Duplicate Nikahnama & Correction – ₹2,500

Quick answer: If our Qazi read your nikah, we can issue a duplicate nikahnama and certificate from our record, or correct genuine clerical errors such as a misspelt name, a wrong date of birth or a missing surname, for ₹2,500, usually within two or three working days. A duplicate reproduces the original exactly; a correction makes the record say what actually happened, never something different. The date of the nikah, the parties and the mahr cannot be changed except for a proven clerical error agreed by both spouses. For another Qazi's nikahnama we help you obtain a certified copy; if none can be traced, a marriage deed (₹5,000) is the answer.

Last reviewed: 22 September 2026

A nikahnama is meant to last a lifetime, but paper is fragile and mistakes are common. Families lose nikahnamas in house moves, floods and fires. Documents are torn, faded or eaten by insects. More often still, the nikahnama is intact but wrong: the bride's name is spelt differently from her passport, the groom's date of birth is a year off, a father's name is missing, an address is incomplete. None of this matters until the day an embassy, a passport office or an insurance company compares the nikahnama with other documents, and then it matters a great deal.

For ₹2,500 we issue a duplicate nikahnama and certificate for a nikah read by our Qazi, or correct genuine clerical errors in one, with the supporting documents and affidavits that make the correction acceptable to other offices. For nikahs read by other Qazis, and for government registration certificates, we explain exactly what can be done and help you do it. This page covers what can be corrected, what cannot, and how.

Most of the requests we receive are simple: a couple whose nikahnama went missing in a move, or a bride whose name was written without her surname. A few are complicated, involving a dispute, a death or a record held by someone else. Whatever your situation, the principle is the same. A duplicate must match the original exactly, and a correction must make the record match the truth, with the evidence attached so that anyone reading it later can see why. Records that follow this principle are trusted. Records that do not are the ones that cause problems at embassies and in courts.

What ₹2,500 Covers

If your nikahnama was issued by another Qazi and cannot be traced, our marriage deed service (₹5,000) creates a clear, sworn record from the available evidence. If you need a government certificate, see our registration service (₹6,000).

Which Situation Are You In?

Getting a Duplicate Nikahnama

We keep a record of every nikah our Qazi reads. When a nikahnama is lost or damaged, we issue a duplicate from that record.

1. Tell us the details: names of the bride and groom, the approximate date of the nikah, and any reference number on the original, if you remember it.
2. Prove who you are: photo ID of the spouse requesting the duplicate. Where both spouses are alive and together, a request from either is usually enough; where the marriage has broken down, we may ask for both or a court's direction before releasing a copy.
3. Report the loss: for a lost original, file a lost report with Delhi Police, which can be done online. Keep the report number. Many offices ask for it when you present a duplicate.
4. Collect the duplicate: clearly marked as a duplicate, with the same details as the original, signed and sealed.

A duplicate is not a new nikahnama. It reproduces the original record exactly, including the original date, mahr and witnesses. We do not change anything in a duplicate; corrections are a separate process.

What Can Be Corrected, and What Cannot

The rule is simple: a correction makes the record say what actually happened. It never makes the record say something different from what happened.

Why Errors Happen

• Names written from memory rather than copied from documents.
• Urdu spellings transliterated into English in different ways.
• Families using a "pet name" or a name used at home rather than the official one.
• Dates of birth estimated by elders rather than taken from certificates.
• The nikahnama filled in a hurry at the end of a long day.
• Honorifics such as "Syed", "Sheikh" or "Haji" included in one document and not another.

Every one of these is avoidable at the nikah, which is why our Qazi copies names and dates from documents. But many families come to us with nikahnamas written years ago elsewhere, and for them correction is the practical answer.

How a Correction Works

1. Send us the nikahnama (or its photograph) and the official document showing the correct detail.
2. We check our record to confirm the nikah and identify whether the error is in our record or only in your copy.
3. Affidavit where needed: for names, a declaration that the name in the nikahnama and the correct name refer to the same person; for a date of birth, a declaration with the age proof.
4. Both spouses sign where the correction affects both, such as mahr or the date.
5. Corrected record issued: a corrected nikahnama or certificate, noting the correction, with the supporting affidavit attached.

The "One and the Same Person" Affidavit

Often the simplest fix is not to change the nikahnama at all, but to explain the difference. A "one and the same person" affidavit declares that two or more names in different documents belong to the same person. For example:

This affidavit is accepted by passport offices, banks, employers and many foreign authorities. For a visa application, a correction at source is sometimes preferred; we advise on which your purpose needs.

Nikahnamas Issued by Other Qazis

We cannot issue a duplicate or correction of a nikahnama written by someone else, because we do not hold the record. What we can do is help you get it from the right person:

• Trace the Qazi: the nikahnama usually names him and often a masjid or madrasa. Many Qazis keep registers for decades; if he has died, his family or the masjid may hold them.
• Ask for a certified copy of the register entry, signed and stamped, stating the names, date, place, mahr and witnesses.
• For a correction, ask the Qazi to issue a corrected copy or a letter confirming the correct details, on the basis of the official documents you provide.
• If nothing can be traced, a marriage deed sets out the facts with evidence and becomes your working record.

Some states have government-licensed Kazis whose registers are official records; West Bengal, for example, under the Bengal Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1876. For those, apply to the Kazi or the registry for a certified copy.

Government Registration Certificates

If your marriage is registered with the Delhi government and the certificate is lost or wrong:

• Lost: certificates issued online can usually be downloaded again from the portal using the application details. Otherwise, apply to the issuing office for a certified copy.
• Wrong: apply to the issuing office for correction, with the official documents showing the correct detail and, usually, an affidavit. The office decides; we help prepare a clear, complete application.
• Different from the nikahnama: if the government certificate is correct and the nikahnama is wrong, correct the nikahnama or file a same-person affidavit, so the two agree.

Urdu Names in English: Common Variants

Most name errors in nikahnamas are not mistakes at all, but different ways of writing the same Urdu or Arabic name in English letters. Each is "correct"; the problem is using different ones in different documents.

Our rule: choose the spelling in the passport, or if there is no passport, the Class 10 certificate, and use it everywhere from now on. Where older documents differ, a same-person affidavit bridges the gap. Do not keep changing spellings to match whichever office you are dealing with that day.

Sometimes the Other Document Is Wrong

Occasionally the nikahnama is right and the passport or Aadhaar is wrong. Then the correction belongs there, not in the nikahnama.

• Aadhaar: name, date of birth and address can be updated through UIDAI with supporting documents, subject to its limits on the number of changes.
• Passport: a reissue with changed particulars is applied for on the Passport Seva portal. Changes to a name may need an affidavit and, for significant changes, a newspaper advertisement; changes to a date of birth are handled strictly and need strong proof.
• Educational certificates: the issuing board or school has its own correction process, usually requiring the birth certificate and an application.
• Birth certificate: corrections are made by the registrar of births where the birth was registered.

We help you decide which document should change so that all your records settle on one truthful version.

Special Cases

After a spouse's death

A widow or widower often needs a duplicate nikahnama for pension, insurance or succession. We release a duplicate to the surviving spouse on production of their ID and the death certificate.

When the marriage has broken down

A nikahnama is often needed in maintenance, mahr, khula or divorce proceedings. Where the spouses are in dispute, we may ask for a request from both, or for a court's direction, before issuing a certified copy, so that neither can accuse us of favouring the other. Courts can in any case call for the record.

For children

Adult children sometimes need their parents' nikahnama for a passport, a job or foreign study. We issue a copy on a request from either parent, or, where both parents have died, from the child with the parents' death certificates and the child's birth certificate.

Check Your Nikahnama Today: A Ten-Minute Audit

Most families discover errors at the worst possible time. Take ten minutes now, with your nikahnama, both passports (or Class 10 certificates) and Aadhaar cards on the table, and check:

1. The bride's full name matches her passport letter for letter.
2. The groom's full name matches his passport letter for letter.
3. Both fathers' names match the passports or other official documents.
4. Both dates of birth match the age proof.
5. The addresses are complete, with house number, locality, city and pincode.
6. The date of the nikah is written clearly, in full.
7. The place of the nikah is named and complete.
8. The mahr is written in figures and words, with prompt and deferred parts clear.
9. The witnesses' names and addresses are legible.
10. The Qazi's name, signature and seal are present.
11. The bride's and groom's signatures or thumb impressions are present.
12. Any wakil's name and signature are present, if a wakil acted.
13. Previous marital status is recorded for each, if the form has a place for it.
14. Any special conditions agreed are recorded.
15. There are no overwritten or cut-and-rewritten entries.

If everything matches, scan it and put it away safely. If anything does not, fix it now, while the Qazi, witnesses and memories are available, rather than years later under pressure.

How Offices Judge a Duplicate or Correction

An officer looking at a duplicate or corrected nikahnama asks three questions:

• Is it genuine? Is it issued by the person or body that holds the original record, clearly marked, signed and sealed?
• Is the change explained? Is there an affidavit and an official document supporting the corrected detail?
• Is it consistent? Do the corrected details now match the passport, the age proof and other records?

A duplicate or correction that answers all three is accepted almost everywhere. One that looks like a freshly written document with a convenient date, or with no explanation for a change, invites suspicion. That is why we attach the lost report or the supporting affidavit to every duplicate and correction we issue.

Mahr After the Nikah: What Can and Cannot Change

Couples sometimes ask us to "correct" the mahr years after the nikah, usually for reasons that are not about clerical errors at all. The law is clear on what is possible.

We are especially careful about remission of mahr. A wife under pressure from her husband or in-laws to "give up" her mahr is not giving it up freely, and a document recording it is worth little. We speak to the wife separately before recording any remission.

When Both the Nikahnama and the Government Certificate Need Fixing

Sometimes an error runs through everything: the nikahnama has a wrong spelling, and the government registration copied it. The order of work matters:

1. Decide the correct version from the passport or Class 10 certificate.
2. Correct the nikahnama first, or prepare a same-person affidavit.
3. Apply to the registration office for correction of the government certificate, with the corrected nikahnama or affidavit and the official document.
4. If the certificate has already been apostilled, a fresh apostille will be needed on the corrected certificate.
5. Update any other records (passport, bank, employer) to the same version.

Is Our Nikah Valid Despite the Error?

Almost always, yes. A misspelt name or a wrong date of birth in the nikahnama does not affect the validity of a nikah that actually took place with consent, capacity, witnesses and mahr. The nikahnama is evidence of the marriage; a clerical error in the evidence does not undo the marriage. Correcting it simply makes the evidence reliable. The rare exceptions are errors that reveal a real problem, for example a date of birth showing that the bride was under age at the time, which is a matter for legal advice, not correction.

Duplicates in Court Cases

Many requests for duplicates come from couples, or one spouse, involved in legal proceedings: a maintenance claim, a suit for mahr, a khula or divorce case, a custody dispute, or a succession matter after a death. A few points help:

• Secondary evidence: Indian evidence law, now the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, allows secondary evidence of a document, such as a certified copy, where the original has been lost or destroyed or is in the possession of the other party. A duplicate issued from the Qazi's record, with a lost report, fits this well.
• Calling the record: a court can summon the Qazi's or our register directly. We comply with any court order to produce records.
• Neutrality: where spouses are in dispute, we do not take sides. We issue certified copies on joint requests, court directions, or the proper request of a surviving spouse, and we do not alter records during a dispute.
• Witnesses: the witnesses named in the nikahnama may be called to give evidence. Their full names and addresses in the record make that possible.

Changing Surname After Marriage

Some wives take their husband's surname after the nikah; many do not. There is no legal requirement either way. If a wife does change her surname:

• Passport: the registered marriage certificate is the usual supporting document for a married woman's change of surname.
• Aadhaar and PAN: can be updated with the marriage certificate as supporting proof, according to each authority's rules.
• Bank accounts: updated with the certificate and the updated KYC documents.
• Educational certificates: usually remain in the maiden name; a same-person affidavit links the two.

If a wife's name in the nikahnama is her maiden name and she later adopts her husband's surname, that is not an error in the nikahnama. The nikahnama correctly records her name at the time. The link between the two names is shown by the marriage certificate and, where needed, an affidavit.

What a Good Nikahnama Contains

If your nikahnama lacks several of these, it is still evidence of your marriage, but it may be worth supplementing with a marriage deed or registering the marriage with the government so that a complete record exists.

Reporting a Lost Nikahnama to the Police

When an original document is lost, a police report is the first step. Delhi Police allow lost documents to be reported online, and the report is generated immediately with a number. Keep a copy. Offices that receive a duplicate often ask for this report, because it shows the original was genuinely lost rather than hidden or misused.

• Report the loss as soon as you notice it.
• Describe the document: "Nikahnama of [names], dated [date], issued by [Qazi]".
• Give the approximate place and date of loss.
• Save the report and quote its number when applying for the duplicate.

Keeping Marriage Documents Safe From Now On

1. Scan everything, including the back of every page, and store copies in both spouses' email and cloud storage.
2. Keep originals together in a waterproof folder, away from damp walls and the floor.
3. The wife keeps her own copy. Documents held only by one side of the family are a common problem when a marriage is under strain or after a death.
4. Laminate nothing. Lamination can make a document unacceptable for attestation and hides alterations; use a plastic sleeve instead.
5. Register the marriage with the government. A registered certificate can usually be downloaded again, which no paper nikahnama can.
6. Keep the Qazi's details: name, masjid and phone, so a copy can be traced if needed.

Why Not Fix Everything at Once?

Many couples come to us for a duplicate or correction and discover that their marriage was never registered with the government. That is the right moment to do it. With the corrected nikahnama in hand and the names settled, registration under the Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014 is straightforward. After the Delhi High Court's 2024 directions in Faizan Ayubi, Muslim marriages should be registrable online under the 2014 Order, and we check the current route when applying. Registering a nikah under the Special Marriage Act instead changes succession to the Indian Succession Act, so we never do that without explaining it first.

Families Across Delhi

We issue duplicates and corrections for families throughout Delhi: Jamia Nagar, Batla House, Zakir Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and Okhla; Old Delhi's Jama Masjid, Ballimaran, Matia Mahal and Turkman Gate; Nizamuddin and Jangpura; Seelampur, Jafrabad, Welcome, Mustafabad, Chand Bagh, Brijpuri and Yamuna Vihar; Sadar Bazar, Quraish Nagar and Inderlok; Mehrauli and Sangam Vihar; and Dwarka, Rohini and Mayur Vihar. Couples who have moved abroad can request duplicates by WhatsApp, and we courier the documents to family in Delhi or abroad.

Duplicates for Couples Living Abroad

Couples who have moved abroad often discover that the nikahnama they left behind in Delhi is needed for a residence renewal, a child's birth registration at the Indian mission, or a citizenship application. They can request a duplicate without travelling:

1. Send us the names, approximate date of the nikah and a copy of the requesting spouse's passport by WhatsApp or email.
2. File a lost report if the original is lost; Delhi Police's online service can be used from abroad in many cases, or a relative can assist.
3. We issue the duplicate and send a scan immediately.
4. The original is couriered to you or to family in Delhi.
5. If the destination country needs it authenticated, remember that a private nikahnama is not usually apostilled; the registered government certificate is what gets authenticated. If your marriage is not registered, registration requires both spouses in person on your next visit.

Preventing Errors at a New Nikah

If you are reading this before your nikah, the best correction is the one you never need. At every nikah our Qazi reads, we:

• Copy names and dates directly from passports or Class 10 certificates, not from memory.
• Read the completed nikahnama aloud to the families before anyone signs.
• Write mahr in figures and words.
• Record witnesses' full addresses.
• Give each spouse a copy and keep the record safely.

Families having a nikah elsewhere can ask their Qazi to do the same. It takes ten extra minutes and saves years of trouble.

Which of Our Services Fits Your Problem?

Document Terms

Three More Situations We See Often

The pension claim

A widow from Sangam Vihar needed her husband's family pension. The pension office noticed that her name in the nikahnama was "Shahnaz Begum" while her Aadhaar read "Shahnaz". We issued a duplicate from our record and a same-person affidavit, and the claim was processed.

The Canadian study permit

A couple from Okhla had registered their marriage and the wife was applying to study in Canada with her husband as a dependant. The husband's father's name was spelt differently in the nikahnama and the government certificate. We corrected our nikahnama to match the passport, the registration office corrected the certificate on application, and the corrected certificate was apostilled.

The son's passport

A young man from Mustafabad applying for his first passport was asked for his parents' marriage record because their names differed across his documents. His parents' nikah had been read by our Qazi in 1999. We issued a certified duplicate, and his parents each swore a same-person affidavit. The passport was issued without further query.

In each case the fix took days, not months, because the original record existed and the correction was supported by documents. That is the value of a nikah read by a Qazi who keeps records, and of dealing with errors before they become emergencies.

When These Errors Cause Real Problems

Documents to Bring

• The nikahnama (original if you have it, or a photograph) and our certificate if issued
• Photo ID of the requesting spouse; of both spouses for corrections that affect both
• The official document showing the correct detail: passport, Class 10 certificate, birth certificate, Aadhaar
• For a lost original: the Delhi Police lost report number
• Recent passport photographs, if a new certificate is to be issued

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Asking anyone to "rewrite" a nikahnama with a new date or different mahr.
2. Writing corrections by hand on the original; overwriting makes the document look tampered with.
3. Correcting the nikahnama to match a wrong passport, instead of the passport to match the truth.
4. Obtaining a "new nikahnama" from a different Qazi for the same marriage.
5. Ignoring a spelling difference until the visa interview.
6. Failing to report a lost original to the police.

Four Delhi Families

The flooded house

A family in Yamuna Vihar lost their papers when water entered the ground floor during heavy rain. The couple's nikahnama, read by our Qazi eight years earlier, was unreadable. With a Delhi Police lost report and the husband's ID, we issued a duplicate from our record in two days.

The missing surname

A bride from Jafrabad was recorded as "Rukhsar" in the nikahnama, but her passport read "Rukhsar Fatima". Her husband's UK visa application for her was held up. We issued a corrected certificate with her full passport name and a same-person affidavit, and the application proceeded.

The date of birth

A groom's date of birth had been written as 1996 instead of 1995. His Class 10 certificate showed the correct year. The correction was made with his affidavit and the certificate attached.

The Qazi's son

A couple from Old Delhi had a nikahnama from a Qazi who had died. We advised them to approach his son, who still held the registers. He issued a certified copy of the entry, which the couple used to register their marriage.

Checklist

• ☐ Identify who issued the nikahnama: our Qazi, another Qazi, or the government
• ☐ For a lost original: Delhi Police lost report
• ☐ Official document showing the correct detail
• ☐ Photo ID of the requesting spouse (both, for corrections affecting both)
• ☐ Decide whether a correction or a same-person affidavit suits your purpose
• ☐ After correction: check that the nikahnama, certificate and government record all agree

If you are unsure which of these applies, send us a photograph of what you have. We will tell you honestly what it needs.

How We Help

We issue duplicates from our record for nikahs our Qazi read, correct genuine clerical errors with proper supporting documents, draft same-person affidavits, and guide you through getting copies or corrections from other Qazis and government offices. We never change what actually happened: not the date, not the mahr without both spouses, not the parties. We do not provide witnesses for any service.

Questions and Answers

Sources and Official References

Legal points on this page were checked against these sources. Procedures and portals change, so confirm current details before applying.

• The Delhi (Compulsory Registration of Marriage) Order, 2014 – Revenue Department, Delhi
• Delhi High Court directs online registration of Muslim marriages (Faizan Ayubi, November 2024) – LiveLaw
• Passport Seva – official portal
• Delhi Police – online lost report service
• UIDAI – update Aadhaar details
• Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 – Indian Kanoon

This page is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Call +91 8376863962 for advice on your situation.

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