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Under which marriage act is my marriage REGISTERED
I want to know under which marriage act my marriage is REGISTERED (six years ago, Gujarat, India).
What do I have?
============
I have a “Memorandum of Marriage”.
On the front, it has my, my wife's and Hindu priest's sign and the address of the temple as marriage place.
On the back, it has sign of the registrar, stamp of the registrar printed “... filed at serial no. xxx on page xxx of volume of registrar of marriages, maintained under Bombay Registration of Marriage Act, 1953 (Bom. V of 1954)”, along with some other text.
(Note: The marriage and registration was before Gujarat marriage registration act, 2006 active after March 2006)
My Questions
==========
Looking at the memorandum of marriage, can I tell under which marriage act our marriage is registered?
If not, is there any other way to know this?
Do I have enough documents to establish the marriage for green card application? (Just for the reference, for the Indian government this document was sufficient for my wife's spouse x-visa and PIO issuance.)
My situation
=========
I am married to my US citizen wife since last 6 years. She has US passport and Indian PIO based on our marriage. We have a 1 year old daughter and she has US passport and Indian PIO. We are in Gujarat, India.
We had more than one visit to the marriage registrar's office. Actually the lawyer sits in front of the office for few hours everyday and I usually went to meet him there.
I do not remember all the documents, events and details at the time of marriage – partially because it has been six years and partly because of the upset mood in the family (family reluctantly agreed to the marriage). Therefore I am writing what I remember.
For about a couple of months before the marriage, I was in contact with a lawyer who did all the formalities. I signed some documents as and when he asked me to. He mentioned about hindu marriage, foreign marriage, special marriage act and registration etc. But again, I do not remember the particulars. This lawyer is not available now.
Little more than a month (about 31-32 days) before the marriage, my foreigner wife reached India. We had some more meetings with the lawyer and some exchange of documents including no-objection certificate of the marriage, passport copies etc. Also we again had one or more visit to the marriage registrar's office and the lawyer's desk in front of the registrar's office.
On the day of marriage, we went through lots of rituals in a temple in front of a priest and fire. No photos etc. taken. I am sure that some of the ceremony were marriage ceremonies, because we walked encircling the holy fire. But it may have included conversion / cleansing ceremony for my wife also. I do not know and did not think of asking then.
The next day we went to the marriage registrar's office, signed some more documents in the office.
After few days lawyer asked us to collect the marriage document. It was the Memorandum of Marriage mentioned above. The lawyer said that this is the certificate or equivalent of marriage certificate. There is no other certificate to get from the registrar.
My confusion
===========
I do not know if we go married using a Hindu marriage act or Special marriage act or something else.
We had a ceremony in front of fire, so lawyer may have put it as a Hindu marriage. There may be some cleansing ceremony to make my wife Hindu, though we do not have any separate conversion certificate. However, the memorandum of marriage has signature of the priest with marriage place address.
On the other hand, the long contact with the lawyer, and visits of the marriage registrar's office, it is possible that he finished the formalities of special marriage act like 30 days notice etc.
My Questions (repeated)
===================
Looking at the memorandum of marriage, can I tell under which marriage act our marriage is registered?
If not, is there any other way to know this?
Do I have enough documents to establish the marriage for green card application? (Just for the reference, for the Indian government this document was sufficient for my wife's spouse x-visa and PIO issuance.)
What do I have?
============
I have a “Memorandum of Marriage”.
On the front, it has my, my wife's and Hindu priest's sign and the address of the temple as marriage place.
On the back, it has sign of the registrar, stamp of the registrar printed “... filed at serial no. xxx on page xxx of volume of registrar of marriages, maintained under Bombay Registration of Marriage Act, 1953 (Bom. V of 1954)”, along with some other text.
(Note: The marriage and registration was before Gujarat marriage registration act, 2006 active after March 2006)
My Questions
==========
Looking at the memorandum of marriage, can I tell under which marriage act our marriage is registered?
If not, is there any other way to know this?
Do I have enough documents to establish the marriage for green card application? (Just for the reference, for the Indian government this document was sufficient for my wife's spouse x-visa and PIO issuance.)
My situation
=========
I am married to my US citizen wife since last 6 years. She has US passport and Indian PIO based on our marriage. We have a 1 year old daughter and she has US passport and Indian PIO. We are in Gujarat, India.
We had more than one visit to the marriage registrar's office. Actually the lawyer sits in front of the office for few hours everyday and I usually went to meet him there.
I do not remember all the documents, events and details at the time of marriage – partially because it has been six years and partly because of the upset mood in the family (family reluctantly agreed to the marriage). Therefore I am writing what I remember.
For about a couple of months before the marriage, I was in contact with a lawyer who did all the formalities. I signed some documents as and when he asked me to. He mentioned about hindu marriage, foreign marriage, special marriage act and registration etc. But again, I do not remember the particulars. This lawyer is not available now.
Little more than a month (about 31-32 days) before the marriage, my foreigner wife reached India. We had some more meetings with the lawyer and some exchange of documents including no-objection certificate of the marriage, passport copies etc. Also we again had one or more visit to the marriage registrar's office and the lawyer's desk in front of the registrar's office.
On the day of marriage, we went through lots of rituals in a temple in front of a priest and fire. No photos etc. taken. I am sure that some of the ceremony were marriage ceremonies, because we walked encircling the holy fire. But it may have included conversion / cleansing ceremony for my wife also. I do not know and did not think of asking then.
The next day we went to the marriage registrar's office, signed some more documents in the office.
After few days lawyer asked us to collect the marriage document. It was the Memorandum of Marriage mentioned above. The lawyer said that this is the certificate or equivalent of marriage certificate. There is no other certificate to get from the registrar.
My confusion
===========
I do not know if we go married using a Hindu marriage act or Special marriage act or something else.
We had a ceremony in front of fire, so lawyer may have put it as a Hindu marriage. There may be some cleansing ceremony to make my wife Hindu, though we do not have any separate conversion certificate. However, the memorandum of marriage has signature of the priest with marriage place address.
On the other hand, the long contact with the lawyer, and visits of the marriage registrar's office, it is possible that he finished the formalities of special marriage act like 30 days notice etc.
My Questions (repeated)
===================
Looking at the memorandum of marriage, can I tell under which marriage act our marriage is registered?
If not, is there any other way to know this?
Do I have enough documents to establish the marriage for green card application? (Just for the reference, for the Indian government this document was sufficient for my wife's spouse x-visa and PIO issuance.)
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