Marriage Certificate India IR-5 Civil (IV) documents

[greatk 3]

Hi All,

I am an USC and preparing for my mothers IV package.

My parents marriage certificate is not available and they got married in the 80's.

now since the marriage certificate is not available i have prepared two affidavits from close relatives one from each sides.

I don't have non-availability certificate from the authorities as the marriage was never registered.

therefore, i am planning to send the following letter of statement to support the secondary evidence:

could you please advise if this is an good approach

any help is appreciated

To Whom It May Concern:

I, Petitioner (Petitioner), solemnly affirm and declare as under:

I, Petitioner, the son of Mother and Father.

The marriage between Mother and Father was not registered as it was not common to register marriages as it is voluntary to register Hindu marriages as per Hindu Marriage act of 1955.

Since my father passed away on January 1, 2010, it is not possible to register my parents marriage therefore I am attaching two notarized affidavits executed by close relatives each from my Father & Mother sides.

If you require any further information, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for your help.

[PK and PK 13]

Hi

I had a similar situation for my parents application. They got married in India in their village temple and marriages were never registered those days. So while filing for my parents, I read that in the absence of Marriage Certificate, you would need to give supporting documents like Affidavits from 2 people (other than you and your spouse or children).

So, I got affidavits from 2 relatives ( parents' siblings / cousins) that had attended / witnessed my parents wedding. There is no standard format for the affidavits but I did read that affidavits need to be notarized. So I prepared the affidavits on Indian Stamp Papers (each of Rs. 20 or above) and got it signed by the relatives / witness and got it notarized in India. I think USCIS accepts affidavits within 1 year from notarized date.

Also, since I was applying for my Mom and Dad, I made 2 affidavits for each of them. And each of the 2 affidavits need to be from 2 different witnesses. For e.g for my Mom - I got 1 affidavit from her younger sister and 1 from her first cousin. And for my Dad - got 1 affidavit from each of his elder siblings.

Also, it is a good practice to include a Cover Letter explaining why you cannot provide their Marriage Certificate and thus providing Affidavits.

Hope this helps.