Marriage

If you are a Dutch national living abroad, you can choose to get married in the Netherlands or in your country of residence. If you opt for the latter, keep in mind that you should register your marriage here and have your marriage certificate legalised for use in the Netherlands.

Marriages in India

Foreigners may get married in India under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. They may contact the Special Marriage Officer of the area where they generally reside.

IMPORTANT: The parties should reside within the territorial jurisdiction of the Marriage Officer (refer to Sec. 5 of SMA).

The mandatory requirements for the marriage to be registered are:

• Copies of their respective passports;
• At least one of the parties to the marriage must have been residing within the jurisdiction of the Officer’s district for a period of not less than 30 days preceding the date of notice – hence proof of the same;
• Both should be able to prove that they are eligible to marry;
• Application form with their respective photographs;
• There may be other documents which the officer may ask other than the ones mentioned above.

Once the marriage is solemnised, the Marriage Officer shall enter the certificate in the Fourth Schedule in a book to be kept by him and a certificate shall be issued duly signed by the parties to the marriage alongwith three witnesses.

The certificate would be required to be countersigned by the Home Affairs department of the state and finally apostilled by MEA, Patiala House, New Delhi before it can be used in the Netherlands.

Important:

Please note that the above is only a brief description of the marriage laws applicable for foreigners in India. The Embassy is not responsible for any contents that may be later modified / amended in the respective Act(s). For more details, you are requested to refer to the Embassy of India in The Hague.