Indians getting married in US?

Question

Hi,
Myself and my fiance are Indian citizens and are now working in US. We are from different religions (Muslim and Hindu). We would like to get married in US. What all are the procedures to be followed for this? Can we get married under the special marriage act in any Indian embassy in US? How long it will take?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Yes you can. You both belonging to different religion can marry in the court without changing your individual religion. Court marriage as you call it is solemnized under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 all such marriages can take place between any two Indian citizens as well one Indian citizen with a foreigner irrespective of their religion, caste or creed, and you can say this is the secular form of marriage available in our country. Such a marriage is solemnized before the marriage officer/registrar usually D.C. deputy commissioner of the area both or any of the parties to such a marriage reside permanently or for at least one month, in your case such marriage officer is one of the officer of the Indian Embassy. Now how you proceed? Both the parties to the marriage file a joint application before the marriage officer along with individual affidavit attested by notary public specifying the age(boy 21yrs &girl 18yrs), place of residence, marital status(unmarried or divorcee as the case maybe), mental status(not idiot or not with unfit mind), not related to each other. Along with this you have to give proof of age (School certificate, Passport, Pan card), proof of residence (Passport, ration card, voters ID card, rent agreement), & the application of such a marriage should be witnessed by 3 independent adult persons, affix one photograph of each of the parties & all the 3 witnesses. You have made such an application/notice to the marriage officer in person along with all the 3 witnesses. On receiving such an application the marriage officer issues a month notice regarding the intended marriage & get such a notice affixed on the notice board out side his office, a copy of such notice is sent to the marriage officer under whose jurisdiction the both the parties permanent reside, there shall also be two newspaper publication of this notice in you case & also a copy is to the individual parties address. After expiry of the period of notice a date is fixed on which all the persons parties to the marriage & 3 witnesses appear again before the marriage officer who declare them married & issue a certificate to this regard. Incase of any objections raised the marriage officer will settle these objections. Now what can be objections that can be raised? These can ONLY BE REGARDING THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR SUCH MARIAGE & NOTHING ELSE. What are the conditions? As I stated above i.e. Age, martial status, mental status, prohibited relationship (related to each other by blood). This is the brief procedure I have told you here, incase you want any clarification you can ask.

Answer 2

congrats on the decision to get married both of you :o) as per the exact laws I'm not sure about the whole special marriage act thing, but the best thing i would advise is to contact the city hall in where you live they will tell you of special procedures that you may have to follow and if at all if there are any special things that you need to file with the national gov't since you aren't US citizens...they along with the state gov't would be the best people to advise you in the matter...you might also want to contact the Indian consulate too to check on any particular files you have to do with them...

Answer 3

In this country, the law is that you can not mix church and state, this also means that because you and your girl friend is of different religious back grounds, you are asking the U.S. government to over look your situation and grant you permission to be married. Your marriage to your girl friend may be recognised here in the U.S., but back in your country, it may not, because your country does not have to recognise U.S. Laws of marriage.

Also, people come here to get married, with the misconception that they will also become U.S. citizens, this is not true.

Answer 4

Dont do it, I am a Pakistani Muslim, maybe I am much more conservative than Indian women but in the future it will only create problems, you might be more drawn to your faiths later on and it will conflict with your children....

Answer 5

The simplest thing would be to go to the nearest courthouse and get married by a US judge.... all you need is to provide your driver's lisences and about $50.

Answer 6

at this age you are talking about the religion ........... don't think tooooooooo much no matters whether you are a muslim and your girl is a hindu ,,,,,,,,, do it and enyoy your life but remember one thing that never try to convert your or your beloveds relegion just because of you are hindu or muslim ,,,,,,, and also when you have kids then name them a christion name so that you peple dont have any problems in that......... thanks for doing the same.............

Answer 7

well, don't really know how to approach this here....but Good Luck.

Answer 8

just do it.