Marriage Certificate
Apostille in India
An Indian marriage certificate is a public record, so it goes to the SDM without a notary. What matters more than the route is which Act you married under. A Hindu Marriage Act certificate, a Special Marriage Act certificate and a court-issued decree are three different documents with three different appearances, and some foreign authorities are specific about which one they will accept for a spouse visa.
All-in price
₹2,100per document
Processing
3–7 working days
plus courier transit
Check this first
An apostille only works for Hague Convention countries.
There are 130 Contracting Parties as of 30 June 2026. If your marriage certificate is going to the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, Iraq or Iran, an apostille is not valid — you need embassy attestation instead, which is a different process. Check your destination before you order.
Check your destination countryThis page is for a marriage certificate issued in India. If yours was issued in the United States, you need the US route instead — see US Marriage Certificate Apostille.
Who Issues an Indian Marriage Certificate
Issuing Authority
Registrar of Marriages of the district, under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or the Special Marriage Act, 1954
A marriage certificate issued by this authority is a public document, which means it goes straight to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate for pre-authentication — no notary step.
How the SDM Route Works for a Marriage Certificate
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM)
3–7 working daysThe SDM verifies the registrar's signature and seal against its records and attests the certificate.
Ministry of External Affairs
1–2 working days after depositThe MEA verifies the SDM signature against its records and affixes the apostille sticker with its QR code. The MEA accepts no document directly from an individual, so we deposit through an MEA-authorised collection channel.
Does a Marriage Certificate need notarisation first?
No. A marriage certificate issued by Registrar of Marriages of the district is a public document, so the SDM attests it directly and no Notary Public is involved. Notarisation applies to privately-made documents — affidavits, powers of attorney, employer letters and certified copies — where there is no government signature for the SDM to verify. If an agency tells you your marriage certificate must be notarised first, ask them why.
SDM or State Home Department?
Personal documents can be pre-authenticated by either the SDM or the State Home Department. We default to the SDM because it is materially faster, and because the slower route rarely buys the customer anything. The exception matters though: some destination countries and some receiving institutions specifically require Home Department attestation, and getting that wrong means running the whole process again.
| Pre-authentication authority | Typical time | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| SDM Our default | 3–7 days | The standard route for personal documents |
| State Home Department | 10–20+ days | Where a destination or institution specifically requires it |
Tell us the destination country and the receiving institution when you order and we will confirm which route yours needs before anything is submitted. If it needs the Home Department, we will say so — quoted on request.
Marriage Certificate Apostille by State
The SDM is a district-level officer, so the office that pre-authenticates your marriage certificate follows the district where it was issued — not where you live now. The Home Department alternative is state-level. Both routes end at the same MEA counter, and our price is the same from every state.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Telangana
- Issued by
- GHMC or the relevant municipality / gram panchayat
- Home Department route
- General Administration Department, Government of Telangana (Hyderabad)
Hyderabad births are registered by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. A hospital-issued discharge slip is not a birth certificate and cannot be apostilled — the GHMC-issued certificate is the one that can.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Andhra Pradesh
- Issued by
- The municipal corporation, municipality or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- General Administration Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh (Amaravati)
Records for births before the 2014 bifurcation may sit with the authority in the district as it then stood. Tell us the district and year and we will confirm which office holds it.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Maharashtra
- Issued by
- BMC in Mumbai; the relevant municipal corporation or gram panchayat elsewhere
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Maharashtra (Mumbai)
Mumbai civil records are issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Documents registered in Pune, Nagpur or Nashik follow their own corporations, not BMC.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Karnataka
- Issued by
- BBMP in Bengaluru; the relevant municipal body elsewhere
- Home Department route
- Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Government of Karnataka (Bengaluru)
Bengaluru records come from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Degrees from Karnataka universities take the HRD route rather than the SDM route — that is a different service, quoted on request.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Tamil Nadu
- Issued by
- Greater Chennai Corporation, or the municipality / panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Public (Political) Department, Government of Tamil Nadu (Chennai)
Tamil Nadu civil records are commonly issued in Tamil. Where the receiving authority abroad requires English, a certified translation is needed — the apostille does not translate anything.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Kerala
- Issued by
- The local self-government body — corporation, municipality or panchayat
- Home Department route
- General Administration (Political) Department, Government of Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram)
Kerala has among the highest volumes of documents going abroad, much of it to Gulf states. Several of those — the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait — are not Hague parties, so an apostille has no effect there and embassy attestation is required instead.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Gujarat
- Issued by
- The municipal corporation or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Gujarat (Gandhinagar)
Documents issued in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara each come from their own municipal corporation. Confirm which body issued yours before ordering a fresh copy.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Punjab
- Issued by
- The municipal corporation, council or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Government of Punjab (Chandigarh)
Chandigarh is a Union Territory administered separately from Punjab and Haryana. If your document was issued in Chandigarh itself, the UT administration holds it, not the Punjab department.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Haryana
- Issued by
- The municipal corporation or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Haryana (Chandigarh)
Gurugram and Faridabad records come from their own municipal corporations. As with Punjab, documents issued in Chandigarh itself follow the UT administration.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Uttar Pradesh
- Issued by
- The Nagar Nigam, Nagar Palika or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow)
Late-registered births are common in UP and the certificate will say so. That does not prevent an apostille, but some receiving authorities ask for supporting evidence alongside it — tell us if yours is late-registered.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Rajasthan
- Issued by
- The municipal corporation, council or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Rajasthan (Jaipur)
Rajasthan issues many civil records in Hindi. Where the destination requires English, budget for a certified translation in addition to the apostille.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in Madhya Pradesh
- Issued by
- The Nagar Nigam, Nagar Palika or gram panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal)
Indore and Bhopal records come from their own municipal corporations. Documents from smaller districts follow the local body that registered them.
Marriage Certificate Apostille in West Bengal
- Issued by
- Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or the municipality / panchayat of registration
- Home Department route
- Home and Hill Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal (Kolkata)
Kolkata civil records are issued by the KMC. Bengali-language certificates need a certified translation where the destination requires English.
We do not publish state office addresses here because they change and a stale address is worse than none — check the current one on your state portal, or just send the document to us and we will route it. Stamp-paper values and notary charges are set by the state and vary; we confirm those at order.
What about e-Sanad?
Coverage depends on whether your district registrar is onboarded, and most are not. Check esanad.nic.in for your issuing office. For spouse-visa filings the physical apostille is what is generally asked for.
e-Sanad is the government's own free platform for digitally verifying documents from onboarded issuing authorities. Where it covers your document and your destination accepts it, it is genuinely the better option and we will tell you so. It is not a replacement for a physical apostille sticker in most cases.
What a Marriage Certificate Apostille Costs
Government feesAt cost MEA apostille ₹50 + authorised-channel collection ₹84 + scanning ₹3/page | ₹143 |
Veritas service fee SDM pre-authentication, authorised-channel deposit, handling and tracking | ₹1,957 |
| Total per document | ₹2,100 |
Courier Quoted before payment, charged at what it actually costs | At cost |
The same ₹2,100 applies to every personal document we handle, whatever its page count. Most sites in this market either publish no figure at all or put their calculator behind an email form — on searches where the whole intent is to find out what it costs. Government fees are reproduced from mea.gov.in and passed through at cost. See the full charges breakdown.
Why People Apostille a Marriage Certificate
Spouse and dependent visas
The primary use. Almost every spouse-visa route into a Hague country asks for the apostilled marriage certificate, and many also want a certified translation.
Permanent residence
Canada, Australia and EU PR applications require proof of marital status for the principal applicant and accompanying spouse.
Name change abroad
Updating a surname on a foreign passport, driving licence, bank account or social-security record generally needs the authenticated marriage record.
Property and inheritance matters
Establishing a spousal relationship in a foreign court or before a foreign notary requires the apostilled certificate rather than a photocopy.
Which Marriage Certificate Do You Actually Have?
This is where applications fail, and it is almost never the apostille itself. Find your case below before you courier anything — a rejected document costs a full second run, not a correction.
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
The most common certificate for marriages solemnised by Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh rites and then registered. Registered after the ceremony, so the certificate records a marriage that already took place.
Special Marriage Act, 1954
For civil marriages, inter-faith marriages and marriages where the parties choose a civil registration. Involves a 30-day notice period. Some European authorities prefer this certificate because it is a civil act rather than a registration of a religious one.
Court marriage
Colloquially used for a Special Marriage Act registration before a marriage officer. The document you receive is still an SMA certificate — there is no separate "court marriage certificate".
Certificate in a regional language
Common from district registrars outside the metros. Perfectly valid for apostille, but the destination country will usually want a certified translation alongside it. Sort that out at the same time rather than discovering it at the visa counter.
Name spelling differs from the passportOften rejected
If either spouse's name is spelled differently on the certificate than on the passport, expect questions at the destination even though the apostille is valid. Correct the record first where you can.
Not sure which you have? Send photos on WhatsApp — we check before you courier anything, and we will tell you if the answer is that we cannot help.
What to Send Us
The original marriage certificate issued by the Registrar of Marriages
Photocopies of both spouses' passports (photo and address pages)
An authorisation letter where a relative or agent is submitting on your behalf
Marriage Certificate Apostille — Common Questions
How do I apostille a marriage certificate in India?
Does a marriage certificate need notarisation before apostille?
Can I apostille a marriage certificate issued in a different state?
Do both spouses need to be in India for the apostille?
What does a marriage certificate apostille cost in India?
Hague Convention figures verified against theHCCH status tableon 30 June 2026. Government fees from mea.gov.in, same date.
Ready to Apostille Your
Marriage Certificate?
₹2,100 per document, 3–7 working days processing. We check your document for free before you courier anything.
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