NEWS / Indian marriage registrar office invalidates at least 15 marriage certificates issued during pandemic

The office of the marriage registrar of the State of West Bengal in India has invalidated at least 15 marriage certificates issued during the COVID lockdown in 2020. Couples who received those certificates will need to annul their marriages and then remarry.

The inquiry revealed that as many as 8,000 marriage certificates were issued with discrepancies, at least 15 of which cannot be corrected and therefore invalidate the documents. 12 of these certificates were issued under the 1954 Special Marriage Act, with the couples receiving the certificates after a 30-day window.

Among the errors are the names of witnesses listed as “ABC”, missing witness addresses, and non-existent phone numbers.

“These 15 marriage certificates are legally questionable,” a senior West Bengal official was quoted by the Times of India as stating, “It appears that the marriage registrars who uploaded these personal data had erred.” According to inquiry, some marriage registrars deliberately misled couples. At least one registrar who assured couples that he would take care of all legal formalities without physical verification has been censured by the department.

Since only district courts can annul marriages, the affected couples will need to apply to get the invalidated marriage certificates annulled, and then re-apply to get married with the registrar’s office.

A&M Logos International can help you retrieve certified copies of your marriage record and get them legalized (apostilled or authenticated) for use abroad. Call us today at (212) 233-7061 or e-mail us at info@apostille.us. You may also wish to apply on our website.