February 2021

How NRI Can Get Certificate of No Impediment?

February 23, 2021 Manoj Sodhani Comments 0 Comment

Being an NRI, you need to have a certificate to show that you are single and have no dependent from previous marriage.

How do you get it?

Here are some ways to get it.

To know how to get a certificate of no impediment, you need to follow two ways:

by applying in person at the Indian Embassy in the country where you live
by sending documents signed in front of a local Public Notary via post

First Method: From Embassy

Make an appointment at the Embassy as earlier as one month before the marriage to notify that you are going to marry with a foreigner
Enclose photocopies of all supporting documents needed to verify your claim for the single status affidavit in India
Show proof of your employment and residence in the foreign for the Certificate of No Impediment by means of residence permit, air ticket, etc.
Annex the original Decree Absolute if you have been married before and divorced/ marriage annulled
Show the Notice of Marriage and affidavit of your parents

Second Method: Attesting Documents from India

For this, you need to send the documents for attestation and notarization to the competent authorities like the court, SDM and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Checklist of supporting documents:

Aadhaar Card
Scanned copy and origin Notice of Marriage
Affidavits for notarization and attestation or apostille
Dully filled application form for the certificate
A certified copy of your valid passport
If widowed, Death Certificate of previous spouse (and Marriage Certificate)
Deed Poll if you have changed your name

The non-residents may send all these documents to Embassy by themselves or relatives or friends can also do this job on their behalf. If you have an attorney, make sure that he has a signed letter that reads about the given authority.

Fee Structure

SDM attestation – INR 2000 to INR 3000 (as per location)
Fee for Notary – INR 350
Fee for Attestation – INR 105
Fee for Apostille – INR 50

How long does it take?

Since it’s a time-consuming task, you need to raise a request one or two months before your marriage. The attestation may take many weeks, as it has to go through many stages from the competent authorities in India.

Besides, you need to keep into account that there are four authorized outsourcing agencies that are competent to place a request for attestation with. You need to ask them, as the MEA or the state government does not attend any direct request for this.

What does it read?

As aforementioned, you need to enclose two affidavits, one –for yourself and another-for your parents. Being a sworn statement, it should include all these details so that the authorities can verify them with the enclosed supporting documents.

Date of birth:It is compulsorily asked by the authority before attesting.
Passport number: It is a legal document that shows nationality and also the authentication number, which one has to mention for getting this certificate.
Complete address:This detail helps the competent authority to tap the affiant’s country and residential information.
Witness’ statement: This statement is essentially required to support affiant’s claim of this certificate. So, provide it with the applicant’s docs & affidavit.
Competent authority’s verification: The competent authorities verify the authenticity of the presented documents. Therefore, the affidavit’s closure should mention this sentence:
“I solemnly confirm that all the above information is true and correct.”
Date of verification and signature: The applicant has to mention the date of filing for the affidavit along with his/her signature.

How NRIs Apply for Single Status Letter for Marriage?

February 12, 2021 Manoj Sodhani Comments 0 Comment

Single status letter for marriage is known as single status affidavit in India. Non-residents require it when they are likely solemnize marriage with a foreigner. It is an oath attested by the court, which reveals that the affiant is single.

In general, the foreign authorities like PSA or Philippines Statistics Authority are set up in the European and some Asian countries that administer such requests. But since India has no provision to check for the bachelorhood status of even the foreigner, we don’t have any authority, but the court to look into this matter.

Three Single Status Letters Required

Yes, you read it right. You need three single status letters for marriage. But, these all should be drawn by the applicants (both spouses) and their parents from the court.

An affidavit is a sworn statement, affirming that the boy or girl who is going to marry is single. In short, you declare the details related to your matrimonial status, date of birth and address. These all details are shared in front of the deponent, who creates this statement on your behalf.

The deponent monitors your approach and every expression to analyse the genuine interest. Since it shows facts that are true to his knowledge through the statement of the witnesses, it can be used as the evidence in any court later at any point of time.

Letter Formats of Applicant

“I, (name of the applicant), s/o or d/o (parents’ name) born on (D.O.B) in (place of birth), am eligible to solemnize marriage according to the jurisdiction of India and foreign. I am single (for unmarried)/ & have no dependent from the last marriage (for divorcee/widowed). ”

Letter Formats of Applicant’s Parent

“I (name of parents), of (age, like 50 years), married citizens of India or foreign with legal address…sworn by the law, hereby states that I’m the guardian/ parent of (the applicant’s name) born on (D.O.B) in (address). We are the evidences of the fact that he/she has never been married with any man/woman till today (for unmarried).

Or, he/she is divorced now and has no dependent relation from the last marriage (for divorcee).”

Once you draft it, the court verifies your oath with the original documents of your address and date of birth. You need to enclose them with the sworn document.

Documents needed

In short, the verification requires these documents to be verified:

You need to submit the aforesaid Affidavits.
Enclose either AADHAR CARD or PASSPORT as an address proof of the applicant.
Provide documents such as Birth certificate/schooling certificate as a proof of birth.
Attach a letter from his/her parents stating that “the applicant is single” and enclosing their Aadhar cards.
For Divorcee applicant, submission of Decree Absolute is necessary
Likewise, the deceased spouse’ death certificate is required if the would-be spouse is widowed.

Process to Follow

Every court has notary public, who drafts it. Once it is drafted, the affiant needs to get it attested from the State Home Department or Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). So, the NRIs can select either of these two ways to get it attested. Later, it is sent to the MEA for apostille stamp or its attestation.

MEA apostille (stamp) on the ‘SINGLE STATUS CERTIFICATE’ is enough if one is going to marry in the country, which is listed in The Hague Convention list. Otherwise, your single status certificate needs to be verified with the MEA prior to getting EMBASSY ATTESTATION.

In all, your document is verified thrice by different authorities in India. The state verification takes relatively long time in processing because the state authentication has to cross check every detail’s authenticity. Once it’s done, it is forwarded to the MEA for counter-attestation.

The MEA verifies it quickly, but through registered agents or NRI services providers. It is completed in less time because the authority only puts stamp, but no background verification.

Validity Expires in 6 Months

You should remember that the validity of this document lapses in six months. So, make sure that your marriage will be solemnized within that time period. Otherwise, you need to start the application procedure from the scratch.

S2NRI

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Month: February 2021