Marrying an NRI in 2026: 10 checks to do before you say yes

In Kerala, an NRI proposal is ordinary. The Kerala Migration Survey 2023 estimated about 2.2 million emigrants from the state, and found the UAE has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the most preferred destination. Almost every family has someone in the Gulf, Europe or North America, and most marriages that cross a border are happy, honest and unremarkable.

But distance makes some things harder to check, and harder to fix if they go wrong. This guide is about checking, not suspicion. A genuine NRI groom or bride, and their family, will expect these questions and answer them easily. The steps below draw mostly on the Ministry of External Affairs' own guidance booklet, Marriages to Overseas Indians, and the Law Commission's 2024 report on NRI marriages.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between countries and change over time, so for anything specific to your case, speak to a family lawyer.

How big is the problem?

Government figures only count the people who ask for help, so they are a floor, not a full picture. Here is what has been reported to Parliament:

• In August 2018, the Minister of State for External Affairs told the Lok Sabha that the ministry received 796 petitions from women deserted by NRI spouses in 2015, 1,510 in 2016 and 1,022 in 2017, and 765 more between January and 30 July 2018.
• In December 2017, Parliament was told that Indian missions abroad had received 3,328 complaints from Indian women about matrimonial disputes with NRI spouses during 2015 to 2017.
• In March 2025, Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha that missions had received 1,617 complaints from women who said they had been abandoned by their spouses over the previous five years.

The MEA booklet lists the problems families report most: abandonment, domestic violence, extra-marital relationships, visa delays and ex-parte divorces granted abroad without the wife's knowledge. It also lists the kinds of false information people discover too late: the spouse's job, immigration status, earnings, property and marital status. Every check below targets one of those.

What the law says today

In February 2024, the Law Commission of India, chaired by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, submitted Report No. 287, Law on Matrimonial Issues Relating to Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India. It called the rising number of fraudulent NRI marriages “a worrisome trend” and recommended that:

• every marriage between an NRI or OCI and an Indian citizen be compulsorily registered in India;
• a comprehensive central law cover divorce, maintenance, child custody and the service of summons and warrants on NRIs and OCIs abroad;
• the Passports Act be amended to require a declaration of marital status, link spouses' passports and print the marriage registration number on both.

The report came out of a reference on the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indians Bill, 2019, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2019 and examined by Parliament's Committee on External Affairs. The Bill proposed registration within 30 days of the wedding. As of the Law Commission's report it had not become law, so for now the protection comes mostly from what families do themselves.

The 10 checks

1. See the passport and visa, and understand the visa

Ask to see the passport and the current visa or residence permit, and keep a copy. The MEA booklet asks families to verify the immigration status, type of visa and eligibility to take a spouse to the other country. A student visa, a short work permit and permanent residence lead to very different first years of marriage. Ask plainly how and when the spouse visa will be applied for, and who pays.

2. Verify the job with the employer

The booklet's list includes qualification and post, salary, office address, the employer and the employer's credentials, and it says financial status should be verified with the employer. Look the company up independently rather than through a number or website they give you. A LinkedIn profile, a company email address and colleagues who can be reached are all reasonable to ask about. The MEA's FAQ also suggests asking for tax returns for the preceding three years and proof of address abroad.

3. Confirm marital status in the country where they live

A clean record in India says nothing about a marriage registered in Dubai, Toronto or Sydney. The booklet names, among the cases it sees, women learning later that the man they married already had a wife abroad. Ask directly, ask the family, and ask for an affidavit stating present marital status, which the MEA lists among the things to insist on.

4. If there was a previous marriage, see the decree

A divorce is not a red flag; hiding one is. If the person was married before, ask to see the final divorce decree, and note where it was granted. Indian courts don't automatically accept every foreign divorce: the MEA booklet sets out the grounds under section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure on which a foreign judgment won't be enforced in India, including a court without proper jurisdiction, a judgment not on the merits, or one obtained by fraud. If the decree is from abroad, have a lawyer look at it before the wedding. Our guide to second marriage in India covers when remarriage is allowed.

5. Check for criminal cases and family background

The booklet's verification list also includes criminal antecedents, family background and the properties they say they own. Families have always asked around; for an NRI proposal, the booklet suggests also contacting friends and relatives in that country and local Indian associations there.

6. Meet in person, more than once

The MEA's advice is direct: do not finalise matters over long distance, on phone or through email, and make sure the two people meet in person and talk freely, as many times as they need. Video calls are a good start (see our 8-step checklist for verifying a matrimony profile), but they don't replace sitting with someone and their family.

7. Visit their home, or send someone you trust

If you can, visit the city where they live, or ask a relative or friend already there to meet them. Seeing their flat, their street and how they talk about their life tells you more than any document. If that isn't possible, the booklet suggests the Indian embassy, local Indian associations and community networks as places to ask.

8. Don't rush, and don't rely on a middleman

Two of the booklet's firmest rules: don't take any decision in haste or under pressure, and don't blindly trust any bureau, agent or middleman. It also warns against schemes promising migration or a green card through marriage, and against agreeing to forged papers for any reason.

9. Hold a public wedding in India

The booklet advises against keeping the proposal secret, against agreeing to only a registered marriage or a ceremony in a far-off place, and against the marriage taking place in the foreign country. A social wedding with family and friends present creates witnesses, photographs and records that are hard to deny later.

10. Agree the paperwork, and keep it in your own hands

The MEA asks the person moving abroad to do the visa paperwork at their end and keep all original papers themselves. It also suggests insisting on health insurance before arriving abroad, and, once there, opening a bank account in your own name so you can withdraw money in an emergency.

Register the marriage in India before anyone flies

The Law Commission noted that, in many cases, NRI husbands deliberately don't register the marriage. Without a marriage certificate the spouse visa application is incomplete, and some have later denied the marriage happened at all. The MEA's FAQ is clear: register the marriage at the Registrar's office in India before either of you leaves the country, and keep the certificate and a copy with you and your family.

In Kerala this is already the law. Rule 6 of the Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules, 2008 requires every marriage solemnised in the state to be registered, whatever the religion of the couple, and the Kerala High Court has confirmed this. If you marry under the Special Marriage Act, registration is part of that process.

Keep copies of everything

The MEA suggests keeping copies of your passport and visa in two or three places, including with your parents. Its FAQ adds to the list:

• your passport, visa, marriage certificate, bank and property documents;
• wedding photographs and the invitation card;
• your spouse's passport, driving licence, any foreign ID and address proof;
• phone numbers for neighbours, your spouse's employer, the local police, an ambulance and the Indian embassy or consulate.

Keep a scanned copy with someone you trust, so the papers survive if the originals are lost, taken or destroyed. And as the booklet puts it simply: don't part with your passport.

If you're marrying someone in the Gulf

Many Kerala proposals come from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, and the practical checks there are specific. In the UAE, for example, an expatriate needs a valid residence visa and, as Gulf News reported in 2025, a minimum salary of Dh4,000, or Dh3,000 plus accommodation, to sponsor a spouse. The marriage certificate must be translated into Arabic and attested in the country of issue, by the UAE embassy there, and by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So a registered Indian marriage certificate is not a formality; it's what the family visa depends on.

It's reasonable to ask a Gulf-based groom or bride whether they meet the sponsorship conditions today, and how long the visa usually takes for people in their job. Before travelling, note the 24x7 Indian Workers Resource Centre helpline in the UAE (8004-6342 in Abu Dhabi), and the Migrant Resource Centre in Kochi, run by the MEA, for advice before you go.

Your rights and where to get help abroad

• Indian embassy or consulate: the MEA's FAQ says a woman facing abuse or abandonment abroad can approach the nearest mission for advice, help with a police complaint, contact with local NGOs and family, and initial legal and financial assistance.
• MEA legal and financial assistance: the scheme for Indian women deserted by overseas Indian or foreign spouses runs through missions, including in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It covers Indian passport holders deserted within 15 years of marriage, or facing divorce proceedings abroad. Ask the mission's welfare officer for current terms.
• MADAD portal: the MEA's online consular grievance system, launched in 2015, lists marital disputes among the complaints it handles, at madad.gov.in.
• NCW NRI Cell: the National Commission for Women is the national coordinating agency for NRI marriage issues, and its NRI Cell has taken complaints since 2009 from women in India and abroad on desertion, domestic violence, dowry, passports taken away, custody and maintenance. Email nricell-ncw@nic.in or register a complaint through the NCW website.
• Police in India: if you're abandoned in India, the MEA's FAQ says you can file a complaint at the local police station, and offences committed abroad can be complained about in India too.

Most of these resources were written with women in mind, because most of the complaints come from women. The checks themselves apply just as much to a man marrying an NRI bride, or to anyone whose new spouse lives in another country.