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Month: February 2019

Certificate of Freedom to Marry
Steps to Get Certificate of Freedom to Marry from India

Steps to Get Certificate of Freedom to Marry from India

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Are you required to submit the certificate of freedom to marry from India?

Before knowing where you get it from, let’s go through its definition.

What is a Certificate of Freedom to Marry?

Many-a-times called Single Status Certificate/ Certificate of No Impediment/ Certificate de Coutume/ Certificate of Nulla Osta/ Bachelorhood Certificate, the certificate of freedom to marry is a legal declaration stating the bachelorhood of its bearer.

Simply put, it is a valid declaration of NRIs from the country of origin about your freedom to marry.

What should you know to get this certificate from India?

Almost all European countries and a few Asian countries mandate that the marriage applicants should provide a valid proof of their bachelorhood before marriage. However, the diversity of religion doesn’t allow India to come with such kind of provision in the country. This is why there is no formal setup of a competent authority that can issue it.

  • Who does issue this certificate in India?

But, the foreign countries mandate to provide it before solemnizing marriage. Then only, the couple can exchange woos. While keeping this requirement into account, this authority is assigned to the court magistrate. It is segmented as a civil service. Therefore, the court can issue it.

Drill into head that the Municipal Corporation is not the right authority to administer this request.

  • Single Status Affidavits:

A single status affidavit defines a sworn document wherein an affiant (the applicant/would-be spouse) declares in writing that he/she belongs to a specific location. Also, the citizenship of a particular country should also be defined there. In simple words, you being an affiant should put your identity, location, parents and citizenship on the affidavit. These details should follow your status as a bachelor/ married/ divorced/ widowed.

  • Notarize

Sometimes called the ‘Notarial Act’, the process of notarization is a practice of certifying, attesting and authenticating any instrument. This instrument can be any banking transaction or a court document. The certificate of freedom to marry is a court document. So, it may require translation and verification from one language to another. Let’s say, an NRI is going to solemnize marriage with a French citizen. In this case, this certificate should be translated into French as per its immigration norms.

The notarizing or attesting of unmarried certificate is done to prevent fraud and assure spouses that the document is voluntarily signed. He/she has willingly written. Eventually, the notary public, a competent authority, verifies it while putting his stamp.

  • Supporting Documents: An NRI should have these documents to support your application for this affidavit:
  1. ID proof
  2. Address proof
  3. Passport/Visa
  4. Birth Proof
  5. Parents or witness identity proof
  6. Decree absolute, if divorced
  7. Death certificate, if widowed

Steps to get this certificate from India:

  1. Visit the court or send your Power of Attorney (PoA) on your behalf.
  2. Purchase a stamp paper to write the oath.
  3. Get it typed by the notary public and then, get the affidavit attested.
  4. The notary public will check its authenticity and you need to sign on it before him.
  5. Visit the magistrate to get this certificate attested.
  6. Show all supporting documents that you come along with to verify.
  7. Afterwards, you have to visit the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for attestation from HRD.
  8. Pay requisite fee.
  9. You have to verify it with the Indian Embassy.
  10. Lastly, the embassy of the resident country will need it to authenticate your status.

These steps will help you get the certificate sans any hassle. If you have a digilocker, you can send a request to your relative or PoA to upload this no marriage certificate from India in your account. Subsequently, you can download its soft copy from that digital locker.

Certificate Attestation and Notarization in India Are Similar
Certificate Attestation and Notarization in India Are Similar

Certificate Attestation and Notarization in India Are Similar

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The idea of getting a certificate from a government office penetrates a fear. You would certainly make several rounds of the Municipal Corporation or the Court to get a certificate. But, the mobbed offices with a huge demand for attestation and bureaucracy delay its process.

What if you get the one from an ordinary photocopy office?

It values zero. None of the government authorities will accept it. Neither does an embassy or a PSK recognise it during authentication. It’s simply because the certificate will be considered invalid, if it doesn’t carry stamp or attestation from the competent authority. That’s why notarization is carried out.

Notarization:

It’s the official fraud deterrent procedure to verify that a document is authentic. Almost all countries have a notary or notary public that witnesses the signing of vital certificates. He verifies the identity of the signatory and his awareness about the content while signing the document.

But still, the notary doesn’t possess equivalent rights as of a magistrate or the registrar/sub-registrar. However, the Section 14 of the Notaries Act, 1952, for example, states the reciprocal recognition of what the foreign notaries do. Simply put, the notary can attest a marriage certificate or degree before the MEA attestation on the degree certificate. The notarized document is considered a seal of authentication from India in many countries.

The Notaries Act, 1952

A Section 14 of the Notaries Act states, “If the Central Government is satisfied that by the law or practice of any country or place outside India, the notarial acts done by Notaries within India are recognized for all or any limited purposes of that country or place, the Central Government may, by notification in the official gazette, declare that the notarial acts lawfully done by notaries within such country or place shall be recognized within India for all purposes or, as the case may be, for such limited purposes as may be specified in the notification.”

Can a notary administer request for an affidavit?

No. He can’t administer this request. The Section 139 of the Civil Procedure Code states that the affidavit can be made by these:

The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908:

  • Any Court or Magistrate, or
  • Any officer/ other person whom a High Court may appoint
  • Any officer appointed by any other Court which the State Government has generally or specially empowered in this behalf

Why Apostille?

Legalisation of documents became a need of the hour at the time of immigration. Several challenges of complexities pose a threat to the foreign immigration departments. So, many countries bonded together to simplify the method of authentication or legalization of documents/certificates. They called it Apostille service that provides the universal recognition.

Presently, 105 countries have become a member of this Hague Convention in 1961. It basically offers attestation of personal certificates/documents, such as birth certificate/NABC/death certificate/ marriage certificate/affidavits/ power of attorney along with the educational certificates, including degree/diploma/matriculation and secondary level certificates etc.

The benefit of this convention is that the apostilled documents by a member country shall be recognized in the other member countries. This is how the process of attestation is simplified in several countries by forming this convention.

Is attestation a process of legalization?

Yes, it’s a process of legalization. The countries exist outside the Hague Convention. The people in the non-member countries also require the verification of documents during immigration. Therefore, the consular offices are set up in various countries to get the certificates attested. Let’s say, an Indian wants to marry with a Filipino girl. He must present a legalized CENOMAR or bachelorhood certificate from India.  Since Philippine is not a member country of Hague nations, the applicant has to get that certificate attested from the court and then, the embassy.

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