Three Thousand Kilometres of Rocky Roads to A Happy Ending - Malaysia Express Wedding License

 I am married and YES I am married!  BUT THE HARD WAY!!

Getting married itself is already a stressful mission but marrying a non-citizen of Malaysia is 1000 times more stressful because I didn't get any advice from anyone. I hope my blogpost can help a lot of the citizens who want to marry their loved ones who are non-malaysian easier.In my case, I am marrying an American .

We found out that there are two types of Registration of Marriage (ROM) in Malaysia for the non-citizen.

i) Normal procedure marriage at the office of the Registrar of Marriages (ROM).
- this usually takes 21 days after submission of the form by both the parties. ( Non-citizen must have resided in Malaysia for at least 7 days consecutively)

ii) Express Marriage License
- this one doesn't need a waiting period but a fee of RM100 is applicable.

We opted for option 2 which was the express one. But we didn't realise that both the options included a lot of travelling and patience. Before 'M'  came to Malaysia , I found out from the JPN in my town that I could do everything including registration in Johor ( I am from Johor) and he needed a single status confirmation to prove that he was single so he got an affidavit from his high commisioner which isn't acceptable here. When 'M' arrived to Singapore, we went to Johor Bahru to register directly.
When we got to Johor, only then we found out that we couldn't get married there and then! There are a few things we had to do before we could get married. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A STRONG REASON FOR THE EXPRESS MARRIAGE.

What do you need?
a) I/C ( local citizen )
b)Passport of the non-citizen
c) Photocopy of I/C and Passport main page that shows the information and the page of the date of arrival to Malaysia
d) One passport size photograph with a BLUE background
e) ORIGINAL birth certificate ( get it translated from a certified translator if it's not in English or Malay )
f) If he is a divorcee, pls bring along the relevant documents

1) The affidavit from the country of origin isn't acceptable so the first thing to do is to go to own embassy to obtain the Letter of Confirmation of Single Status. This letter needs to be issued from the Malaysian Representative Office, Embassy or High Commission in Malaysia. After that, you will need to get the letter certified at the Consular Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Wisma Putra) in Putrajaya.

2) Once all the documents are certified and obtained, go to JPN in Putrajaya to get a letter of approval. This is the place that we got told that 'M' needed his ORIGINAL birth certificate. We didn't have his birth certificate and was told that the rules has recently changed. So we got 'M's' father to send it and had to get it translated into English because it was in Spanish! After gaining the letter of approval, go to the JPN in the state where you were born. So from Putrajaya we had to rush to JB.

3) At JB JPN in Taman Setia Tropika ( State National Registration Department [NRD] ), we were required to fill in the forms and submit the letter of approval from Putrajaya alongside with the relevant documents. Before that, we had to go to the High Court in Johor City to get the stamp and certified by the 'Jurubahasa' (Translator) and also the commissioner or Oath. Both can be found in the High Court. Without the stamp, the forms are not valid!

4) Then, we went back to Kempas JPN to submit everything and then we were told to wait for the date to get married which usually takes 7 days.

Please note: For all American Citizens, the US embassy which provides the notary services is only available for walk in service from 9am - 11am. 2 hours only!

After a few months of planning and a couple of weeks being on the rocky roads and some flyings from the US by my lovely husband, we finally got married on the 28th September 2014!

Letter of Confirmation of Marital Status. This letter needs to be issued from the Malaysian Representative office in your country or your country’s Embassy or High Commission in Malaysia. Upon obtaining the letter, you will need to certify the letter at the Consular Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) in Putrajaya. - See more at: http://milestones.my/getting-married-in-malaysia/#sthash.z1pVHnKd.dpuf

Letter of Confirmation of Marital Status

Letter of Confirmation of Marital Status

Letter of Confirmation of Marital Status