Which law, and which State
To register a marriage in India you apply under one of two central Acts, to the authority your State has appointed. Start with the fact this page used to bury. Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 does not itself register a marriage. It empowers your State Government to make rules under which the particulars of a marriage performed by Hindu rites are entered in a Hindu Marriage Register, in the manner and subject to the conditions that State prescribes, and the Supreme Court described that as leaving the choice to the contracting parties. A civil or inter-faith marriage is done under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, where a Marriage Officer both solemnises and registers the marriage. Under that Act the notice is published and thirty days must pass before the marriage can be solemnised. In Seema versus Ashwani Kumar the Supreme Court said marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States where the marriage is solemnised, and directed that the procedure for registration be notified by respective States within three months. It also recorded that apart from four State statutes, registration of marriages was not compulsory in any of the other States. So the rule that applies to you is the rule your State notified.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act being discretionary; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, the operative view; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i); Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on States without compulsory registration. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Marriage and divorce sit in Entry 5 of the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, and the Supreme Court has said that registration of marriages falls within the expression vital statistics in Entry 30 of that same list. Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 leaves the manner and the conditions of registration to rules made by each State Government, and the Court directed each State to notify its own procedure, which is why the forms and the fee differ from one State to another. This guide explains how each of the two routes works and what the two Acts actually fix. It is general information, not legal advice. For the procedure, the document list and the current fee, use your State registration department or the district sub-registrar.
Source: Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Concurrent List entries; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on Entry 30 vital statistics; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i). Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The short version. Married under Hindu rites, register under the rules your State made under section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Marrying across faiths or in a civil ceremony, use the Special Marriage Act, 1954, and plan for the notice and the thirty day period before solemnisation. Either way, keep the certificate. The Supreme Court has said registration is not by itself proof of a valid marriage, and section 8(5) says the validity of a Hindu marriage is in no way affected by the omission to make the entry, but the register is admissible as evidence of the statements in it and the Court called registration of great evidentiary value.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on what registration proves; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(4), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(5), Registration of Hindu marriages. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and your State rules
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 applies to any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms, and to any person who is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion. The marriage is performed first, according to the customary rites and ceremonies of either party. Where those rites include the saptapadi, the Act says the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken. Registration comes afterwards. Section 8 does not itself register the marriage; it empowers your State Government to make rules under which the particulars of the marriage are entered in a Hindu Marriage Register, in the manner and subject to the conditions the State prescribes. The Supreme Court described that as leaving the choice to the parties, which is why the State rule, not the Act, decides what is required of you.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Act No. 25 of 1955), section 2, Application of Act; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 7(2), Ceremonies for a Hindu marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act being discretionary. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Who you apply to, whether both of you must appear, and how many witnesses attend are set by the rules your State made under section 8, not by the Act, so confirm them with the office you will file with. What the Act fixes is the record. The particulars are entered in a Hindu Marriage Register, that register is open for inspection at all reasonable times and is admissible as evidence of the statements in it, and certified extracts are given on application on payment of the prescribed fee. The Act sets no publication or objection period for this route, which the Special Marriage Act does at sections 6(2) and 7(2).
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(4), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 6(2), Marriage Notice Book and publication; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
There is no national list of documents for this route, and this guide will not invent one. Section 8 leaves the manner and the conditions of the entry to rules made by each State Government, and the Supreme Court directed each State to notify its own procedure and confirmed that the officer appointed under those State rules is the one authorised to register marriages. Get the current list from your State registration department or from the district sub-registrar before you apply. The National Portal of India gives single-window access to government services and links through to the State that applies to you.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i); Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (ii); National Portal of India, Government of India, Services, National Portal of India. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Under the Special Marriage Act, 1954
The Special Marriage Act, 1954 is a civil law. Its long title describes it as an Act to provide a special form of marriage in certain cases, for the registration of such and certain other marriages and for divorce, and it extends to the whole of India. It is the route for inter-faith couples and for couples who want a civil ceremony rather than a religious one, and the Supreme Court records that it applies to Indian citizens irrespective of religion, with each marriage registered by the Marriage Officer specially appointed for the purpose. A marriage solemnised outside India, where at least one party is a citizen of India, is dealt with under the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 instead, which is an Act to make provision relating to marriages of citizens of India outside India and which lets a Marriage Officer register such a marriage under its section 17. Under the Special Marriage Act a Marriage Officer both conducts the marriage and enters the certificate, and under Chapter III may also register a marriage celebrated in another form.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (Act No. 43 of 1954), long title; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 1(2), extent; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Special Marriage Act, 1954; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, reproducing Ministry of Law (Legislative Department), Gazette of India, The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 (Act No. 33 of 1969), long title; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, reproducing Ministry of Law (Legislative Department), Gazette of India, The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, section 17, Registration of foreign marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, Chapter III, section 15, Registration of marriages celebrated in other forms. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The defining feature is the notice. Under section 5 the couple gives written notice to the Marriage Officer of a district in which at least one of them has resided for not less than thirty days immediately before the notice; section 5 itself sets no waiting period. The Marriage Officer publishes the notice under section 6(2). Under section 7(1) any person may object within thirty days of that publication, on the ground that the marriage would contravene a condition in section 4, such as a party having a spouse living or being below the statutory age. Under section 7(2) the marriage may be solemnised after those thirty days if it has not been objected to. Before it is solemnised the parties and three witnesses sign a declaration in the presence of the Marriage Officer. The trade-off to plan for is specific: this route sets a thirty day publication period that the Hindu Marriage Act route does not, and under section 14 the notice lapses if the marriage is not solemnised within three calendar months of it, which means a couple who let the date slip has to start the notice again.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 6(2), Marriage Notice Book and publication; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(1), Objection to marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 4(a), Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 4(c), Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 11, Declaration by parties and witnesses; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 14, New notice when marriage not solemnized within three months. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The Act does not set a list of documents. What it requires is the notice, in the form specified in its Second Schedule, given to the Marriage Officer of a district in which at least one of you has resided for not less than thirty days immediately before the notice, which is the part couples plan the timing around. For the papers, the forms and any online steps, take the current list from the Marriage Officer you will file with or from your State service listed on the National Portal of India.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; National Portal of India, Government of India, Services, National Portal of India. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What the Acts fix, and what your State decides
Requirements are set by each State, so nothing below is a national checklist. It is what the two Acts themselves fix, plus the places where the Act hands the decision to your State.
The statutory ages are twenty one years for the bridegroom and eighteen for the bride under section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and twenty one for the male and eighteen for the female under section 4(c) of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 states no age of marriage; its section 2(a) uses the same two ages to define a child. Those are still the current ages, because the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is listed as Lapsed. Which documents your State accepts as proof of age is set by the State rules, so ask the office you will file with.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 5(iii), Conditions for a Hindu marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 4(c), Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (Act No. 6 of 2007), section 2(a); PRS Legislative Research, Bills Parliament, bill-status search for Child Marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Neither Act lists identity documents. What counts as identity is set by the rules your State Government made under section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, so ask the office you will file with rather than relying on a list from us.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Under section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 the notice goes to the Marriage Officer of the district in which at least one of you has resided for not less than thirty days immediately before the notice, so that residence has to be evidenced. What evidence is accepted, and what either route asks for by way of address proof, is set by your State.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 records a marriage that has already been solemnised, and section 7 says that where the rites include the saptapadi the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken. What your State accepts as evidence that the ceremony took place is set by that State.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 7(2), Ceremonies for a Hindu marriage. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Under section 11 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 the parties and three witnesses sign a declaration before the Marriage Officer, and under section 13(1) the certificate is signed by the parties and the three witnesses. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets no number of witnesses. For that route the number comes from the rules your State made under section 8.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 11, Declaration by parties and witnesses; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 13(1), Certificate of marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The Special Marriage Act, 1954 requires the notice in the form specified in its Second Schedule. For the Hindu Marriage Act route the form is the one your State published under section 8. Use the form your State publishes, which you can reach through your State service on the National Portal of India, rather than a generic form.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; National Portal of India, Government of India, Services, National Portal of India. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What the certificate does and does not prove
The certificate does real work, though not the work people assume. In Seema versus Ashwani Kumar, decided on 14 February 2006, the Supreme Court said marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States, and directed that the procedure be notified by respective States within three months. The Court was careful about what registration proves. It said registration itself cannot be a proof of valid marriage per se and is not the determinative factor on validity, but that it has great evidentiary value in matters such as custody of children, the rights of children born of the marriage and the age of the parties. The wider list of benefits often attached to this case, covering inheritance, maintenance, bigamy and desertion, came from the affidavit of the National Commission for Women that the Court reproduced, not from the Court. There is one place the word conclusive does belong: under section 13(2) of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 a certificate entered in the Marriage Certificate Book is conclusive evidence that a marriage under that Act was solemnised. Before the 2006 direction the Court recorded four State statutes that already required registration, covering Maharashtra and Gujarat under the Bombay Act of 1953, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, and it recorded that registration of marriages was not compulsory in any of the other States.
Source: Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, Transfer Petition (civil) 291 of 2005, case header; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, the operative view; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i); Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on what registration proves; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the four compulsory-registration statutes; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on States without compulsory registration; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 13(2), Certificate of marriage. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
For use abroad, the Ministry of External Affairs attests original documents and true copies of documents, and an apostille is one of its two forms of attestation. The Convention entered into force for India on 14 July 2005. The Ministry says an apostille is acceptable in all member-countries of the Convention, and that normal attestation is used for the countries that are not members. The Hague Conference lists 130 Contracting Parties. The same depositary record also shows that five Contracting States, Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, objected to India acceding within the six month period Article 12 allows, and it states that the Convention will therefore not enter into force between India and the objecting States. Note also that the apostille is the second step: the document is authenticated before the Ministry apostilles it. Whether the country you are applying to asks for an apostille at all is a separate question, and the only reliable answer to it is that government’s own published document list.
Source: Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Apostille; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Normal Attestation; Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table, India row (R/A/S, Type, EIF); Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, status table; Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention, declaration/reservation/notification, objections to the accession of India. Jurisdiction: India and International treaty status. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Whether the Apostille Convention is in force today between India and any one of those five States is a conclusion we will not draw for you. The depositary record carries later withdrawal notes against some of those objections and not against all of them, and reading a missing withdrawal note as a live objection is an inference about treaty law rather than a fact printed on the page.
Pending qualified review. Whether an apostille from India will be recognised in a State that objected to India acceding, and whether that objection has since been withdrawn, is a treaty law question. A lawyer, or the consulate of the country you are applying to, should confirm the current position before a family pays for an apostille or relies on one.
There is also a specific proposal for the diaspora. The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2019 and would require an NRI who marries a citizen of India or another NRI to register the marriage within thirty days. As at 6 September 2026 PRS Legislative Research still lists it as Pending, and there is at present no central law requiring registration of marriages of NRIs solemnised outside India, so nothing in that Bill applies to you yet.
Source: PRS Legislative Research, The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019; PRS Legislative Research, Bills Parliament, bill-status search for Non-Resident Indian. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
None of this is a reason to worry, and it is not something a matchmaker handles for you. What careful matchmaking does is make sure the marriage itself is sound and the two families understand each other before any of the paperwork begins, which is the part no certificate can fix afterwards. Register when your State rule requires it, keep the certificate safe, and treat it as one of the first documents of your married life rather than an afterthought.
Evara describing its own practice. This is not a statement of law.
Related guides
Guides that pick up where the certificate leaves off:
Marriage Registration FAQs
Is it compulsory to register a marriage in India?+
That depends on your State. In Seema versus Ashwani Kumar, decided on 14 February 2006, the Supreme Court said marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States, and directed each State to notify the procedure within three months. Section 8(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is the provision that lets a State make entry in the register compulsory, and section 8(5) says the validity of the marriage is in no way affected by the omission to make the entry. So the answer for you is the rule your State notified. The practical reason to register is the one the Court gave: registration is not by itself proof of a valid marriage, but it has great evidentiary value in matters such as custody of children and the age of the parties.
Source: Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, Transfer Petition (civil) 291 of 2005, case header; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, the operative view; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i); Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(2), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(5), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on what registration proves. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What is the difference between the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act?+
Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 the marriage is performed first by customary rites, and section 8 lets your State Government make rules for entering it in a Hindu Marriage Register, so the Act itself sets no notice or objection period for that route; anything of that kind would come from your State rules. Under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 a Marriage Officer both solemnises the marriage and enters the certificate, which suits inter-faith and civil weddings. There the notice is published under section 6(2) and the marriage may be solemnised after thirty days from that publication if no objection was made.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (Act No. 43 of 1954), long title; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 6(2), Marriage Notice Book and publication; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What does the notice under the Special Marriage Act involve?+
Section 5 requires written notice to the Marriage Officer of a district in which at least one partner has resided for not less than thirty days immediately before the notice, and section 5 imposes no waiting period of its own. The Marriage Officer publishes the notice under section 6(2). Under section 7(1) any person may object within thirty days of that publication, on the ground that a condition in section 4 would be contravened. Under section 7(2) the marriage may be solemnised after those thirty days if it was not objected to, and under section 11 the parties and three witnesses sign the declaration before the Marriage Officer. Under section 14, if the marriage is not solemnised within three calendar months of the notice, the notice lapses and a new one is needed.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 6(2), Marriage Notice Book and publication; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(1), Objection to marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 11, Declaration by parties and witnesses; Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 14, New notice when marriage not solemnized within three months. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What documents do we need to register a marriage?+
There is no single national list, and we will not publish one. Section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 leaves the manner and the conditions of registration to rules made by each State Government, and in Seema versus Ashwani Kumar the Supreme Court directed each State to notify its own procedure and confirmed that the officer appointed under those State rules is the one authorised to register marriages. So the document list is your State list. Get it from your State registration department or the district sub-registrar before you apply. The National Portal of India provides single-window access to government services and links through to your State.
Source: Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages; Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i); Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (ii); National Portal of India, Government of India, Services, National Portal of India. Jurisdiction: India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Can an Indian marriage certificate be used abroad?+
It can be, in the countries that are party to the Apostille Convention. The Convention entered into force for India on 14 July 2005 and the Ministry of External Affairs is the authority that attests Indian documents for use abroad, apostilling the document after it has been authenticated. The Ministry says an apostille is acceptable in all member-countries of the Convention and that normal attestation is used for the countries that are not members. The Hague Conference lists 130 Contracting Parties and also records the objections that Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain raised to India joining, so check your destination on that record. Whether your destination asks for an apostille at all is a separate question: take that from the destination government’s own published document list rather than from us, and do not pay for an apostille nobody has asked you for.
Source: Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table, India row (R/A/S, Type, EIF); Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, status table; Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention, declaration/reservation/notification, objections to the accession of India; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Apostille; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille; Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Normal Attestation. Jurisdiction: International treaty status and India. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Does Evara handle marriage registration?+
No. We are matchmakers, not lawyers, and registration is a legal process handled by the officer your State appoints. What we do is make sure the match and the two families are sound before any paperwork begins. For the registration itself, we point families to their State registration department or the district sub-registrar.
Evara describing its own practice. This is not a statement of law.
Sources, with the date we read them
Every claim above points to one of these. Each entry names the authority, the country whose rule it is, the date we last read it, and the sentence we actually read. Where the India Code address for a statute broke after that site migrated, we read a dated archive capture of the same official PDF and say so beside the entry.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Act No. 25 of 1955), section 2, Application of Act
What it says: (1) This Act applies (a) to any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments, including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj, (b) to any person who is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion, and
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 5(iii), Conditions for a Hindu marriage
What it says: (iii) the bridegroom has completed the age of 2[twenty-one years] and the bride, the age of 3[eighteen years] at the time of the marriage;
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 7(2), Ceremonies for a Hindu marriage
What it says: Where such rites and ceremonies include the Saptapadi (that is, the taking of seven steps by the bridegroom and the bride jointly before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete and binding when the seventh step is taken.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(1), Registration of Hindu marriages
What it says: For the purpose of facilitating the proof of Hindu marriages, the State Government may make rules providing that the parties to any such marriage may have the particulars relating to their marriage entered in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in a Hindu Marriage Register kept for the purpose.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(2), Registration of Hindu marriages
What it says: the State Government may, if it is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do, provide that the entering of the particulars referred to in sub-section (1) shall be compulsory in the State or in any part thereof
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(4), Registration of Hindu marriages
What it says: The Hindu Marriage Register shall at all reasonable times be open for inspection, and shall be admissible as evidence of the statements therein contained
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8(5), Registration of Hindu marriages
What it says: Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the validity of any Hindu marriage shall in no way be affected by the omission to make the entry.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (Act No. 43 of 1954), long title
What it says: An Act to provide a special form of marriage in certain cases, for the registration of such and certain other marriages and for divorce.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 1(2), extent
What it says: It extends to the whole of India 2***, and applies also to citizens of India domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who are 3[in the State of Jammu and Kashmir].
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 4(a), Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages
What it says: (a) neither party has a spouse living;
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 4(c), Conditions relating to solemnization of special marriages
What it says: (c) the male has completed the age of twenty-one years and the female the age of eighteen years;
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 5, Notice of intended marriage
What it says: the parties to the marriage shall give notice thereof in writing in the form specified in the Second Schedule to the Marriage Officer 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.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 6(2), Marriage Notice Book and publication
What it says: The Marriage Officer shall cause every such notice to be published by affixing a copy thereof to some conspicuous place in his office.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(1), Objection to marriage
What it says: Any person may, before the expiration of thirty days from the date on which any such notice has been published under sub-section (2) of section 6, object to the marriage on the ground that it would contravene one or more of the conditions specified in section 4.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 7(2), Objection to marriage
What it says: After the expiration of thirty days from the date on which notice of an intended marriage has been published under sub-section (2) of section 6, the marriage may be solemnized, unless it has been previously objected to under sub-section (1).
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 11, Declaration by parties and witnesses
What it says: Before the marriage is solemnized the parties and three witnesses shall, in the presence of the Marriage Officer, sign a declaration in the form specified in the Third Schedule to this Act, and the declaration shall be countersigned by the Marriage Officer.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 13(1), Certificate of marriage
What it says: When the marriage has been solemnized, the Marriage Officer shall enter a certificate thereof in the form specified in the Fourth Schedule in a book to be kept by him for that purpose and to be called the Marriage Certificate Book and such certificate shall be signed by the parties to the marriage and the three witnesses.
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 13(2), Certificate of marriage
What it says: On a certificate being entered in the Marriage Certificate Book by the Marriage Officer, the Certificate shall be deemed to be conclusive evidence of the fact that a marriage under this Act has been solemnized
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, section 14, New notice when marriage not solemnized within three months
What it says: Whenever a marriage is not solemnized within three calendar months from the date on which notice thereof has been given to the Marriage Officer as required by section 5
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Special Marriage Act, 1954, Chapter III, section 15, Registration of marriages celebrated in other forms
What it says: Any marriage celebrated, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, other than a marriage solemnized under the Special
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Government of India, India Code (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice), The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (Act No. 6 of 2007), section 2(a)
What it says: (a) child means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age;
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, Transfer Petition (civil) 291 of 2005, case header
What it says: DATE OF JUDGMENT: 14/02/2006
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Concurrent List entries
What it says: In the Constitution of India, 1950 (in short the 'Constitution') List III (the Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule provides in Entries 5 and 30 as follows:
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on Entry 30 vital statistics
What it says: The registration of marriages would come within the ambit of the expression 'vital statistics'.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the four compulsory-registration statutes
What it says: it appears that there are four Statutes which provide for compulsory registration of marriages. They are: (1) The Bombay Registration of Marriages Act, 1953 (applicable to Maharashtra and Gujarat), (2) The Karnataka Marriages (Registration and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1976, (3) The Himachal Pradesh Registration of Marriages Act, 1996, and (4) The Andhra Pradesh Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2002.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on States without compulsory registration
What it says: except four statutes applicable to States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh registration of marriages is not compulsory in any of the other States.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on section 8 of the Hindu Marriage Act being discretionary
What it says: it is left to the discretion of the contracting parties to either solemnize the marriage before the Sub-Registrar or register it after performing the marriage ceremony in conformity with the customary beliefs.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, the operative view
What it says: we are of the view that marriages of all persons who are citizens of India belonging to various religions should be made compulsorily registrable in their respective States, where the marriage is solemnized.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (i)
What it says: The procedure for registration should be notified by respective States within three months from today.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, direction (ii)
What it says: The officer appointed under the said Rules of the States shall be duly authorized to register the marriages.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on what registration proves
What it says: Though, the registration itself cannot be a proof of valid marriage per se, and would not be the determinative factor regarding validity of a marriage, yet it has a great evidentiary value in the matters of custody of children, right of children born from the wedlock of the two persons whose marriage is registered and the age of parties to the marriage.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969
What it says: The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 also provides for registration of marriages.
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Supreme Court of India, Smt. Seema v. Ashwani Kumar, on the Special Marriage Act, 1954
What it says: Under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 which applies to Indian citizens irrespective of religion each marriage is registered by the Marriage Officer specially appointed for the purpose.
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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille
What it says: The Ministry of External Affairs attests original documents/true copies of documents for use abroad.
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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Apostille
What it says: India, since 2005, is a member of the Hague Convention of October 5 1961 that abolished the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents. Apostille is acceptable in all member-countries of the Convention
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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Attestation / Apostille, Normal Attestation
What it says: This is done for all the countries which are not a member of Hague Convention and where Apostille is not accepted.
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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, reproducing Ministry of Law (Legislative Department), Gazette of India, The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969 (Act No. 33 of 1969), long title
What it says: An Act to make provision relating to marriages of citizens of India outside India.
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Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, reproducing Ministry of Law (Legislative Department), Gazette of India, The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, section 17, Registration of foreign marriages
What it says: Where (a) a Marriage Officer is satisfied that a marriage has been duly solemnized in a foreign country in accordance with the law of that country between parties of whom one at least was a citizen of India
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Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, status table
What it says: Number of Contracting Parties to this Convention: 130 Last update: 30-VI-2026
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Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention status table, India row (R/A/S, Type, EIF)
What it says: India 26-X-2004 A** 14-VII-2005
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Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Apostille Convention, declaration/reservation/notification, objections to the accession of India
What it says: raised an objection to the accession within the period of six months specified in Article 12, paragraph 2, and expiring on 15 May 2005. Therefore, the Convention will not enter into force between India and the above-mentioned Contracting States.
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PRS Legislative Research, The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019
What it says: Every NRI who marries a citizen of India or another NRI shall register his marriage within 30 days. The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on February 11, 2019. However, there is no central law requiring registration of marriages of NRIs solemnised outside India.
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PRS Legislative Research, Bills Parliament, bill-status search for Non-Resident Indian
What it says: The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 Pending
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PRS Legislative Research, Bills Parliament, bill-status search for Child Marriage
What it says: The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 Lapsed
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National Portal of India, Government of India, Services, National Portal of India
What it says: The National Portal of India provides single-window access to information and services offered by the government at all levels.
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