Process to prove you are single through singlehood or bachelorhood certificate.
Do you know, Single Status certificate or Bachelorhood certificate is a frequently asked query for Visa and majorly of marriage-related processes.
Today, the term Singlehood has its own importance in abroad specifically to marry a foreigner. The Single Status Certificate is an essential document if a person wants to register a marriage in a Hague Countries.
In the countries such as Europe, the US and South America, You will be asked to provide the singlehood or single status certificate with MEA Apostille when you are marrying a foreigner. The single status certificate helps the foreign country to know about the candidate’s marital Status & Age, Apostille will ensure that the details in the documents are correct and genuine, Single status will explain whether he/she is married, single, divorced, or a widow. So, it is essential to get the affidavit of single status.
The necessary documents for Indians to get this SINGLEHOOD or Single Status certificate?
Here, we have listed out the documents which are needed for a single status certificate/bachelorhood certificate:
- First, you need to submit an Affidavit. (A single status affidavit states that you are free to marry).
- Either AADHAR CARD or PASSPORT is required as address proof of the applicant for the single status affidavit.
- Applicants should provide documents such as Birth certificate/schooling certificate as proof of birth.
- Applicant must get a letter from his/her parents stating that “the applicant is single” and the letter should be attached with their Aadhar cards.
- An original Divorce Certificate is required in case the applicant is an divorcee.
- Applicant has to provide a Death Certificate if he/she is a widow.
What is a single status affidavit and how is it used?
An affidavit is a written statement confirmed by taking an oath or affirmation. A single status affidavit is a sort of declaration affidavit, where you declare your details related to your meritorious status, Date of Birth, and passport details.
The person who creates the affidavit is called the deponent. The affidavit swears facts that are true to the best knowledge of the deponent along with the statements from the witness. These documents can be used as evidence in courts.
Process of Getting the Single Status Certificate Apostille for an Indian:
We have listed out the process step by step for your convenience:
- The affidavit can be drawn up by a notary and then the Affidavit declaring your single status needs to get attestation either from State Home Department or Sub Divisional Magistrate(SDM). So, there are two ways to get document Attestation and which Attestation to choose is explained in the next section.
- The Affidavit which is attested(State/SDM) will further proceeds to Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) for Apostille.
- MEA apostille on the ‘SINGLE STATUS CERTIFICATE’ is enough If the person whom you are marrying belongs to a country which is in the Hague Nation List. The document that is stamped by the Ministry of External Affairs is regarded as lawful and can be used in any of the Hague nations without any requirement for further investigation.
- In case the country is not written in the Hague nation list then Apostilled document has to get ‘EMBASSY ATTESTATION’ as well.
State and SDM Verification for unmarried certificate.
The state Attestation for Single Certificate or Bachelorhood certificate is a long time process because the state Authentication has to validate. The process of State Attestation is usually completed in three or four weeks. As there are many applications that require attestation and all the applications are checked carefully so it takes more time. Once it is done, it goes to the MEA department for Apostille.
The SDM Verification is done faster. Once the process of Magistrate Signature is done, the details are sent to MEA for Apostille.
The working of both State and SDM attestation is similar. However, it is better to select the SDM attestation as it is a fast process. Although if the country has specified to show the State Attestation then do not take a risk and opt for State Attestation only.
According to the MEA rules, the validity of the Apostilled documents will be carried only for six months.
Why Apostille is needed for unmarried Certificate?
There are several countries that do not accept a simple notarized document. As the document is just a simple statement that tells whether the person is married or not married and the country does not feel satisfied with this, as there are chances of fraud. So, for their faith and to get married in a foreign country an applicant requires an affidavit of single status.
An apostille stamp adds authenticity to the document and makes it legal and valid to use in foreign countries. If an individual is having an apostille stamp on the document then there is no further need for any other call, phone, or email verification. This helps in saving both parties time and also makes the apostille/attestation process fast.
FOLLOWINGS ARE THE SITUATIONS WHERE SINGLEHOOD APOSTILLE COMES TO HELP
There are several ways where a single status certificate Apostille is used:
- You are never been married and you are marrying a foreigner now:If you are marrying foreigner then you should produce SINGLE STATUS APOSTILLE for the foreign country to which your partner belongs.
Register for apostille to get SINGLE STATUS APOSTILLE
- You are legally divorced and you are marrying a foreigner:If you are previously divorced and now, you are marrying a foreigner then the foreign government will ask you to produce SINGLE STATUS CERTIFICATE APOSTILLE along with DIVORCE DECREE APOSTILLE. Therefore getting both documents apostilled is very important when it comes to marrying a foreigner.
{NOTE: Divorce decree/decree absolute is a legal document which ends your marriage}
- You are widowed and you are marrying a foreigner:If your spouse/husband is dead and now, you are marrying a foreigner then the foreign government will ask you to produce SINGLE STATUS CERTIFICATE APOSTILLE along with DEATH CERTIFICATE APOSTILLE.
- For Employment Visa:If the applicant is going abroad to work there, then the country might ask for a SINGLE STATUS CERTIFICATE APOSILLE for verification of an individual status.
The Ministry of External Affairs legalizes a simple document with an apostille sticker on it. The sticker is in a square shape that is a printed form having 11 standard fields. On the top of the certificate, there is written “APOSTILLE”, and beneath that, a line is written- Convention de La Haye du 5 October 1961. This means the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961.
A single status Apostille contains the following details:
- Name of country from which the document was issued.
- Name of the Person to whom document is issued.
- Name of person signing the document.
- Designation of the singed person.
- Place of certification date of certification.
- Number of certificate.
- Seal or stamp of authority issuing certificate.
- Signature of authority issuing certificate.
Validity of Single status Certificate Apostille
The validity of an apostille document is 6 months only. However, there are certain nations that accept an apostilled document that is more than 6 months old or even a year old. An apostille service provider can tell you better about the correct validity of the apostilled document by considering the country where the document is to be presented.
Cost of apostille for unmarried or bachelorhood certificate
There are a few expenses that an applicant has to pay to get the single status document apostilled. These are several charges at various levels of authority, apostille service fees, number of documents, type of document, and other various fees that vary from state to state and country to country. In short, it is difficult to find the accurate cost that an individual has to pay for an apostille document, an apostille service provider can guide you better about complete charges after analyzing the state and all the documents.
Time Required to complete the unmarried certificate Apostille
The Single Status Certificate apostille is a lengthy process as there are several authorities involved in the complete process. The authorities that legalize a single status certificate are mentioned above. The estimated time that generally takes to finish the procedure is 10-12 days. However, the time depends on the place where the documents are issued. A person can speed up an apostille procedure if he/she has chosen a genuine and trustworthy apostille service.
FAQ
How to Get Single Status Certificate?
- Prepare a single status affidavit Content as per your passport( Edit the Above given content )
- Purchase a 100₹ stamp paper
- Visit a Notary to put the content on Stamp paper and get Notary Seal
- Register in the Apostille Portal
- Submit the Original affidavit for MEA attestation process.
- Get Single status certificate couriered to your home from Delhi MEA.
Validity of single status certificate
Validity of single status certificate depends on following factors.
- In which country you will be using the single status certificate
- Marriage Date
- Are you a divorcee or a bachelor
Generally 6 months is considered as a standard validity period for Single status certificate.
