• Marrying foreign national for central government employees

I am working in central government as Appraiser in central board of indirect taxes and customs, Mumbai. (Customs Department, CBIC)

I want to marry a foreign national, from an European country. Actually we are in a relationship and now wish to marry.

Do I need to take permission from the government or only intimation will do the work. Is it even allowed? 
Does she needs to apply for Indian citizenship or will have to give up the citizenship.

Please help.
Asked 6 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Other

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14 Answers

No

Netra Mohanchandra Pant
Advocate, Navi Mumbai
1590 Answers
5 Consultations

Hi,

You are required to take due permission for marriage from govt through your department only. She will loose citizenship of her own country and would be required to accept the citizenship of our country.

Ganesh Singh
Advocate, New Delhi
7169 Answers
16 Consultations

Being employee of a central government revenue system you are obligated to inform your employer about your impending marriage though no permission is required in strict terms of the word.

Refer to your service rules as well on this issue. if it is silent then permission is not mandatory.

There is no question of relinquishment of your citizenship nor her acquisition of the citizen under the legal compulsion. She may do so after 7 years of marriage as stay.

If you quit your citizenship, you will loose the job. 

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23653 Answers
537 Consultations

The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964

21. RESTRICTION REGARDING MARRIAGE:

3)A Government servant who has married or marries a person other than of Indian nationality shall forthwith intimate the fact to the Government.

 

 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99775 Answers
8145 Consultations

Yes you can marry a foreigner under Special marriage act and register the marriage and intimate same to department rule is regarding intimation only. Yes you are free to marry. You can intimate.the department before marriage.

See for starting she will get Visa on spouse ground of she wish to stay in India. Then after the neturalisation she can apply for citizenship.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25513 Answers
179 Consultations

Dear Sir,

 

- There is no such specific permission required to marry. It is personal matter. Only for employee who are working in the Govt vertical where the department is connected with Nation security and safety requires initial permission

- Pertain to her Indian Citizenship, initially she can take tourist visa which shall get extended by requesting to MEA. Do ensure she is in India for atleast 2 months.

- Citizenship application shall be submitted later to marriage.

- Besides, it is advisable to inform the department through official channel of your marriage to be on safe side. 

- Do feel free to connect in-case needed any help as I am already working on one of same kind of case and your queries can also be address along with 

 

Regards

 

Vivek Arya

Retired Lawyer
Advocate, Gurgaon
767 Answers
6 Consultations

No you can get married as per special Marriage Act too. You need to inform about marriage or not depends on your service rules if any for teh same

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34514 Answers
249 Consultations

Dear Client,

No such permission required, except informing the employer. Marriage shall be solemnized under Special Marriage Act, no need to change citizenship status.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
23079 Answers
31 Consultations

Dear Sir,

The following information may kindly be read:

While you may think love, compatibility and a feeling of togetherness is all you need to be with your soul mate, the legal process and time involved is also something you may want to consider while planning your union. In India, such a marriage is governed by the provisions of the Special Marriage Act. This act not only deals with marriages between people belonging to different religions but also different caste or backgrounds and hence, marrying a person from another nationality is also governed by the Special Marriage Act. We must also highlight that for an Indian citizen intending to marry outside India; it is the provisions of the Foreign Marriage Act passed in 1969 that apply.

Since the legal age for marriage in India for girls is 18 years and for boys, 21 years, the same rule extends to marriage with a foreign national, even though their country’s domestic law may prescribe a higher or lower age for marriage. The Special Marriage Act, in addition to prescribing the age limit, also mentions degrees of prohibited relationships such as mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, and stepgrandmothers etc.

The Central Information Commission while highlighting the applicability of the Special Marriage Act has also categorically clarified that if groom and bride belong to different religions or countries, they have to marry under Special Marriage Act, 1954 as they are not permitted to marry under personal marital laws. Some people may not desire to perform marriage as per their religious customs and prefer marriage under Special Marriage Act. There exists a 30-day notice requirement to be given in India if one partner is permanently and the other partner is temporarily residing in India. Marriages between Indian and a foreign national also shall be registered under this Act. If one partner is residing in the foreign country, the ‘Marriage Notice’ form has to be filled by the partner in India and also the partner in the foreign country, which has to be resubmitted by the partner in India to the Registration office.

Documents, Formalities, and Certifications needed

Before solemnizing your marriage, you should ensure that the following documents are ready:

  1. Birth certificates (for age proof)
  2. A valid visa of more than thirty days for the foreign national
  3. A single-status affidavit signed by both parties. In case one of the parties has married previously, the Divorce Decree (for divorcees) or Certificate of Death (for widowed) is necessary.
  4. Address proof and passport size photographs
  5. Adequate documentary evidence of 30-day residence in India
  6. A ‘no-objection’ letter – For instance, if an American citizen wishes to wed in a civil marriage ceremony he may be required to present to the marriage officer a ‘no objection letter’ from the US Embassy or Consulate, as well as proof of termination of any previous marriage if any. Similarly, a citizen of any other foreign country is required to present the no objection letter from the Embassy or Consulate of his/her country. The parties also have to wait at least 30 days from the date of initial application to formalize the marriage so that the marriage officer can publish a notice, which might even include a newspaper publication for giving an opportunity for any objections to the marriage to be voiced.

Is performance of rituals and ceremonies enough?

While we may associate a marriage in India with extensive rituals like walking around the fire, a lot of music and exchanging garlands, the Court has clarified that any couple, whether Indian, NRI, or a foreigner who wants to marry in India has to either perform a religious marriage ceremony or the civil marriage ceremony. Even if the marriage is celebrated under Hindu Marriage Act, Muslim Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act and for the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act. Such Religious Marriage Ceremony in India is a legally valid marriage but it needs to be registered compulsorily. For VISA and immigration purposes a Marriage Certificate from Registrar of Marriages is a requirement. Getting your marriage registered may not be enough and you are often required to furnish a registration certificate which acts as adequate proof of valid registration of a marriage. There is no period of expiry for this certificate and a registered marriage, like any other form of marriage is valid until a divorce is obtained.

Succession to Property:

When parties belonging to different nationalities get married in India, the succession is naturally governed by Indian laws. It is the Indian Succession Act that determines the rules applicable for deciding succession. However, if both parties (despite belonging to different nationalities) are Hindus, it is the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act that would apply instead.

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4951 Answers
27 Consultations

The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964

 

(1) No Government servant shall enter into, or contract, a marriage with a person having a spouse living; and

(2) No Government servant having a spouse living, shall enter into, or contract, a marriage with any person:

Provided that the Central Government may permit a Government servant to enter into, or contract, any such marriage as is referred to in clause (1) or clause (2), if it is satisfied that -

(a) such marriage is permissible under the personal law applicable to such Government servant and the other party to the marriage; and

(b) there are other grounds for so doing.

(3) A Government servant who has married or marries a person other than of Indian nationality shall forthwith intimate the fact to the Government.

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

There is no problem in case she can complete the documentation in this regard unknown person is prevented by the law to get married anybody of course after the marriage you need to inform your department that you get married and you have to submit the documents in this regard to recognise her as your wife the matter of neutralization is something different primarily see with stay on long term visa and after the completion of 7 years of living in India she can apply for the Indian citizenship in the meantime the children born to this wed lock will automatically be Indian citizen

Vimlesh Prasad Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
6851 Answers
23 Consultations

You can marry a foreigner by obtaining permission from your employer since you are a government employee.

To avoid problems from the non-understanding officers who may be sitting as boss, it would be better that you apply for permission to marry a foreign citizen.

If she would like to migrate to India permanently then she may have to follow up the formality to obtain citizenship in India, the rules of which can be found in the external affairs ministry website.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89977 Answers
2492 Consultations

As you are interested in marrying a foreign national and you work in a strategic sector in the government of India...you need to inform the government and it will grant you permission and then only you can marry him. A complete background check would be done by the authorities and then only you can marry him. Your request may be rejected too. In case he does not wish to take the citizenship of India there can be difficulties.

Regards 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14114 Answers
65 Consultations

  1. As per the information mentioned in the present query, makes it clear that you wish to marry a foreign national.
  2. Yes, you can marry there is no need to intimate/ inform any authority about the desire of yours for marrying a foreign national.
  3. Once you get married, register your marriage with the registrar of marriage.
  4. Thereafter, the rules so far stipulate a requirement of one year continuous stay before making an application for Indian citizenship in case of grounds of marriage to an Indian citizen, a foreigner who qualifies for naturalisation, an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card holder for five years or any erstwhile citizen of India.

Sanjay Baniwal
Advocate, South Delhi
5477 Answers
13 Consultations

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