Marriage Registration Certificate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

What is the Marriage Registration Certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?

The Marriage Registration Certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the Union Territory's official record that a marriage has taken place, entered in the marriage register maintained by the district administration. The Additional District Magistrate of each district holds the powers of Registrar of Marriages under both the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Special Marriage Act 1954, and it is the ADM who signs the certificate.

The Andaman and Nicobar Administration lists Marriage Registration Certificate as a Revenue Department service on its e-District portal, alongside the other revenue certificates. The portal at edistrict.andaman.gov.in accepts fresh applications and renewals, takes electronic payment of the statutory and user fees, tracks the application, sends email and SMS alerts as the file moves, and delivers an electronic copy of the approved certificate.

Because the islands are administered through three districts; South Andaman with its headquarters at Sri Vijaya Puram, North and Middle Andaman at Mayabunder, and Nicobar. The application goes to the ADM of the district where the marriage was solemnised or where the couple resides. A marriage certificate from the islands is what a passport office, bank, insurer, pension authority or foreign consulate asks for when a marriage has to be proved.

Which law applies, Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act?

The South Andaman district administration sets out three distinct pathways, and picking the right one determines both the documents and how long the process takes.

Solemnisation under the Special Marriage Act 1954 is for a couple who have not yet married and want the marriage performed before the Additional District Magistrate. Both parties must be at least 21 years old, and at least one must have resided in the district for more than 30 days immediately before the application. A public notice is displayed for 30 days so that anyone may object; if no valid objection is sustained, the ADM solemnises the marriage in the presence of three witnesses and issues the certificate. This is the pathway most people mean by "court marriage".

Registration under the Special Marriage Act 1954 is for a couple already married elsewhere; including interfaith couples, and Christian or Muslim couples choosing the secular statute, who want the marriage entered in the register in the islands. Both parties must be 21 or older, and the 30-day district residence condition applies here too.

Registration under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 is for a marriage already solemnised by Hindu religious rites between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs. The husband must be at least 21 and the wife at least 18. There is no notice period on this route, because the marriage already exists in law and the registration is only a record of it, so this is the faster of the two statutes.

The practical rule for the islands is that the Hindu Marriage Act route deals with a wedding that has already happened, while anything under the Special Marriage Act carries a 30-day notice that cannot be shortened, and both Special Marriage Act pathways add a 30-day residence condition on top.

Who can and cannot apply?

A couple can apply if the age conditions are met to 21 years for both parties under the Special Marriage Act, or 21 for the husband and 18 for the wife under the Hindu Marriage Act; if both are of sound mind and capable of giving valid consent; if neither has a living spouse from a subsisting marriage; if the parties are not within the prohibited degrees of relationship; and if the marriage or the couple's residence connects to one of the districts of the islands. The North and Middle Andaman administration states plainly that both parties must be unmarried and unrelated. Divorced and widowed persons can apply by producing the decree of divorce or the death certificate of the former spouse.

A couple cannot apply where either party was below the legal age on the date of marriage, where either has a subsisting earlier marriage that has not been dissolved, where the parties fall within the prohibited degrees and no custom permits the union, or where neither party has completed the required 30 days of residence in the district under the Special Marriage Act route. An application is also not eligible under the Hindu Marriage Act head if either party is outside the religions that Act covers — that case must go through the Special Marriage Act instead.

What documents are required?

The district service pages of South Andaman and North and Middle Andaman list a consistent set: proof of date of birth for both parties in the form of a birth certificate or matriculation certificate; proof of residence such as Aadhaar, voter card or passport; affidavits from both parties covering age, marital status and relationship; three passport-size photographs of each party; and three witnesses who were present at the solemnisation.

Proof of standing in the islands is accepted as a local certificate, an Islander's Identity Card or an election card. Under the Special Marriage Act, documentary proof of more than 30 days of residence in the district is added. Where a party was married before, the divorce decree or death certificate of the earlier spouse is required. For registration under the Hindu Marriage Act, the certificate of solemnisation from the officiating priest is produced. The South Andaman administration is explicit that original documents must be brought for verification at both scheduled appointments, not only the first.

What does it cost?

The Andaman and Nicobar district administration pages describing marriage registration do not publish a rupee figure for the fee. The e-District portal states that it collects statutory and user fees electronically at the payment stage of the application, so the amount displayed on edistrict.andaman.gov.in when the application is submitted is the charge.

What matters practically is that the portal amount is the whole of it. No ADM office in the islands is authorised to collect anything above the fee shown on the portal, and the process is designed to be completed directly by the couple without any intermediary. Agents who offer to "arrange" a certificate cannot shorten the 30-day notice period under the Special Marriage Act, cannot waive the 30-day residence condition, and cannot substitute for the personal appearance of both parties and three witnesses before the Additional District Magistrate. Any demand for money beyond the portal fee should be refused and reported.

How to apply for marriage registration in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, online

1. Register on the e-District portal at edistrict.andaman.gov.in using the new user registration link, with a working mobile number and email address, since the portal sends progress alerts to both.
2. Select Marriage Registration Certificate under the Revenue Department service list, and then choose the correct pathway, solemnisation under the Special Marriage Act, registration under the Special Marriage Act, or registration under the Hindu Marriage Act.
3. Fill in the particulars of both parties: names, dates of birth, parents' names, addresses, religion, occupation, the date and place of solemnisation where applicable, and the names and addresses of the three witnesses.
4. Upload the scanned documents, date-of-birth proof, residence proof, affidavits, photographs, islander proof, and any divorce decree or death certificate: in the format the portal specifies.
5. Pay the fee electronically on the portal and save the acknowledgement with the application reference number.
6. Attend the appointments at the ADM office with both parties, the three witnesses and every original document. South Andaman states that originals are verified at both scheduled appointments.
7. Wait out the notice period where the Special Marriage Act applies to 30 days from the date the notice is published, during which objections may be filed.
8. Download the certificate from the e-District portal once approved, or collect the signed copy from the ADM office.

How to apply offline at the ADM office

1. Go to the Additional District Magistrate's office in the Deputy Commissioner's office of the district, South Andaman at Sri Vijaya Puram, North and Middle Andaman at Mayabunder (PIN 744204), or Nicobar. The North and Middle Andaman administration states that the application is submitted directly to the ADM office.
2. Fill in the notice or memorandum for the relevant Act, signed by both parties, and attach the age proof, residence proof, affidavits, photographs and islander proof.
3. Pay the prescribed fee at the counter and keep the receipt.
4. Appear with the three witnesses on the date the ADM fixes, sign the register, and collect the certificate after the notice period where one applies.

How do you check the status of an application?

The e-District portal at edistrict.andaman.gov.in tracks the application against the reference number issued at submission and sends email and SMS alerts as the file moves between the dealing clerk and the Additional District Magistrate. For a paper application, the ADM office that received it is the place to ask. The Additional District Magistrate, Deputy Commissioner Office, South Andaman, can be reached on 03192-231951 or at adm.and@nic.in. For portal problems rather than the merits of the application, the Officer on Special Duty (IT), Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Sri Vijaya Puram, handles e-District support on 03192-259027 and 03192-259028.

Is the certificate valid forever, and why are applications rejected?

An Andaman and Nicobar marriage certificate does not expire. The register entry is permanent and a certified copy can be sought later from the same ADM office; the e-District portal also allows the electronic copy to be downloaded again from the applicant's account.

Applications typically fail for a short list of reasons: the 30-day district residence under the Special Marriage Act not being documented; an age below the statutory minimum on the date of marriage; a name or date of birth on the affidavit that does not match the birth or matriculation certificate; a previous marriage not accounted for by a divorce decree or death certificate; fewer than three witnesses attending, or witnesses who were not present at the solemnisation; originals not produced at the second appointment; or an objection filed during the 30-day notice period that the ADM sustains. Most of these are curable by producing the missing document and re-presenting the file at the same office.

Where do you complain if the office does not act?

The first escalation is to the Deputy Commissioner of the district, above the Additional District Magistrate who holds the file. The South Andaman ADM office, on 03192-231951 and adm.and@nic.in, is the contact point for delays or a refusal issued without written reasons; for North and Middle Andaman the ADM sits at the Deputy Commissioner Office, Mayabunder, PIN 744204. Keep the e-District reference number and the fee receipt, because a grievance cannot be traced without them.