Domicile / Residence Certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

What is the domicile certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?

A domicile or residence certificate in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is the official document certifying that the holder is a resident of the Union Territory. It is issued under the Revenue Department of the UT Administration, through the Mamlatdar and Executive Magistrate offices that sit under each district Collectorate, the official Dadra and Nagar Haveli district portal, dnh.gov.in, identifies the Mamlatdar and Executive Magistrate among its administrative offices, and lists e-district services for certificates among its key online services.

The Union Territory is unusual in shape, and that shape matters when you apply. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were merged into a single Union Territory in 2020, and the UT is administered as three districts, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, with its headquarters at Silvassa; Daman; and Diu, that are not geographically contiguous. Each has its own Collectorate. Dadra and Nagar Haveli alone covers about 491 square kilometres, 72 villages and a population of roughly 3.44 lakh, according to the district portal, and is headed by a Collector under the UT Administrator. Diu's district website lists the Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar and the Collectorate among the offices that handle citizen records there.

The practical consequence: apply to the Collectorate of the district you actually live in. A Silvassa resident applies in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a Daman resident in Daman, a Diu resident in Diu. There is no single counter that covers all three.

Who can and cannot apply?

You can apply if:

• You are ordinarily residing at an address in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu, and can prove it with a ration card, voter ID, electricity bill or property document.
• You were born in the Union Territory and continue to live there.
• You are a student or minor applying through a parent who is resident in the UT, supported by the parent's certificate and the family address proof.
• You have moved into the UT and settled there, with address evidence covering the period you are claiming.

You cannot apply if:

• You have no UT address proof in your own or a family member's name.
• You are in the UT temporarily, for a short work stint or a visit, with nothing on record supporting settled residence. Industrial employment in the UT on a short posting is not by itself domicile.
• You are applying for another adult without being their parent or guardian.
• Your documents place you in another state and you are claiming UT residence in parallel for the same purpose.

Where a recruitment notification of the UT Administration or an admission prospectus lays down its own minimum residence or study period, that notification governs your eligibility. The certificate proves residence within the rule; it does not replace the rule. Read the notification before you apply, and note the exact form of certificate it names.

What documents are required?

Ask the Mamlatdar's counter for the current checklist before you assemble the file. District offices in this UT publish their own lists, and taking the counter's list is faster than guessing.

How to apply for a residence certificate in the UT

1. Identify your district — Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu, and the Collectorate that serves it. Apply where you live.
2. Go to the Mamlatdar or Executive Magistrate office under that Collectorate and ask for the residence or domicile certificate application form and the current document checklist.
3. Ask, at the same counter, whether the UT's e-district service is available for this certificate and what the current portal address is. dnh.gov.in references e-district services for certificates among its online services, and the UT's portals have been reorganised since the 2020 merger, the counter will give you the address that is live today, which an old bookmark will not.
4. Fill the application with your name exactly as it appears on Aadhaar, your father's or husband's name, date of birth, and your full address with the correct village or town and district.
5. Attach self-attested copies of the UT address proof, Aadhaar, date of birth proof, the declaration of residence and a photograph, and carry all originals for verification at the counter.
6. Pay the charge the office lists and collect a dated acknowledgement carrying the application number. Do not leave without it, this number is the only way to trace the file later.
7. Attend to verification. The revenue staff for your area verify the address before the certificate is signed. Be reachable on the mobile number you gave, and produce originals if asked.
8. Collect the signed certificate from the same office, or download it if you filed through the UT's e-district service.

How do I check the status of my application?

Return to the Mamlatdar or Collectorate counter where you filed, with your acknowledgement, and ask which officer holds the file and whether anything has been sent back for correction. If you applied through the UT's e-district citizen services, use the status option on that service against the same application number.

For a file that has stalled with no recorded reason, the escalation runs upward through the office structure: the Mamlatdar, then the Collector of your district, then the UT Administration. The Dadra and Nagar Haveli district portal publishes the current Collector and Administrator and the district's contact channels.

Why do applications get rejected?

• Address proof in another person's name with nothing to connect it to the applicant.
• Name mismatch across the ration card, Aadhaar and the application form, including initials expanded differently.
• Wrong district, most often where a person works in one part of the UT and lives in another.
• Verification failure, where the revenue staff cannot confirm the applicant lives at the stated address.
• Incomplete declaration of the residence period, leaving the signing officer no basis to certify.
• Reliance on a short work posting in the UT's industrial areas as the sole basis for a domicile claim.

What should it cost, and what should you not pay?

Pay only the charge that the Collectorate or Mamlatdar's office lists at the counter, against a printed receipt, or the charge shown on the UT's official e-district service if you apply online. Ask for the rate before you hand over any money.

Apply yourself, at the government's own counter or on the UT's own service. Agents and middlemen who offer a certificate "the same day" or "through a contact at the Collectorate" have no standing in the process, and the amounts they ask for are far above the government's charge. No revenue official will ask you for money outside the counter or for an OTP, and any payment made outside the receipt buys nothing. If someone demands one, report it at the Collectorate.

Where do I complain if the certificate is delayed?

• The Mamlatdar or Executive Magistrate office where the application was filed, quoting the acknowledgement number.
• The Collector of your district, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu.
• The UT Administration, through the grievance channels published on the official district portals dnh.gov.in and diu.gov.in.
• The RTI route, using the UT's RTI portal referenced on dnh.gov.in, where a file has sat without a recorded reason and no counter will explain it.

Take the application number and the date of filing to every one of these. Without the number, no office in the Union Territory can locate your file.