Muslims can apply for marriage certificates online

The Telangana State Wakf Board will now be accepting online applications for ‘marriage certificates’ issued jointly by the board and Anjuman-e-Qazath.

A formal announcement and details of the website are expected to be made public next month after its inauguration.

The board on an average issues 250 marriage certificates every day through its Qazath section, which is managed by the board staff and Anjuman-e-Qazath (Council of Qazis). “All applications can be filed online through the website along with necessary documents, including Nikahnama (marriage booklet) and other documents. On a specified date, the applicant can collect the certificate from the office. We are making arrangements for sending it to the applicant through post too if they desire so, for which they will have to pay an additional fee,” said an official of the board.

The marriage certificates are taken mostly by those planning to obtain a passport to go abroad. “Generally, women



apply for marriage certificates to submit it for obtaining a passport and a visa to join their husbands working in foreign countries,” said an official of the Qazath section. Under the tatkal category, the certificate is issued the next day while in the general category, it takes a week.

The officials say that the idea is to help people staying in the districts to be able to apply from there and come to the city only to collect the certificates or get it through post by paying necessary postal charges at the time of applying.

“Also, we want the role of the middlemen to be eliminated and make the issuance of certificates a foolproof affair by directly linking the public to officials,” the official added. All the certificates issued would be stored for later retrieval whenever needed by the applicant again, he said. Apart from the marriage certificate, the public can also apply for divorce certificates, both ‘talaaq’ and ‘khula’.