August 16, 2008

Marriage Registration In Bangalore

Here's a guide for those who are temporarily living in Bangalore and are trying to get their already-solemnised Hindu marriage registered.

Paperwork:

  1. A copy of your wedding card. Make sure it's not tacky looking, because that arouses suspicion.
  2. Photographs of your wedding: 2-3 showing you guys at various stages of the ceremony should do. Make sure you have one with both sets of parents in it. If the parents are looking happy, it proves that they are not absent from the registration venue because they are mad at you, just because they're not in Bangalore.
  3. Five photographs of the two of you in size 2B. This is a mythical size that is not explained on the Internet, and is perceived differently by photo studios and registrar offices. A 2 by 3 inch size is ok, you can cut it smaller right there if needed.
  4. Proof of age. A tenth class certificate is good. A passport is also good, but causes problems if your address there is your permanent address from your hometown, and not Bangalore. Go with the school certificate.
  5. Proof of residence: This is the tricky one. Lease deeds don't work. Mobile bills don't work. Private bank statements don't work. The jury is still out on national bank statements. The usual suspects: passport, driving license, gas bill, ration card, voter ID all work, but I am guessing they are all marked with "back home" addresses for many of us. Loan receipts and Airtel fixed line bills have worked at one office each, but don't bank on it.
  6. There's also a form to fill which is available online. Print it back-to-back, else it's invalid. Even then, some offices have a different version of form, and that requires witness signatures in two places instead of one, so it's just safer to get the form from these folks.
  7. You'll need three witnesses to sign, and it's better - though not compulsory - to have at least one relative of the bride or groom do this. The witnesses need not be present at the time of registration.
  8. Take a pair of scissors, a fine felt-tip pen (for signing on photos), a gel pen, a ballpoint pen, a stapler, and a glue stick along. Helps a lot!


Where this will happen: At the sub-registrar's office. Each area has one assigned, and you can do it in the area where you live, or, if you got married in Bangalore, in the area in which you got married. The complete list is available at: www.karigr.org . It's ok to call up any one of the less busy ones during office hours (Mon-Fri 10:30 to 5:30, Sat 10:30-1:30) and find out the phone number of the one you need to go to. They're helpful, and will put you across to someone who knows English if you're Kannada-challenged. It might even help to pay a preliminary visit and have your documentation checked out when you go get a form.

Miscellaneous: I cannot go into too many details here, so I'll leave you with some pearls of wisdom.
Take a good, hard look at the person you've just married. Are you willing to go through endless days and nights of torture with him/her? I'm not talking about the life that lies ahead of you, just the registration process. Remember, after you have been through this ordeal, you will be unable, out of sheer exhaustion, to be able to divorce him/her for the next 100 years.


P.S. This blog is not ad-driven, so it's just out of zeal to help out others in my condition that I request you to click on this often, and share it with anyone who needs this info, so that it shows up in the early Google results and saves some folks a lot of time and worry.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

BRAVO!

Hope many folks benefit from this & are saved a lot of anxiety & botheration.

Silence said...

Trust me.. getting it registered in Delhi is way more painful and the red tape one encounters to get a marriage registered makes one wonder why did I bother at all !!!

Deepti Dani said...

Helps a lot! Let us see how much we can keep up with our vows to stand by each other through better or through worse as we go through this process.

By the way, did u finally get your marriage registered?

Sonia said...

ok, i'm not in blore, not even in india. and i don't think i'll get married in the next 5 years at least. i still read the whole post.

*sigh*

Whatisonetodowithinsomnia?!

sameer said...

Got married ages ago, and registering it more than 5 yrs later turned out to be a pain. Just could not manage getting it registered through the usual routes - finally some "contacts" got it done at some obscure little town with a local address etc! All this for a perfectly legal marriage with pretty much everyone was happy with.

Oh well.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Considering that I personally went through this ordeal just around a year ago at Thrissur, Kerala, this post is really helpful for all the newly weds.

And like you said, my guess is that this process is purposely made so cumbersome to retain the grand old Indian tradition of staying married for a long time, and prevent divorces :-)

Cheers.....Jam

Naveen Roy said...

Wooohoo!!! Thanks a lot....and I was dreading the process!

Anonymous said...

Well, the best way is to get your marriage registered around the same time you get married. And get it registered in the same city/town where you get married.

zilch22 said...

my god, proving my address in b'lore was the biggest pain ever. we ended up getting it done in delhi instead, which address was on my passport, and even then i had to show supporting documentation for address verification (bank statement). if it's one country, what does it matter where in it you live yaar?????? stupid redtape.

Anonymous said...

Registered our marriage in Bangalore and it was an absolute nightmare-your miscellaneous section hits the nail right on head!

Anonymous said...

Double the agent's remuneration, and trust me even if you don't have anything you will get the certificate. I have tried it and it works!!! India hai bahi

Parmanu said...

A fascinating, terrifying list. Will save this link for posterity.

Belated birthday wishes. May your "prime" last long! (I still remember how Hekate was at 25. Seems like yesterday.)

Anonymous said...

Ok! So it was an ordeal all right.
But how long will you take to recover yaar? After all fresh post kab aayegi, Inky Darling?

Jo Fernandes said...

Thanks a lot... We've been trying to find details in a long time on this... This was well explained :)

fresh_blogger said...

Hi All ,
First of all thanks to inkspill for taking the pains in jotting all these details regarding marriage registration in Bangalore . Trust me its not that difficult to get it registered .I got my maariage registered here in Bangalore and i am not from here. i mean i am not a bangalorean.

So all u guys who are from outside bangalore and want to get their marriage registered , just search the web for the correct sub-registrar office and go ahead ..

The list of docs given in this site is very appropriate . Thanks inkspill

Anonymous said...

RReeally thanks inkspell...
...my sis & jiju want their marriage registered...
.....v were hunting 4r info on the net.....
.....found ur blog.....its very informative...precise...very helpful.......ur zeal 2 help others is very appreciable......
.......thanks a lot....keep posting......:)

Aditya said...

Hi,

I referred to your blogpost for getting the marriage registration done. I think its brilliant the way you have explained things. Its probably the best information available online on this subject.

However, when I went to the koramangala sub-registrar office for getting this thing done, I had to pay about Rs.325 (apart from the usual fee of Rs.175) as a commission/fees to the officer there in the office. This was asked of me AFTER the marriage registration was done, in broad daylight. I had contacted no middlemen just spoken to this officer who gave me very good instructions on what follows what. Just when I was happy and pleasantly surprised about the efficiency of the office, I was told to pay the commission to get the job done. I think this is corruption of the highest order.

I would be glad to know your thoughts on this. I have posted it here in your comments so that others too know what is going on. If you can let me know what you think of this, it would be great.

Unknown said...

can we get the address of a man which my girlfriend ditched me and married him to talk about it

Unknown said...

Sibaananda Jena,

Before 3 years i am loveing to one my caste Girl,and i wanna to do with her in between some months,but her Family is supporting to us,so i request u to if u r having any solution then plz explain me as soon possible.If u have any registration process then plz explain me as well possible.
I am waiting ur such Reply.....

Regards,
Sibaananda jena,
Orissa.

Unknown said...

Hi,

I referred to your blogpost for getting the marriage registration done. I think its brilliant the way you have explained things. Its probably the best information available online on this subject.

However, when I went to the koramangala sub-registrar office for getting this thing done, I had to pay about Rs.325 (apart from the usual fee of Rs.175) as a commission/fees to the officer there in the office. This was asked of me AFTER the marriage registration was done, in broad daylight. I had contacted no middlemen just spoken to this officer who gave me very good instructions on what follows what. Just when I was happy and pleasantly surprised about the efficiency of the office, I was told to pay the commission to get the job done. I think this is corruption of the highest order.

I would be glad to know your thoughts on this. I have posted it here in your comments so that others too know what is going on. If you can let me know what you think of this, it would be great.

Anonymous said...

Guys don't worry about address proof in bangalore anymore... as u can get it at the tehsildar office at majestic if you are applying for marriage certificate or for passport... do spend a small amount on the agents who will do it bit of a bargain... No tension..

Dont Worry... Be Happy said...

Better than any official website... Thanks and wish me luck.... Have to get one :)

Mohammadi said...

Thanks for a very informative blog.
Keep it up !

I want an "urgent" advice:
Is it advisable to get the marriage registered at the native place (Gujarat, in my case), if we have plans to go back to the same place after a few years? We are avoiding to go all the way to Gujarat twice in 3 months right now.

Will there be any problem in getting passport of the address of native place later, if my marriage is registered in Bangalore?

What docs do I need to carry to get my address proof from Tehsildar's office?

Regards,
Mohammadi

pavan said...

is it necessary to provide both bride and grooms address proofs? ny1 helpme

Ink Spill said...

Pavan, one person's proof is enough

Padmini said...

Hi Ink Spill. I have a few queries. Hope that I can get a little help on that...I got married last year in December but couldn't get the marriage registered as my husband had to fly abroad. He is now in India for 2 weeks and will be going back again. Now my problem is that I have no clue how long will the procedure take and if 2 weeks is enough to get the registered marriage done. My other query is that the 2B size photographs that u mentioned about....should the photographs be taken together or should be individual ones combined together? Can you please help me out on that? Thanks!!

Padmini said...

Can you help me out please???

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Your info is really amazing; however we want to get registered married and we r not from bangalore, both are hindu only prob is we dont have DL or passport or Ration card or Voter's ID. Can u plz guide us about the address proof. I have seen in ur blog that gas bill and loan reciepts help but i got in touch with couple of agents and they said those documents are invalid. PLEASE HELP

Ink Spill said...

hey Padmini,
Sorry I saw your message too late. Hope things worked out.

Anonymous: You need SOME paperwork from Bangalore, else you won't be able to register there. You could check with the sub-registrar's office directly.

Anonymous said...

Really nice and valuable information. I am yet to go there in the next few days. Never thought of this registration even after an year of marriage.

Hope they would not object for year's gap.

Thanks yaar... keep blogging...

Unknown said...

Hi, on the face looks to be a brilliant post ! I have been pulling my hair out to fix this for various types of peer pressure. yet to get married but this registration stuff givin me and my husband (would-be) sleepless nights phew...I would try this out and will post here abt my experience. But thanks a lot to u . Atleast i feel a lot relieved after going thru ur blog :-))

Sachin said...

Thanks.... very helpfull, crisp and precise.

tx/SJ

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I got married in Bangalore this year. But presently residing in Mumbai. Is it necessary for me to get the Marriage Certificate from Bglr (place of solemnisation) or it can be obtained from Mumbai (place of residence)... Sweating to get the correct answers .. but in vain.

Anonymous said...

The information posted makes things easy for the newly applying couples. I have few more questions here (I am staying in J.P.Nagar Bangalore for past 8 months or so):

1. How long does it take to get the marriage certificate in hand(approximately). Is it like I have to book an appointment and then approach the officers..??

2. Is the address proof required for both of us or just mine will work..?? I hav an SBI Passbook with my current address but my wife doesn't have any for blore :(

Ink Spill said...

Mumbai-Bangalore Anonymous: Check with the Mumbai authorities. We got married in Delhi but bangalore let us register. Hopefully it works all over the country.

JP Nagar Anonymous: Instant certificate, or maybe a day max. One person's address proof is enough.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Inkspilz for ur valuable input.... got the certificate in an hour.. They work very efficiently but expect half kg sweet in form of INR....

Anonymous said...

I Hope anyone can provide me some information how to get my marriage registered, me and my boyfriend got married 6 months ago - in a temple without our parents concern along with few friends. Now I want to get my marriage registered, can anyone give me more information about this. I am staying in Bangalore. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!

Chandrakant said...

This blog was very useful for me. I registered my marriage on 27 Aug, 2012 at K.R.Puram sub-registrar office. Thought I will add my experience here for the sake of others who would visit this blog for guidance.

As InkSpill mentioned, its safer to get the form from your sub-registrar office. The one I got was slightly different from the one I found online. I was given 2 copy of this form, had to fill both.

Need joint photo of the couple as mentioned by InkSpill. this is the photo that will come on the marriage certificate. Take care that the photo is bright enough to come clearly on a xerox copy too. You will end up creating xerox for some purpose or the other and if the photo is dark, it will not be clearly visible on the xerox.
There is no need for any other photo.


Address proof is required for one person. This address should be within the limits of the sub-registrar office. If you are submitting passport copy, you need one more supporting proof with the same address like the Gas card copy, landline copy (I used this), Sale deed of the house, ration card etc.

If you got married in a government managed temple, they will give you a receipt. You can submit a copy of that too. This might help.

The charges are now Rs.115. Plus bribe. They smile and ask for it along with the fees, after you are given the certificate. So, you can negotiate hard (you have got the certificate, anyway). If you are better than me at pushing, you might end up without paying too.
Remember to take the originals too. Sometimes, they want to see those.

There is not much to worry about the process itself, once you have all the documents and signatures of witnesses. The whole process might take around an hour or hour and a half. They will guide you through the process nicely. That helps them in asking for the bribe.