Certificate of No Impediment for Marriage Apostille in India
Marrying abroad may require additional documentation, and Certificate of No Impediment apostille is one such requirement. Certificate of no impediment(CNI) is proof that a person is free to marry anyone of any nationality. However, to accept a certificate of no impediment in a foreign country, specifically a Hague country, you need to get an apostille stamp from MEA on your CNI.
What is a Certificate of No Impediment?
A Certificate of no Impediment(CNI) is a legal document stating that an individual is free to marry anyone from any country. This certificate is to prove that the individual is not already married. Usually, when an Indian citizen marries a foreigner or marries from a foreign country, submitting a CNI is mandatory. Many countries mandate submitting this document to prove that there are no legal impediments ( hurdles ) for marriage.
4 Simple steps to get MEA Apostille on your Documents
- Register on Apostille Portal
- Collect all Documents you want to Apostille
- Submit the Original / Photocopies of documents
- Receive Documents with Apostille Directly to your home
Why is Apostille Required for a Certificate of No Impediment?
If you are marrying in a country which is a member of the Hague Convention Apostille, you need to get an apostille on your CNI. The certificate of No Impediment without an apostille will not be a valid and legal document in a Hague country. Affixing an apostille on your document authenticates your document without further requirement for embassy attestation.
See the Hague Convention on Apostille Countries List to know if an apostille is enough to legalize your CNI.
Apostille Process for Certificate of No Impediment in India
In India the Ministry of External Affairs MEA is authorized to issue an apostille on any document. The process of obtaining an apostille for your Certificate stating there is no impediment for a marriage involves the following steps:
- You need to prepare an affidavit stating that you are single and there are no legal obstacles for you to marry. See the Sample Certificate of No Impediment Format and fill your personal details.
- Submit the CNI to a notary public for notarization. The notary will verify the authenticity of CNI and attest it.
- SDM Authentication: Submit the document to Sub Divisional Magistrate through your apostille service provider. The SDM will verify and attest the CNI for marriage.
- MEA Apostille: The ministry of external affairs will verify the certificate of no impediment and attest it with an apostille stamp.
Another method to get a CNI is through court hearing. Let us discuss the steps and process in detail.
Certificate of No Impediment Apostille Through Court Hearing
This method of obtaining a CNI requires you to be physically present at the court. Following are the steps involved in the process:
- Approach a family court in your jurisdiction and file a petition requesting a Certificate stating there are no impediment for a marriage. Provide documents such as proof of identity, address and an affidavit along with your petition.
- Court Hearing: The court will invite you for a hearing. You need to appear before the court and declare your marital status under oath.
- Police Verification: The police will conduct an investigation to check your marital status and submit the same to the court.
- Once the court is satisfied with the documents and background verification, it will issue a court order stating that you are eligible to marry any person of any nationality and you are single. This is your official certificate of No Impediment.
- MEA Apostille: You can submit your certificate of no impediment to the ministry of external affairs through your apostille service provider. MEA will verify the CNI and attest it with an apostille stamp.
Document Required to Apply for a Certificate of No Impediment Apostille
You need to submit following documents to the apostille service agency to get an apostille on your CNI:
- Original Certificate of No Impediment
- Passport copy
- Divorce Decree, if the applicant is a divorcee
- Death Certificate of spouse, if the spouse is dead.
Processing Time for CNI Apostille in India
Time required to get an apostille for certificate of no impediment may vary depending on the workload in the ministry and court. However, the given below is the usual timeline:
- Certificate of No Impediment Apostille through SDM attestation Method will take from 5 days to 14 days depending on the service you choose.
- CNI for Marriage apostille through court hearing will take around 3 months.
Details on a Certificate of No Impediment Apostille
Following are the details printed on the apostille for a certificate of no impediment:
- Name of the country of issuance, India in this case.
- Name of the document, certificate of No Impediment in this case.
- Name of the person who signed the CNI
- Designation of the signatory
- Place where Certificate of No Impediment Apostille was issued
- Date of Issuance of CNI apostille
- Name and designation of the person who issued the apostille
- A unique identification number for the apostille
- The official stamp and signature of the ministry of external affairs
- A reference to the Hague apostille convention in French, which suggests that the apostille was issued as per the conditions of the Hague convention.
Getting a Certificate of No Impediment Apostille in India is a lengthy process since there are multiple authorities involved in the process. We have provided a detailed guideline to get an apostille for your CNI. Feeling overwhelmed with the information? Confused?
Contact Us. Our apostille helpline will guide you through the process.
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Frequently asked questions
A certificate of no impediment for marriage is a document issued for a person indicating that he/she can marry anyone of any nationality, and there are no obstacles to marry. When you need to use a certificate of no impediment in a foreign country, you may need to legalize it with an apostille which is known as CNI apostille.
Yes. You can get a certificate of no impediment online with the help of a service provider. You just need to fill the affidavit.
Certificate of No Impediment Affidavit
I (Name), S/o. (Father’s and Mother’s name), residing at (Full address), do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as follows:
- That I am a citizen of India.
- That I am above (age) years old.
- That I am of good health and good mental condition.
- That I was born on Date in the format DD-MM-YYYY (Date in words) at (place of birth), (State).
- That I am a holder of a valid Indian passport bearing No. (Passport Number) issued at (Place of issuance), valid from (from date) to (to date).
- That I am Currently not married and have no spouse living or dead anywhere in India or abroad.
- That I am eligible to marry an Indian or person of any other nationality according to the law. I am Single at present.
- That my mother is (mother’s name), a holder of valid Indian passport with passport No. (any ID Number) issued at (place), India.
- That my father is (Father’s name), a holder of valid Indian Passport with passport No. (Passport number) issued at (Place), India.
- That whatever stated hereinabove is correct to the best of my knowledge and understand that I am liable to be prosecuted, if this affidavit or any part of it is anyway found incorrect or false.
- That my parents have no objection for me getting married to an Indian or person of any other nationality according to the law.
- This affidavit is true, and it conceals nothing and no part of it is false.
Place:
Date: DEPONENT
You can submit your Certificate of No Impediment to a public notary. Then, you should submit it to a sub divisional magistrate from your locality. Now, the CNI is valid to use in India. In order to accept it in a foreign country, you need to get an apostille on your CNI for marriage.
To apply for a certificate of no impediment for marriage with an apostille require the following documents:
- Self declared Certificate of No Impediment Affidavit with notary attestation
- Scanned copy of passport’s first and last page.
- Parents’ ID card photocopy
- Two passport size photographs
- Apostille application form