In India, a religious marriage ceremony is considered a legal marriage. However registration of marriage is now a legal requirement in most of the states in India. Moreover, for visa and immigration purposes a formal marriage certificate from the Registrar of Marriages is required. There are different rules and regulations for different religions. For example there are Hindu Marriage Act, Muslim Marriage Act, and Christian Marriage Act and for the Parsee there is Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act.

Hindu Marriage Ceremony

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 is applicable to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. A religious marriage which has already been solemnized can be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Hindu Marriage Act is applicable in cases where both husband and wife are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs or where they have converted into any of these religions. The Hindu Marriage Act provides for the conditions of a marriage where under the bridegroom should be the age of 21 years and bride of 18 years, they both should not be within the degree of prohibited relationship.

The documents required for registering a marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act are as follows:

• Application form duly signed by both husband and wife.
• Documentary evidence of date of birth of parties (Matriculation Certificate / Passport / Birth Certificate) Minimum age of both parties is 21 years at the time of registration under the Special Marriage Act.
• Ration card of husband or wife whose area SDM has been approached for the certificate.
• Affidavit by both the parties stating place and date of marriage, date of birth, marital status at the time of marriage and nationality.
• Two passport size photographs of both the parties and one marriage photograph, Marriage invitation card, if available.
• If marriage was solemnized in a religious place, a certificate from the priest is required who solemnized the marriage.
• Affirmation that the parties are not related to each other within the prohibited degree of relationship as per Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act as the case may be attested copy of divorce decree/order in case of a divorcee and death certificate of spouse in case of widow/widower.
• In case one of the parties belong to other than Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh religions, a conversion certificate from the priest who solemnized the marriage.
• All documents excluding receipt should be attested by a Gazetted Officer.

Verification of all the documents is carried out on the date of application and a day is fixed and communicated to the parties for registration. On the said day, both parties, along with a Gazetted Officer who attended their marriage, need to be present before the SDM. The marriage certificate under the Hindu Marriage Act is issued on the same day or within a few days.