Section 31. Registration of foreign marriage of a person resident in this State (ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW ENACTMENT 2002

ENACTMENT NO. 6 OF 2002
ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW ENACTMENT 2002

PART III - REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES

Section 31. Registration of foreign marriage of a person resident in this State

(1) Where any person who is a resident of this State has solemnized a valid marriage according to Hukum Syarak abroad, not being a marriage registered under section 24, the person shall, within six months after the date of the marriage, appear before the nearest or most conveniently available Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces, and Ruju' abroad in order to register the marriage, and the marriage, upon being registered, shall be deemed to be registered under this Enactment.

(2) Where before the expiry of the period of six months, the return of either or both parties to this State is contemplated and the marriage has not been registered abroad, registration of the marriage shall be effected within six months of the first arrival of either or both of the parties in this State by the party or both parties appearing before any Registrar in this State and-

(a)

producing to the Registrar the certificate of marriage or such evidence, either oral or documentary, as may satisfy the Registrar that the marriage did take place;

(b)

furnishing such particulars as may be required by the Registrar for the due registration of the marriage; and

(c)

applying in the prescribed form for the Registration of the marriage and subscribing the declaration therein.

(3) The Registrar may dispense with the appearance of one of the parties if he is satisfied that there exists good and sufficient reason for the absence of the party and in that case the entry in the Marriage Register shall include a statement of the reason for the absence.

(4) Upon the registration of a marriage under this section, a certified copy of the entry in the Marriage Register signed by the Registrar shall be delivered or sent to the husband and another copy to the wife, and another certified copy shall be sent, within such period as may be prescribed, to the Chief Registrar who shall cause all such certified copies to be bound together to constitute the Foreign Muslim Marriages Register.

(5) Where the parties to a marriage required to be registered under this section have not appeared before a Registrar within the period specified in subsection (1), the marriage may, upon application to the Registrar, be registered later on payment of such penalty as may be prescribed.