Hindu marriage with a foreigner - What are legal issues?

My very first question to you is why you want to marry this foreigner person according to religious form of marriage according to Hindu/Vedic/ Arya Samaj form & why not go through Civil form of marriage as applicable to you in India under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 where neither the religion of the party has any consequence for the solemnization of valid marriage nor this person will have to get converted to Hindu religion, get a Hindu name etc. The very fact the Civil Marriage in India under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is duly recognized by not only India but most of the foreign countries. The Immigration departments of foreign countries & home department of India with regard to passport law/rules legally recognize the Valid Marriage Certificate you get after this marriage is solemnized by the Marriage Officer/Registrar in presence of three witnesses, & there after properly registered. The fact the Arya Samaj Mandir Marriage will first require her conversion, then the marriage & after this you get this Marriage Registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or the Special Marriage Act, 1954 with the Registrar of Marriages of the District/State where you reside & got married. All this take so much of running around whereas the Civil Marriage under the Special Marriage Act,1954 no running around & every thing done in the same place & takes only two of your days, one for giving one month notice & second the day you get married & your marriage is registered there itself & the Marriage Certificate issued then itself. The total time you spend for the civil marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 on both days is less then one hour. Rather engage a lawyer for the documentation etc & lesser time you spend for all this. As far the Marriage Certificate the Arya Samaj Mandir issue has both the names of the party who converted, so does the conversion certificate & both these certificate will be required for the Registration of the Hindu Marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 or any local Marriage Registration Act of the State where you reside in India after which you get a Marriage Certificate under any of these Acts from the Registrar. Where as the Valid Marriage Certificate you get in the Civil Marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is good enough proof for the Valid Marriage, the Hindu Marriage will require all these certificates as named above, along with the photographs of the Hindu conversion as well marriage ceremonies etc to satisfy the Immigration department of the foreign countries. Rest is entirely you decision but what all I have told you is the best way to get married to a foreigner person in India.

 is there any restriction that for special marriage the either one [bride or groom]  have to stay in India at 30 days?  If I am right , for arya samaj marriage everything can be done within 2 days and doesn't require the 30 days notice period.

It is not only thirty day stay in India by one of the party but thirty day stay in the particular district in India immediatly preceding the the date on which such notice is given. Read this section 5 of the Special Marriage Act,1954:- Notice of intended marriage. - When a marriage is intended to be solemnized under this Act, the parties to the marriage shall give notice thereof in writing in the form specified in the Second Schedule to the Marriage Officer of the district in which at least on of the parties to the marriage has resided for a period of not less than thirty days immediately preceding the date on which such notice is given.

 Thank you sir for the explanation!!!!!

Greetings, My finance and I are currently living in India and want to get married. She is an Indian Hindu and I am an American but not religious. At first we were considering Arya Samaj organization for our wedding, but now we are interested in court marriage. Our only concern for court marriage is about privacy. We read on one website that the marriage notice will be sent to the Indian's home district (marriage office) for viewing. That notice in addition to the local office where the marriage will take place. Is there anyway to do court marriage while maintaining our privacy (without sending marriage notice to her hometown)? Many thanks!

In case where one of the party is foreigner and of different religion other than Hindu , its advisable to register marriage under special marriage act. 

In case you want to avoid legal complications, you may go for registration of marriage under Special Marriage Act as the religion of both of you is different.  

Hello, I am an indian girl marrying a Croatian boy this year. And as india giving only 30 days validity tourist visa to foreigners visiting India then how will we make it possible to get married under special marriage act? Kindly help 

You may take online appointment from the concerned marriage registrar and whennhe arrives, appear before the registrar & complete the formalities.  In case you are asked to visit again, say after 30 days, visit FRRO & MHA Foreigners Division & get the visa for ur spouse extended on the basis of pending marriage registration.  All the best.

Hello sir,

   I m gonna marry a foreigner also, so what documents will she need with her, and also she's coming to stay here permanently. I read somewhere that all the documents should be in English, is it possible to translate her documents here in india??

Namaste, I am a Nepalese citizen. My fiancee will come from Canada holding Canadian PR. Our wish is to get married in this beautiful land of India in Arya samaj mandir, Delhi. We don't have any Indian identity. so, please could you help me to give some information about wedding rituals. We want a very simple wedding following our Hindu religion. Is it possible?

You check with Arya Samaj Mandir, Mandir Marg, New Delhi or Hanuman Mandir Marg, New Delhi. These two are genuine Arya Samaj Mandir in New Delhi near Rajiv Chowk, New Delhi. The complete procedure and documents required from both parties to marriage and number of witnesses, cost etc. will be informed by the office therein these two Arya Samaj Mandirs.

Dear sir,

I am a Hindu man from Haryana currently living in UAE. In 2015 while I was working in UP delhi border I married to my Filipino girlfriend. She was Christian then so we visited the nearest Arya Samaj Mandir where she did convert to Hinduism (Didn't change her name though) we got married there in presence of My Grand Father (from Mother side), My younger Brother and one of my friend as a witness and then registered the marriage under Hindu marriage act in registrar office in Ghaziabad and got our marriage certificate same day. On visa expiration my wife exited for her country and came back after few months on X-Entry visa (Spode visa with a validity of 5years) that time I was transferred in Delhi. She was planning to stay for more than 180 days so as per visa requirement we need to do FRRO registration. We visited FRRO office problvided all required documents and verifier visited our residence that we were renting in delhi that time and after all this thing FRRO officials refused to do her registration and asked us to re-register our marriage under special marriage act. Her 180 days was almost completed and we have no time or knowledge for how to do it. We had a job offer from UAE so we both left for Dubai and since then we both are working here neither of us visited India since then. 
Now next year on expiration of our employment contract in UAE we are planning to settle in India permanently in my Hometown in Haryana and as I am already afraid that what if they will ask again to change my marriage certificate from Hindu marriage act to Special Marriage act.

Please can you enlighten us How we can change act of our marriage certificate?. As it's a matter of our life we are happily married for seven years and willing to live together forever. Please sir any solution or guidance from you will be a life saving for us. Looking for your valuable advise. Thanks in advance.

Regards