e-StampNotary
Why this document exists at all
India registers marriages. It does not register the absence of one. There is no office that will issue you a certificate saying you have never married, because no such record is kept. So when a foreign registrar, a consulate, an employer or a pension section needs to be satisfied that you are single, the only instrument available is your own statement on oath. That is the whole reason this affidavit exists, and it explains why it is drafted in the way it is — carefully, with a date, and without overreaching.
Who asks for it
- Foreign marriage. A registrar or a religious authority abroad asking for a "single status" or "no impediment" declaration before solemnising a marriage.
- Visa and immigration. Dependant visas, family reunification, and student cases where marital status affects the category.
- Employment. Overseas employment contracts, and Indian employers fixing entitlements to family accommodation, medical cover or travel.
- Pension and family benefit. An unmarried daughter's family pension, and continuing eligibility declarations where the rule turns on remaining unmarried.
- Property and family arrangements, where the class of persons entitled has to be stated and it matters that a party has no spouse.
A properly drafted affidavit says you are unmarried as on the date it is sworn. It does not say you never will be, and it should not be worded as though it is a lifetime certificate. Offices routinely refuse affidavits more than a few months old for exactly this reason, so do not swear one long before you need it.
If you have been married before, this is the wrong affidavit
A divorcee is not unmarried; a widow or widower is not unmarried. Each has a different status and a different document, and swearing "I have never married" when a marriage was dissolved or ended by death is a false statement on oath that will be found out — a decree and a death certificate are both public records. Where a previous marriage has ended, what you need is a marital status affidavit stating the true position, or a widow affidavit. These are accepted every day. Nobody is refused a visa for having been married before; people are refused for concealing it.
For use outside India
An affidavit intended to take effect outside India is expressly within a Notary's functions — section 8(1)(g) of the Notaries Act, 1952 — but notarisation is usually only the first stage. Most foreign authorities want the document to travel further up a chain of authentication before they will act on it, and what that chain is depends entirely on the destination country and the receiving authority. Ask the consulate or the receiving office what they require before you begin. We draft to their format where you can give it to us, and translate where needed — translation and verification of a translation is a notarial function under section 8(1)(h). The notarial fee for an instrument to take effect outside India is capped at ₹200 under Rule 10(1) of the Notaries Rules, 1956.
What gets these rejected
- No date of birth or age stated, so the reader cannot tell whether the deponent was of marriageable age throughout the period covered.
- An affidavit sworn months earlier and produced stale.
- Father's name or address not matching the passport, where the passport is the identity document the foreign authority is working from.
- Wording that says "unmarried" while the deponent is separated but not divorced. Separation is not divorce.
- A parent swearing about an adult child's marital status. The deponent should be the person whose status it is, unless the receiving authority has asked for a parental declaration as well.
- Being sent to a notary for a "single status certificate" — no such certificate exists, and if an agent has promised you one, ask them to show you which authority issues it.
A marriage is dissolved only by a decree of a Family Court — by mutual consent under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or section 28 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, or on contested grounds. Any paper sold as a notarised divorce is worthless, and an unmarried affidavit sworn on the strength of one is a false statement.
What to bring
- Aadhaar and PAN card
- Passport, where the affidavit is for a visa, foreign marriage or overseas employment
- Birth certificate or school leaving certificate showing date of birth
- Proof of current address
- The format or checklist given by the consulate, employer or foreign registrar, if any
- Details of the destination country, so the wording and any translation can be matched