Yes, Indian laws allow the registration of Marriage between an Indian and foreign citizen. If the both the groom and bride who wants to get their marriage registered are Hindus including Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs then, the marriage can be solemnised and registered under Hindu Laws as well as Special Marriage Act.
However, if the parties to the marriage are of different religions, then they can only get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act.
Laws for Marriage between Indian Citizen and Foreign National:
1. Hindu Law (Hindu Marriage Act).
Under Hindu Law, a marriage can take place between any two
Hindus (including Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs) in India, but there
are few conditions, to be fulfilled by both parties, which have
been provided below:
a. One of the parties has to be Indian citizen.
b. Neither party has any spouse living at the time of Marriage.
c. Both parties are capable of giving valid consent and arenot of unsound mind.
d. Both parties are fit for marriage and procreation of children and are not suffering from any disease which makes them unfit.
e. Neither party has been suffering from attacks of insanity.
f. Husband has completed the age of twenty-one years and bride has completed the age of eighteen years.
g. Parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationships unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of marriage between them two.
h. Parties have to perform the ceremonies and customary rites of either party to solemnise the marriage. In case, the rites and ceremonies include “Saptpadi” (i.e. taking seven steps together before the sacred fire), the marriage becomes complete when the seventh step is taken.
2. Special Marriage Act.
Under Special Marriage Act, a marriage can take place between any two individuals in India, irrespective of their religion, but there are few conditions, to be fulfilled by both parties, which have been provided below:
a. One of the parties has to be Indian citizen.
b. Neither party has any spouse living at the time of Marriage.
c. Both parties are capable of giving valid consent and are not of unsound mind.
d. Both parties are fit for marriage and procreation of children and are not suffering from any disease which makes them unfit.
e. Neither party has been suffering from attacks of insanity.
f. Husband has completed the age of twenty-one years and bride has completed the age of eighteen years.
g. Parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationships unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of marriage between them two.
h. Parties have to give at least one month advance written notice to the Marriage Officer in District (like SDM in Delhi) before solemnisation of Marriage in which either party to the marriage has resided for a period of one month or more, immediately before the date of the notice.
(If, the permanent address is different, then the DistrictOfficer will transmit the notice to that district, where either party permanently resides).
i. Parties can solemnise their marriage in any form at the office of the Marriage Officer (Registrar) or at any other place within a reasonable distance from office of marriage officer, after payment of the requisite fees and signing the declaration with two witnesses in case no objection gets received during one month notice period before marriage. However, if the objection is made by any person, then the Marriage Officer will do an inquiry, and the outcome of the inquiry will determine the scope of marriage solemnisation. If the three month period lapses after notice and the parties do not get marry then, they have to provide new notice.
Documents required for registration of Marriage between Citizens of two Nations:
I. Temporary and Permanent Residence Proof of Bride and bridegroom like Aadhar Card, Passport, Bank Passbook, VoterID Card, Rent Agreement, Electricity Bill, Water Bill, TelephoneBill, Gas Bill, Ration card, Driving License or any other govt.recognised document.
II. Identity Proof of Bride and Bridegroom like Aadhar Card, Pan
Card, Passport, Driving License, Ration Card, Voter ID card or any other govt. recognised document.
III. Proof of date of birth of Bride and Bridegroom like AadharCard, 10th Marksheet, Passport, Hospital record, Driving License,
Birth Certificate etc.
IV. ID Proof and permanent residence proof of both witnesses.
V. Divorce Decree if any party to the marriage is Divorced.
VI. Death Certificate if any party to the marriage is widow or widower.
VII. Certificate from embassy of that nation to which the foreign national belongs regarding nationality and marital status.
VIII. Certificate from priest, Pandit, Maulvi and GurudwaraCommittee in case the marriage took place at any religious place.
IX. Affidavit on Non-judicial stamp paper of Rs. 10, which has to be attested.
X. One Passport size photo of both husband and wife (Size 5cm ×4.5 cm, which has to include full face, front view and open eyes,full head from hair to shoulder with plain white or off-whitebackground, natural expression and should not include sunglasses or hats.)
Format of Affidavit to be provided by both Bride and Bridegroom on Non-Judicial Paper:-
I, _________________son/daughter/wife of _________________age_______years, resident of ___________________________________hereby solemnly affirm and declare as under:-
1. That I am the Citizen of _____________________________.
2. That my date of birth is _______________________________.
3. That I am _____years old and I am major according to the law at the time of marriage.
4. That I belong to _______________religion.
5. That I got married to ___________________son/daughter of_______________________________residence of_____________________________________________ on ________(Date of Marriage)at __________________________________(Place of Marriage)according to (Religion) rites and ceremonies.
6. That I was unmarried till the time of marriage on________________(Date of Marriage). OR
7. That I was Divorced at the time of Marriage on________________(Date of Marriage). Or
8. I did not have any other living spouse at the time of Marriage.
9. That at the time of Marriage I was not related to________________son/daughter of _____________________withthe prohibited degree of relationship as per___________________(Hindu Marriage Act/Special Marriage Act).
10. That no pressure or undue influence was practiced upon me for my said marriage.
11. That all supporting documents are genuine and true copies of their originals and nothing material has been concealed therefrom.
DEPONENT
VERIFICATION
I, the above name deponent do hereby verify that the contents of aforesaid Affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. No part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom.
Verified at __________on this ______day of ___(month), ____(year).
DEPONENT
Registration of Marriage:-
For Marriage Registration, one can take the appointment through online govt. portal as well as by visiting the office of the
SDM/Marriage Officer/Registrar physically.
One can apply through online mode in Delhi for the Registration ofMarriage by clicking on the Citizen portal link provided below:-
https://edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in/in/en/Home/CitizenIndex.html
For Physical mode, after the bride or groom receives the appointment, both parties have to visit the SDM Office at the scheduled appointment time with two witnesses and the relevant documents (both copies as well as Originals) for the registration and after signing the declaration in front of marriage officer, the marriage will get registered.
After Registration, one can receive the Certificate from Office of marriage Officer or it can be sent directly to the address of the bride and groom after marriage as per the practice prevalent in the area.
The link for Application Form for procuring the Marriage RegistrationCertificate in Delhi has been provided below which needs to be submitted at the Office of the Marriage Officer after filling the details with requisite documents.
https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s388ae6372cfdc5df69a976e893f4d554b/uploads/2018/07/2018071214.pdf
Conclusion:-
The Supreme Court regarding the registration of Marriage through video Conference in Ami Ranjan and Anr. Versus State of Haryana and Anr., on 09.03.21, held that “The ratio of judgment passed in Dr.Praful B. Desai’s case (supra) is that statement of a witness or accused can be recorded by way of video conference in the presence of his pleader/counsel under Section 273 Cr.P.C. This view was taken keeping in view that under Sections 284 and 285 of the Cr.P.C., attendance of the witness can be exempted by appointing a commission, who can go to the place where the witness or accused is present and record his statement to meet the ends of justice.
Hence, for all intents and purposes, under the criminal law, presenceof the witness is not necessary before the Court for recording of hisevidence. In the same manner, for the purpose of issuing the marriage registration certificate, as held by the High Court of Jharkhand in Upasana Bali’s case (supra), parties to the marriage can appear before the Registering Officer through video conference.
Appellant No.1-husband, in the present case, is not seeking complete exemption of appearance of his wife-appellant No.2 (who is working in USA) before the Registrar of Marriage. He is seeking that his wife should be allowed to appear through video conferencing so that the marriage can be registered. Appellant No.2-Misha Verma, wife of appellant No.1, was employed in Virginia University School of medicine as Resident Doctor. Now, she is working in J.W. RubyMemorial Hospital at 1 Medical Center Drive, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505, United States. The appellants solemnized marriage on 07.12.2019 according to Hindu rites and ceremonies in the presence of their respective families at Gurugram (Haryana). In this case, the presence of Misha Verma can be secured through videoconferencing and presence of husband-Ami Ranjan and three witnesses can be marked by their appearance in the office of the registrar of Marriages. Then, the certificate of marriage can be issued on doing verification of facts as contemplated under Sections15 and 16 of the Special Marriage Act. Once, the marriage certificate is issued, it can be made part of the public record under Section 47 of the Act by entering it into the Marriage Certificate Book. There shall be no violation of Section 47 of the Act. The entire process can be done after seeking presence of Misha Verma wife of appellant No.1-Ami Ranjan through video conferencing. For all intents and purposes, this would be a valid marriage certificate.”