proof of your residence in Bangalore.
Hi Venkatesh,
we got married in one temple in Bihar,now we are in bangalore for last 1 and half year.I have passport and driving license but both having difference addresses.she has nothing as address proof ,she has applied for PAN card.even we don’t have any proof of marriage except some 2-3 photos and one formal receipt of that temple on that our names are mentioned in Hindi only.
can you suggest me what we can do to get the certificate?
please help me on this.
Hi Venkatesh,
Could you please pass on the BTM layout address of the sub registrar.
Thanks
Manoj
Hi venkatesh,
I have married in Vijayawada in 2003 . Now i want to register the marriage in bangalore .
I have address proof and my wife also have address proof . will they accept marriage registation
in jaya nagar office ?
Hi Venkatesh,
We got Married before 1.2 yrs,last December.My Husband having own Bsnl bill,driving licence n Passport.and in Passport my Name is Written there.And i have only Pan card n Bank account.My marriage will held in Bihar n we r now in Bangalore .pls you can suggest that this proof is ok or not.
Thanks in Advance,
Pooja
Hi sir, Really very useful information…..
Thanks for the information……
http://www.goodlivingguide.net/2011/12/marriage-certificate-procedure.html
Thanks a lot for this useful information
Thanks a lot
hi,
me or my fiancee both does not havelocal address proof…an officar in registrar office told to go to Majestic and get some local address proof which is made only for marriage purpose…
Can yoy please tell me where is that office.
Hello Rupam,
I am not aware of this procedure you have mentioned. Sorry, I can’t help you any further on this.
We had the same experience. We went to Koramangala registrar who asked us to get the address proof from Majestic who then directed us to K.R Puram. But still in vain because they in turn asked us to go to Varthur registrar. The whole day we roamed around bangalore with no outcome.
Certificate attestation in Delhi – We provide attestation on Commercial document like Attestation of Certificate, Marriage Certificate Authentication, Marriage Certificate Legalization.
thanks for your detailed explanation
Great service you have done in explaining, what happens to a couple who are married 40 years back? Is the procedure same.
prasad
I think the procedure is the same, Prasad. You may want to confirm with the nearest registrar office.
Hi
Thanks for this useful info. I have a question.
I got married in Bihar 2yrs back and currently residing in Bangalore. I want to get our marriage certificate in Bangalore. I have Bangalore local address proof but my wife does not have Bangalore address proof, she only has a passport with her home address on it and also my name is mentioned as husband on her passport.
Will this be sufficient for her address proof or she also need local address proof?
Amit,
I think so. At least one of you needs to have a local address proof. If the other does not have, it is still manageable.
I want to know if registration of marriage is compulsory in Bangalore. Is there a time frame for doing the same ? I remember reading sometime back that registration of marriage has to be done within a specified period of time. Please clarify
Venkatesh, I have a peculiar problem. My younger brother and his family reside in Europe (he is on an work assignment out there) and his wife delivered a baby a couple of months back. the country requires details such as parents Birth certificate, marriage certificate details to match with the passport to issue the birth certificate for the baby ( and obtain a passport thereafter for the baby so that they can return to India) Unfortunately the name detail in marriage certificate do not match with that in Passport. Now if you would let me know how can I request for an amendment / change in the name of both my brother and his wife in their marriage certificate to match that in their passport.(the change is not much but just an expansion of the initial in the name) this is essential to get the birth certificate of their baby which is pending for mismatch in the name and this tantamount to identity theft in that country and worse still is the matter of childs certificate and passport. Thanks in advance for any help offered in this matter. .
my mum is experiencing the same problem she was married late 1960′s in a church and now she requires the marriage certificate. the people in the registrar office are making her run around withouut giving proper information giving stupid reasons such as the senior registrar is transferred, no one to sign and sending her to different office. as we live overseas we cannot do anything from here. Is there anyway to end this corruption and put a complain about the people invovled in teh sub registrars office.
you have to use RTS,nida.
Hi, I just wanted to know that whether i can use pan card as proof of address for applying marriage certificate.
I think you can
Information really helped. Thanks for putting up the details on your blog.
Thank You
Hi,
The link to download marriage forms moved to below;
http://www.karunadu.gov.in/karigr/download/hindu%20marriage%20forms.pdf
some pointers : fill forms in all caps. even witness details. these shuold be in same handwriting. you will need address proof and dob proof for both bride and groom. need not be pcurrent address.
Thanks nice
Hi, buddy this info is very useful to take step ahead
thats really a nice gesture of you Venky…..good and fruitful information. Now i know what i need to do and not get tangled up in Govt offices rigmarole…..thank u once again