Dos & Donts for NRI Marriages | Beware of Foreign groom

Dos and Donts for NRI Marriages:

Do check the NRI groom’s personal information particulars such as :

Marital status: if he is single, divorced, separated, Employment details : qualification and post, salary, address of office, employer and their credentials, Immigration status, type of visa, eligibility to take spouse to the other country.
Financial status, Properties said to be owned by him in India, residence address, family background, Visa, passport. Voter or alien registration card, Social security number.
Have regular and meaningful communication with the man and his family over a period. Make sure that the two persons to be married meet personally and interact freely and frankly in comfortable atmosphere to make up their minds.

Insist on a registered marriage along with the religious marriage to be solemnized in India with adequate proof like photographs etc.

Insist on keeping in touch with the bride even after the marriage on phone and e-mail and through local friends and relatives and get alert if at any point there is any reluctance or difficulty in this.

Equip the woman with knowledge of the laws of the foreign country and the rights she enjoys there, especially against any form of abuse or neglect, including domestic violence and if she can get residence permit and other protections as a victim of domestic violence or abuse.

Inform people you trust if you face domestic violence in any form – physical, emotional, financial, and sexual. Keep a log of all acts of violence you face.

Have a bank account in your exclusive name near your residence that you can use in case of any emergency.

Keep a list of contact details of neighbors, friends, relatives, husband’s employer, police, ambulance, and the Indian embassy or high commission, if abroad.

Leave photocopies of all important documents including your passport, visa, bank and property documents, marriage certificate and other essential papers and phone numbers with parents or other trustworthy people in India or abroad. In case they are lost/forcibly takena way/mutilated/destroyed by or at the instance of spouse or in-laws, the copies will come in handy; if possible,keep a scanned soft copy with you and any person you trust so that the same can be retrieved if necessary.

Try to keep a photocopy of husband’s personal details including passport, visa, property details, license number, social security number, voter or alien registration card, among others.

Donts

Do not take any decision in haste and do not get pressurized to do so for any reason whatsoever.
Do not make matrimony a passage to greener pastures abroad by
falling prey to lucrative schemes to migrate to another country or

Do not finalize marriage matters, without meeting the family or over long distance, on phone or through e-mails.
Do not get pressurized in taking impulsive decisions of marriage proposal with an NRI just because it appears too perfect to be true.
Do not negotiate your daughter’s marriage via a bureau, agent or middleman or trust them blindly
In case matrimonial negotiations takes place via matrimonial
sites, verify the details and authenticity of particulars submitted

Do not agree on the marriage taking place in the foreign country
Do not be coerced into acceding to dowry or any other unreasonable demand made by or on behalf of your husband in order to end your desertion. Inform officials immediately if being forced to do so.
Do not remain quiet, if faced with desertion or any other cruelty by husband and/or in-laws whether in India or abroad. Approach the authorities.
Do not forge/fabricate papers or legal documents for somehow going abroad and do not become a party to illegal acts under pressure, allurement or instigation from anyone.
Do not be forced into participating in legal action in country of husband’s residence. You can file a case in India and cannot be forced to defend a case filed against you by husband abroad especially divorce. India has more women-friendly laws than many other countries.
Do not panic if your husband obtains divorce in the other country with or without your knowledge since it is not valid in India. Its valid in India only if you participate in that case.

Do not defame husband and/or in-laws without evidence as they may slap a defamation case against you. Speak only the facts at the right fora – before police/lawyer/social worker/court etc.
Do not be vindictive and take law in your hands. Never resort to violence or any illegal act to settle scores with deserter husband and/or in-laws. Approach government authorities in case of any problem in the marriage.
Do not file false/frivolous complaint.

Source: National Commission for Women

“Marriages to Overseas Indians” published by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs,

Government of India New Delhi

Contact Information :

NRI Cell : ncw.nricell@gmail.com

Fax : 011-23236154 / 23236988

PABX : 011-23234918