One of the most important actions for new couples after their wedding ceremony is to ensure that they obtain their marriage certificate because it serves as legal documentation of their relationship.
Getting your marriage certificate isn’t difficult when you know what to do. People frequently encounter difficulties or become frustrated throughout processes because they need help figuring out how to proceed.
This article will outline the steps to obtain a marriage certificate in Nigeria to the Ministry of Interior’s regulations.
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS
TYPICAL MARRIAGE: (Male and Female)
- Birth/Age Declaration Certificate
- Photographs for passports (as required)
- Suitable Documentary Evidence of Single Status (Bachelorhood/Spinsterhood Certificate or Sworn Court Affidavit)
- Affidavit/reliable evidence of marriage (already married)
- Absolute Proof/Decree of Divorce (divorcees)
- Certificate of Death for the Former Spouse (widow/widower)
- Proof of the court’s annulment (where applicable)
- If you are unmarried and have a kid or children, you must provide an affidavit.
SPECIAL MARRIAGE: (Male and Female)
- Birth/Age Declaration Certificate
- Photographs for passports (as required)
- Suitable Documentary Evidence of Single Status (Bachelorhood/Spinsterhood Certificate or Sworn Court Affidavit)
- Affidavit/reliable evidence of marriage (already married)
- Absolute Proof/Decree of Divorce (divorcees)
- Certificate of Death for the Former Spouse (widow/widower)
- Proof of the court’s annulment (where applicable)
- If you are unmarried and have a kid or children, you must provide an affidavit.
- Identification or a letter of origin from the state (Nigerians only)
- Data Page for International Passports (people living abroad)
- arrival page of a passport (people living abroad)
- Permit for Residency (people living abroad)
APPLICATION PROCESS
Physical Application:
- The applicant must go to the Federal Marriage Registry office in person to apply for marriage registration.
- The following link contains the addresses and phone numbers for the marriage registries: https://ecitibiz.interior.gov.ng/marriage/registries
- Get an application form to announce their upcoming marriage by heading to the office.
- Check to see if you have all the paperwork provided in this page’s “Required Documents” section.
- Fill out the Notice of Marriage with the necessary information about you, your spouse, and your marriage as specified in the relevant sections.
- After that, deliver the application packet to the proper officer at the workplace.
- As instructed by the officials, pay the necessary fees.
- The couple should go to the chosen Marriage Registry on the day of the oath-taking ceremony with a witness on either side (please note that it is not gender-specific) to take the oath.
- Also bring a Bible or Quran, if applicable, and two wedding rings (one male and one female).
- The Registrar of Marriage registers the marriage in the official record when the swearing-in ceremony is complete.
Online Application
To apply for online marriage registration, go to the Ministry of Interiors of Nigeria’s ECITIBIZ portal by clicking the following link: https://ecitibiz.interior.gov.ng/Account/Login
● If you already have an account, you can input your information, click “Log in,” and continue. If not, click the “New User Registration” link below, and then on the following page, select the “Personal Account (Marriage)” option from the “Personal” menu.
● Click the “register now” button to open the registration page. Fill in all the necessary information, check the appropriate boxes, and click the “Register” button. A preview of your account will appear; scroll down and click “Proceed.”
● Your email ID will receive a verification email; open it and click the “click here” link to activate the account. Click the “click here” link under the email confirmation message to continue.
● The login page will now open; log in once more using the previous steps. After logging in, select “Marriage” from the tabs, and then select “overview.”
● The website that opens contains information about the types of marriages permitted by Nigeria’s Marriage Act and a description of the services offered by the Ministry of Interior.
● Then, select the “Requirements” option under the same menu to see the conditions that must be met before you may submit a marriage application. Prepare the papers for uploading under the list of prerequisites.
● Following completion of the necessary steps, find the authorized degree of marriage by selecting “Prohibited Degree Of Relationship” from the same tab’s options.
● Make sure you do not fall under any of the specified degrees by carefully reading that.
● The information regarding the fees that must be paid online can be found by selecting the “fees details” option.
● Once you’ve completed all the prerequisite steps and are prepared with scanned copies of all the necessary documents and enough money to make an online payment, apply for marriage by selecting “Apply for Marriage (New Couple)” from the “Marriage” page.
● Choose the location for your wedding from the list of choices in the dialogue box on the screen, then click the “Proceed” button.
● Click the “Apply” button next to the marriage type you want to enter on the following screen. There will be a confirmation pop-up. To continue or cancel, click the “Ok” or “Cancel” buttons.
● A page for the online application will open. Fill in all the information requested in the appropriate fields under each section, then decide.
● You must enter your preferences for the marriage under “Marriage Details,” the male spouse’s information under “Husband Details,” and the necessary documents for the husband by clicking the “Upload” button.
● Similarly, finish the “Wife details” section by entering the information for the female spouse and selecting the “Upload” option to upload the necessary documents for the wife.
● After finishing, click “Proceed,” which will cause a dialogue box to appear with a warning. If you are not already married, and you are certain that you can perform the wedding within 90 days of the date of application, read the warning and click the “Submit” button.
● If not, click the “Preserve as draft” button to save the completed application as a draft, after which you can make the payment whenever convenient.
● Your application’s summary will be shown; read it through once, and if there are any errors, click “back” to fix them. Alternatively, check the declaration box after reading the declarations, then click “Proceed to payment” to proceed.
● Two payment alternatives will be presented in the Payment Summary. Select the “Pay through Bank or POS” radio button and click the “Proceed” button if you want to pay at a bank or POS.
● You can pay at the bank or POS by using the Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) or e-invoice that will be created. To print the invoice, scroll down and click the “Print” button.
● Select “Online pay” from the radio buttons and click “Pay” to make an online payment. The payment portal will launch. As needed, complete the online payment by following the directions on the page and entering your card information.
● As evidence of payment, an online transaction ID or a printable receipt for the online transaction will be produced.
● The involved couple should proceed to the chosen Marriage Registry after making payment, along with a witness on each side (please note that there is no gender preference), to take the oath on the date chosen during the application.
● Also bring a Bible or Quran, if applicable, and two wedding rings (one male and one female).
● The Registrar of Marriage registers the marriage in the official record when the swearing-in ceremony is complete.
A marriage certificate’s authenticity can be confirmed to the person requesting the verification by having it verified.
Following are a few actions you can take to have your marriage certificate certified if you ever have a legitimate need for it.
One may either hire a legal professional to check the legitimacy of the marriage claims or do it themselves in Nigeria to validate a marriage certificate.
The investigating legal professional must travel to where the marriage certificate was issued and search the marriage register stored there; following this procedure, the issuing authority may validate and certify the marriage certificate’s authenticity.
If the chosen registration does not have such a record of the marriage, it can be deemed a fraud.
After a statutory marriage has occurred, a government official from the federal or local government registry issues a marriage certificate.
After a statutory marriage has occurred, a government official from the federal or local government registry issues a marriage certificate. Additionally, a recognized house of worship may issue the certificate.
