
Sikh couples in Delhi have their own registration route — Section 6, the Delhi Anand Marriages Rules 2018, what the Supreme Court directed in 2025, and how the Hindu Marriage Act route compares. We register; we do not perform Anand Karaj.
Quick answer: An Anand Karaj can be registered in Delhi under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 — section 6, inserted in 2012, requires the State to make rules, and Delhi notified The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018 on 9 February 2018 (fee reported as ₹500 — confirm at the office, because the Revenue Department's own page does not mention this route). Section 6 also says the validity of the marriage is “in no way affected by the omission to make an entry” and that a couple registered under it need not register under any other law. On 4 September 2025, in Amanjot Singh Chadha v. Union of India, the Supreme Court directed that no application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage, or for a certified extract, be refused on the sole ground that section 6 rules are not notified. The Hindu Marriage Act route also remains fully open — that Act applies to Sikhs by name and section 7(1) recognises the Anand Karaj as a customary rite. We handle the registration; we do not perform Anand Karaj.
Ask around, and a Sikh couple married by Anand Karaj will be told to register under the Hindu Marriage Act. It works, it is lawful, and it is what most offices are used to. But it is not the only route, and for many couples it is not the one they would choose if somebody told them there was a choice.
There is a separate Act for this marriage, and Delhi has had rules under it since 2018.
The reason so few couples know is mundane rather than sinister: the Revenue Department's own marriage-registration page — the page every service and every article works from — sets out the Hindu Marriage Act route and the Special Marriage Act route, and does not mention the Anand route at all. We have read it. So the information simply does not reach the person standing at a counter, and the well-trodden path wins by default.
This page sets out both routes honestly, tells you what each one actually gives you, and — because this is the part that matters when you are standing in front of an officer — tells you exactly what the Supreme Court said in 2025 about registration being refused for want of rules.
One thing we say before anything else, because it is a question of respect and not marketing. We do not perform Anand Karaj. An Anand Karaj is conducted at a gurdwara, by the persons who are appropriate to conduct it, according to Sikh rites — it is not ours to arrange and we will not offer it. Our own ceremony service is an Arya Samaj ceremony, which is a different rite entirely.
What we do is the part after: the registration, the documents and the certificate. If you have already had your Anand Karaj, that is exactly where this page begins.
The Anand Marriage Act, 1909 is a short Act with a single job: to put beyond doubt that a marriage solemnised by the Sikh ceremony is a valid marriage. Two parts of it matter to you.
First, the ceremony is named in the Act — and since 2012, named the way you would name it. The Anand Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2012 — which received assent on 7 June 2012 — amended the Act to add the words "(commonly known as Anand Karaj)" after the reference to the Sikh marriage ceremony called Anand. A small change, and a deliberate one.
Second, that same amendment inserted section 6, "Registration of marriages". It is worth setting out what it does, because three of its four limbs are the reason this page exists.
| What section 6 provides | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|
| The State Government shall make rules providing that parties to such a marriage may have the particulars of their marriage entered in a Marriage Register kept by the officer concerned | The route exists in law, and the State is directed to make it usable — it is not a concession |
| The register is open for inspection, and is admissible as evidence | This is what makes the entry worth having. An entry that could not be proved would be decoration |
| "The validity of any Anand Marriage solemnized shall in no way be affected by the omission to make an entry in the Marriage Register" | Your marriage is complete because the Anand Karaj happened, not because of any register. The same principle as Order 8 of Delhi's 2014 Order, which says registration "will not tantamount to validity of marriage" |
| Parties whose marriage is registered under this Act "shall not be required to get their marriage registered under any other law for the time being in force" | One registration is enough. Nobody can send you off to register again under the Hindu Marriage Act as well |
A note on the amending Act, because it confuses people who look it up. The 2012 amending Act was itself later repealed by a Repealing and Amending Act. That is ordinary legislative housekeeping — once an amending Act has done its work, it is spent, and Parliament clears it away. It does not undo the amendment. Section 6 and the words "commonly known as Anand Karaj" remain in the principal Act. If somebody tells you the 2012 amendment was "repealed" and therefore does not count, they have misread a footnote.
Section 6 required the State Government to make rules. Delhi did, in February 2018.
The rules were notified on 9 February 2018 as The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018, and were announced by the Revenue Minister as fulfilling a long-pending demand of the Sikh community. As reported at the time, the marriage is registered with the Registrar in whose jurisdiction the marriage was solemnised, or in whose jurisdiction either party resides — a jurisdiction rule that will look familiar if you have read our SDM registration page, because it has the same two limbs as the Hindu Marriage Act route. The fee reported at notification was ₹500.
Now the honest part, and please read it before you set out. Those particulars come from the notification as it was reported, and Delhi's own marriage-registration page — the department's public-facing page — does not mention this route. So while the rules exist, what a given counter will do on a given morning is something to confirm before you travel, not to assume from a website, including this one.
What we suggest: ask the office directly which register your marriage will be entered in and what it charges, and if the answer is unclear, ask for it in writing. Where nobody will say, a short RTI settles it with statutory timelines — the ladder on our Mayur Vihar Phase 2 page is written for exactly this situation.
One more reported detail worth knowing, because it answers a question we get often: at the time of notification it was explained that Sikh couples whose marriages had already been registered under the Hindu Marriage Act could also have them registered under the Anand Marriage Act. There is a section on that further down.
Not because anybody was wrong. Because that route genuinely works, and here is exactly why.
The Hindu Marriage Act applies to Sikhs. Its application clause extends the Act to a person who is Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion — so a Sikh couple is within the Act, without anybody converting to anything or claiming to be anything they are not. That is worth stating plainly, because couples occasionally feel the HMA route asks them to describe themselves as Hindu. It does not; the Act's own application clause covers them by name.
And the Anand Karaj is the customary rite. Section 7(1) provides that a Hindu marriage may be solemnised in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party. So a marriage performed by Anand Karaj is solemnised under the Act by the customary rite — and then section 8 provides for registration, which in Delhi runs through the Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014: sixty days under Order 4(a), the ₹200 requisite fee under 4(b), two witnesses under 4(d), and the ₹100 fee the Revenue Department publishes.
| The worry | The answer |
|---|---|
| "Does registering under the Hindu Marriage Act make our marriage a Hindu marriage?" | No. The Act's application clause includes Sikhs by name. The register records the marriage, and the marriage is the Anand Karaj you had |
| "Do we have to say the ceremony was something it wasn't?" | No, and you must not. Section 7(1) recognises the customary rites of either party — so the honest answer on the form is the honest answer |
| "Is the certificate weaker?" | No. It is the ordinary Delhi marriage certificate, and it does everything a certificate does — passport, visa, bank, insurance, succession |
| "Then why would we use the Anand route at all?" | Because the marriage is recorded under its own Act, by its own name. For many couples that is the whole point, and it is a good enough reason on its own |
Our position, since you are entitled to know it before you call: we will handle either route, we have no preference, and our fee is the same for both. What we will not do is tell you the Anand route does not exist, which is the answer that has become normal for no better reason than that a department web page is silent about it.
If you take one thing from this page to an office, take this.
In Amanjot Singh Chadha v. Union of India (Writ Petition (Civil) 911 of 2022), decided on 4 September 2025 by a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, the Supreme Court dealt with the fact that more than a decade after section 6 was inserted, most States and Union Territories had still not framed rules under it.
The directions, in substance:
One — a four-month deadline. States and Union Territories were directed to frame rules under the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 for the registration of Sikh marriages within four months.
Two — in the meantime, registration must still happen. Every jurisdiction must ensure that marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj are "received for registration under the prevailing marriage registration framework without discrimination".
Three — and this is the sentence to remember: "No application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage or for a certified extract shall be refused on the sole ground that rules under Section 6 of the Act have not yet been notified."
What that sentence is worth in practice. It closes off the single commonest way a couple is turned away — "there are no rules for that here". After this direction, the absence of rules is not a ground of refusal, and it is not a ground for refusing a certified extract either, which is the document people need years later.
How to use it: calmly, once, and without arguing law across a counter. Ask which provision the refusal rests on; ask for it in writing; ask the officer above the counter. The full ladder — representation, grievance route, and finally RTI with its statutory timelines — is on our Mayur Vihar Phase 2 page, and it works here exactly as it works there.
Two honest limits on what we have just told you. We have set the directions out in substance and quoted the operative line; we have not reproduced the judgment, and you should not treat a marriage service's summary as a substitute for it. And Delhi was not among the respondent jurisdictions in that petition — which is consistent with Delhi already having notified rules in 2018, but is not something we can state as the Court's finding about Delhi. If your matter turns on the judgment, read it or have an advocate read it.
This is the table couples actually want, and nobody publishes it.
| Anand Marriage Act route | Hindu Marriage Act route | |
|---|---|---|
| Which instrument | Anand Marriage Act, 1909, section 6, with The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018 | Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, section 8, with the Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014 |
| Who is covered | A marriage solemnised by Anand Karaj | Hindus, and by the Act's own application clause Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains |
| Where you apply | The Registrar in whose jurisdiction the marriage was solemnised, or where either party resides | The SDM in whose jurisdiction either spouse resides, or where the marriage was solemnised |
| Government fee | ₹500 as reported at notification — confirm at the office | ₹100 with the Marriage Clerk, per the Revenue Department, plus the 2014 Order's ₹200 requisite fee |
| Register the entry goes into | The Marriage Register under the Anand Marriage Act — open to inspection, admissible as evidence | The marriage register maintained under the 2014 Order |
| Timeline | Not published. Ask, and get the answer in writing | The Revenue Department publishes "normally within 15 days" |
| Do you then need the other one? | No — section 6 says you "shall not be required to get their marriage registered under any other law" | No. One registration is one registration |
| How familiar is the counter with it? | Less. Delhi's own page does not mention it, so expect to explain | Very. This is the ordinary path, done every working morning |
| Does it affect the validity of your marriage? | No. Section 6 says validity is "in no way affected by the omission to make an entry" | No. Order 8 says registration "will not tantamount to validity of marriage" |
Notice the last row. On both routes, your marriage is already complete. The Anand Karaj made you married. Everything on this page is about producing the document that proves it to a passport office, a bank, an insurer or a foreign mission — which is a separate and entirely practical problem.
We get asked this on almost every call, so here is how we answer it — with the reasoning, not just the recommendation.
Choose the Anand Marriage Act route if the recording itself matters to you. If it matters that the marriage is entered under its own Act, by its own name, then that is a sufficient reason and you do not need a second one. Section 6 exists precisely so that it can be done, and the 2018 rules exist so that it can be done in Delhi.
Choose the Hindu Marriage Act route if what you need is a certificate quickly and predictably. It is the path the office runs every morning, it has a published fee and a published service norm of "normally within 15 days", and nobody at the counter needs anything explained. If a visa interview, a passport appointment or a joining date is driving your calendar, predictability is worth a great deal — the whole backward-planning method is on our appointment page.
It makes no difference at all to these: the validity of your marriage; whether the certificate works for a passport, a visa, a bank or succession; the apostille chain if the certificate is going abroad (our NRI marriage page sets that out); or our fee, which is the same either way.
What we will not do is choose for you and call it advice. This is one of the few decisions in this whole business where the right answer genuinely depends on what you want rather than on what the law requires — and where a service has an incentive to steer you down the path that is easiest for the service. So: tell us which matters more to you, the record or the speed, and we will tell you honestly what each will involve.
A question we get from couples who married years ago and have since heard about the Anand route.
At the time the Delhi rules were notified, it was explained publicly that Sikh couples whose marriages had already been registered under the Hindu Marriage Act could also have them registered under the Anand Marriage Act. So the answer appears to be yes.
But be clear-eyed about what you are doing and why. You already hold a valid certificate that works everywhere. A second registration under the Anand Marriage Act does not make you more married, does not improve the certificate you have, and will not be needed by any passport office or mission. It is worth doing if the record matters to you — and that is a real reason, not a lesser one.
Three practical cautions if you go ahead.
One — keep the first certificate. Do not treat the new entry as replacing it. You now have two records of the same marriage, and the sensible thing is to hold both, permanently, in one folder.
Two — make sure they agree. Same names, same spellings, same date of marriage, same place. Two government records of one marriage that disagree with each other is a worse position than one record, and correcting an entry is slow — our correction page explains why.
Three — not in the middle of a live file. If a visa, passport or immigration application is open, do not add a second marriage record to the picture right now. Finish, then do this. The reasoning is the same as on our name change page: an officer comparing documents on a deadline is not helped by a new one appearing.
Whichever route you choose, the file is the same file with one document that carries more weight than the rest.
| # | What | Original or copy | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The gurdwara's certificate or register extract for the Anand Karaj | Original + copy | This is the document the whole file rests on. Ask for an extract with the entry number, not just another printed certificate — an extract points at a record |
| 2 | Both parties' photo identity | Original + self-attested copy | Verified against originals, as on any registration |
| 3 | Both parties' age proof — birth certificate or matriculation | Original + copy | Spelling must match the identity document |
| 4 | Residence proof for the party whose jurisdiction you are filing in | Original + copy | Both routes turn on jurisdiction — see the table above |
| 5 | Affidavits in the prescribed format, separately for each party | Original, notarised | The register is copied from this. Read it before signing — notary is ₹100–₹200 |
| 6 | Passport photographs, two each, plus ceremony photographs | Prints | Photographs of the Anand Karaj, with the witnesses visible if possible |
| 7 | The marriage invitation card, if you have one | Original | Named as a document where available on the Revenue Department's list |
| 8 | Decree of divorce or death certificate, where either party was married before | Original + copy | And read our remarriage page first — the decree must be final |
| 9 | Each witness's own photo identity | Original + self-attested copy | The commonest cause of a wasted morning, on any route |
The one instruction worth more than the list: get the gurdwara's paperwork before you do anything else, and get it in the form of an extract naming the entry. If the Anand Karaj was years ago, that document is the long pole in your plan — the same lesson as on our late registration page, where the institution's register extract outranks everything else in the file.
Short, and the same rules as everywhere else on this site, because the rules do not change with the ceremony.
On the Hindu Marriage Act route, Order 4(d) of the 2014 Order asks for two witnesses "who shall certify to the solemnisation" — which means people who were at the Anand Karaj. Not a relative who heard about it. Not a friend who saw the photographs.
A witness needs: to be an adult, to have been present, to bring his or her own original photo identity with a self-attested copy, and to be there for the whole appearance. Not required: being a relative, being a man, being older than you, living in Delhi, or being of any particular faith.
And we do not supply witnesses — at any price. A witness certifies that your marriage was solemnised, and a person who was not there cannot say that honestly. Our witnesses page sets out the whole position, including the criminal-law provision that makes the paid witness the person most exposed. For a gurdwara wedding this is usually the easiest part of the file — write down who attended on the day, while everybody is still in one place.
Extremely common, and the answer turns on jurisdiction rather than on the ceremony.
Married in Punjab, living in Delhi. Both Delhi routes have a second limb — you may apply where either party resides, not only where the marriage was solemnised. So a Delhi registration is ordinarily open to you, on the strength of the gurdwara's paperwork from Punjab plus your Delhi residence proof. What you cannot delegate is attendance: both of you and the witnesses appear in person, and the witnesses must be people who were at the ceremony in Punjab — which is the constraint that decides the date, as our appointment page explains.
Married abroad in a gurdwara. A different question, and one to think about before assuming a Delhi registration is the answer. If the marriage was solemnised abroad and can be recorded there, a second Indian record created later can produce two documents with two different dates attached to one marriage, which is a problem rather than a belt-and-braces. Tell us where the ceremony happened and what document you already hold, and we will tell you whether a Delhi registration helps you or complicates you.
And if the certificate is going abroad, the route makes no difference to the authentication chain — apostille for Hague-convention countries, MEA attestation plus embassy for the rest, translation last. That chain is on our NRI marriage page, and a single status document is often needed alongside it.
Worth being exact about, because this page sits next to a service that performs a different ceremony.
We do not perform Anand Karaj. It is a Sikh ceremony conducted at a gurdwara by the persons appropriate to conduct it, and it is not something a marriage service arranges. Anybody offering you an "Anand Karaj package" with a ceremony attached is offering something they should not.
We do not describe our ceremony as an Anand Karaj. We perform Arya Samaj (Vedic) ceremonies, which are a different rite with different rituals. Both are customary rites recognised under section 7(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act; they are not interchangeable and we will not let a form or a conversation blur them.
What we do: the registration. Working out which route suits you, assembling the file, getting the affidavits right, checking the gurdwara's paperwork is in a form an office will accept, and following the application through — including the escalation ladder if it is refused for a reason that is not a reason.
And what we will not do, on this page as on every other: register a marriage where either party is under age; register while an earlier marriage subsists; back-date anything; supply witnesses; promise an appointment date; or describe a ceremony as something other than what it was.
Because on this route, more than any other, it happens — and usually for the wrong reason.
First, separate the two possible objections, because they need opposite responses. Is the difficulty that the office does not register under the Anand Marriage Act at all, or that something in your file is missing? The second is fixable in an afternoon. The first is the one the Supreme Court has spoken to.
Then, in order, and calmly: ask which provision or instruction the refusal rests on. Ask for it in writing — a position nobody will put in writing is a position nobody is confident about. Ask to speak to the officer above the counter, because counter staff apply practice while an officer applies the rule. File a dated written representation and keep the acknowledgment. Use the department's grievance route. And last, file an RTI, which compels a written answer within statutory timelines.
What you may fairly point to: that section 6 exists; that The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018 were notified; and that the Supreme Court has directed that no application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage, or for a certified extract, shall be refused on the sole ground that rules under section 6 have not been notified. You are not arguing law — you are asking which provision the refusal rests on, which is a fair question anywhere.
What is not on the ladder: arguing across a counter, raising your voice, or paying anybody to make it go away. And if the answer remains no, the Hindu Marriage Act route is fully available to you and gives you a certificate that does everything — which is worth remembering before a principle costs you a passport appointment.
One — "there is no separate law for Sikh marriages." There is: the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, with section 6 on registration inserted in 2012, and The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018 under it.
Two — "the 2012 amendment was repealed, so it does not count." The amending Act was repealed as spent, which is routine housekeeping. Section 6 remains in the principal Act.
Three — "registering under the Hindu Marriage Act means calling ourselves Hindu." It does not. That Act's application clause covers Sikhs by name, and section 7(1) recognises the customary rites of either party — which is what an Anand Karaj is.
Four — "our marriage is not valid until it is registered." Wrong on both routes. Section 6 says validity is "in no way affected by the omission to make an entry", and Order 8 of the 2014 Order says registration "will not tantamount to validity of marriage". The Anand Karaj married you.
Five — "we will have to register twice." No. Section 6 says a couple registered under that Act "shall not be required to get their marriage registered under any other law".
Six — "the Anand certificate is weaker for a passport or a visa." It is a government record of your marriage. What matters to a passport office or a mission is the certificate and, where it travels, the authentication chain.
Seven — "we can be turned away because there are no rules." Not since 4 September 2025: the Supreme Court directed that no application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage or for a certified extract shall be refused on that sole ground.
Eight — "we cannot register in Delhi because the wedding was in Punjab." Both routes let you apply where either party resides. What you cannot do is send somebody in your place.
Nine — "a copy of the gurdwara certificate is enough." Bring the original, and ask the gurdwara for an extract naming the entry rather than another printed certificate.
Ten — "somebody can arrange the Anand Karaj for us." Not a marriage service, and not us. It is a gurdwara ceremony conducted by the persons appropriate to conduct it.
Published, identical for everyone, and told to you before you pay. The same fee for either route, and no surcharge for urgency, distance, caste or religion.
| Service | Fee | When this is your row |
|---|---|---|
| Registration of an Anand Karaj marriage — either route | ₹6,000 | The Anand Karaj has happened and you need the government certificate. Same fee whichever register it goes into |
| Marriage registration, full service | ₹12,000 | An older Anand Karaj where the proof has to be rebuilt from the gurdwara upwards |
| Duplicate marriage certificate | ₹2,500 | A correct certificate, lost or damaged |
| Correction of a register entry | Ask | The certificate is wrong — a different job, priced on what has to be proved |
| NRI marriage + MEA apostille | ₹20,000 | Where the certificate has to travel |
| NRI apostille + embassy attestation | ₹30,000 | The full non-Hague chain |
| Arya Samaj ceremony, or Arya Samaj + court marriage | ₹5,100 / ₹7,100 | A different rite, for couples who want that ceremony. Not an Anand Karaj |
| Anand Karaj ceremony | Not offered | A gurdwara ceremony, conducted by the persons appropriate to conduct it. Not a service anybody should sell you |
| Government fees | ₹500 / ₹100 / ₹200 | ₹500 reported for the Anand route at notification — confirm at the office; ₹100 Hindu Marriage Act registration with the Marriage Clerk; ₹200 the 2014 Order's requisite fee. Take the receipt |
Not included, and said before you pay: government fees as above; notary at ₹100–₹200 per affidavit; obtaining the gurdwara's certificate or register extract; a certified copy of a decree or a death certificate where one is needed; apostille, embassy attestation and certified translation where the certificate travels; and travel. The full list is on our fees page.
What we will not take money for, ever: an Anand Karaj ceremony; describing our Arya Samaj ceremony as an Anand Karaj; a promised appointment date; supplying witnesses; a registration where a party is under age or an earlier marriage subsists; or a second registration you do not need, sold as though you did.
Sourced. The Anand Marriage Act, 1909 as amended — the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2012 (assent 7 June 2012), which added the words "(commonly known as Anand Karaj)" and inserted section 6, "Registration of marriages", under which the State Government shall make rules allowing particulars to be entered in a Marriage Register kept by the officer concerned, the register being open for inspection and admissible as evidence, with "the validity of any Anand Marriage solemnized shall in no way be affected by the omission to make an entry in the Marriage Register" and parties so registered "shall not be required to get their marriage registered under any other law for the time being in force". The Supreme Court in Amanjot Singh Chadha v. Union of India, WP(C) 911/2022, decided 4 September 2025 (Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta) — directing States and Union Territories to frame section 6 rules within four months, to ensure Anand Karaj marriages are "received for registration under the prevailing marriage registration framework without discrimination", and that "no application for registration of an Anand Karaj marriage or for a certified extract shall be refused on the sole ground that rules under Section 6 of the Act have not yet been notified". The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — its application clause extending the Act to Sikhs, section 7(1) on the customary rites of either party, and section 8 on registration. The Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014 — Order 4(a) sixty days, 4(b) the ₹200 requisite fee, 4(d) two witnesses "who shall certify to the solemnisation", and Order 8. The Delhi Revenue Department's marriage-registration page — ₹100 for Hindu Marriage Act registration deposited with the Marriage Clerk, ₹15 for Special Marriage Act solemnisation with the cashier of the District, service norms of "normally within 15 days" and "normally within 60 days", and counter hours of 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on any working day.
Not sourced, and we say so plainly. The particulars of The Delhi Anand Marriages Rules, 2018 given here — notification on 9 February 2018, the ₹500 fee, registration with the Registrar in whose jurisdiction the marriage was solemnised or either party resides, and the statement that marriages already registered under the Hindu Marriage Act may also be registered under this Act — come from reports at the time of notification, not from the rules as we have read them. Crucially, Delhi's own marriage-registration page does not mention this route at all, and no timeline is published for it. So confirm the fee, the forms and the office before you travel, and take the receipt for whatever is charged. We have set out the Supreme Court's directions in substance and quoted the operative line, but we have not reproduced the judgment and a marriage service's summary is not a substitute for it; Delhi was not among the respondent jurisdictions in that petition, so nothing here should be read as the Court's finding about Delhi. And what a particular counter does on a particular morning is practice, not law, and it varies.
Nothing here is legal advice on your own facts. We are a marriage service, not a law firm; where your matter needs an advocate we will say so instead of quoting a package.
One — the gurdwara's paperwork for the Anand Karaj, and the date and place of the ceremony. If you do not have the certificate yet, that is the first errand, and asking for an extract naming the entry is worth the extra sentence.
Two — whether the record or the speed matters more to you. The Anand Marriage Act route records the marriage under its own Act; the Hindu Marriage Act route is faster and more predictable. This is your decision and it is the one that shapes everything else.
Three — where each of you lives, and where the ceremony was. Both routes turn on jurisdiction, and those two facts decide which office your file belongs to.
Then the usual: whether either of you was married before (and if so, whether the decree is final), whether the certificate has to go abroad, which weeks your witnesses can attend, and by when you need it.
On the first call we will tell you honestly what each route will involve — and if a deadline means the predictable route is the right one for you, you will hear that, even though it is the less interesting answer.
Call or WhatsApp +91 8376863962. Hindi, Punjabi or English.
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