Do both of us need to have lived in Delhi for 30 days?

No. Only one partner needs to have lived in the marriage officer's district for at least 30 days before notice. The other partner can live anywhere.

Does staying in a hotel or PG count?

Residence means actually living in the district. A paying-guest arrangement or hostel can count if you can prove the address, for example with a rent receipt, an agreement or a letter from the PG. Short hotel stays are hard to prove as residence.

My Aadhaar shows my parents' address in another state. What can I use?

Use a registered rent agreement, a bank statement or utility bill at your Delhi address, or an employer letter combined with a rent agreement. Updating Aadhaar to your Delhi address also helps, but the update date may not prove 30 days.

Does the residence rule apply to registration under the Hindu Marriage Act?

The 30-day rule is specific to the Special Marriage Act. Hindu Marriage Act registration in Delhi generally depends on where either spouse lives, without a 30-day minimum.

Is the rule the same for registering an existing marriage under the Special Marriage Act?

Yes. For registration under Sections 15 and 16, the couple must have lived in the district for at least 30 days before applying.

The 30-Day Residence Rule for Court Marriage Explained

The 30-day residence rule decides where you can give notice of a court marriage, and sometimes whether you can give it yet. It is simple once you see it clearly, but it trips up couples who have recently moved, who live in rented rooms without formal paperwork, or who assume both partners must live in Delhi. This guide explains the rule, how Delhi offices check it and what to do if your paperwork does not show 30 days.

What the Act says

Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act requires the couple to give notice of their intended marriage to the marriage officer of the district in which at least one of them has resided for a period of not less than 30 days immediately preceding the date on which the notice is given.

Three elements matter:

At least one of them. Only one partner must meet the rule.
Resided. The partner must actually have been living in the district, not merely holding an address there.
Immediately preceding. The 30 days are the 30 days right before the notice, not any 30 days in the past.

Why the rule exists

The rule links the marriage to a place where people know the couple, so that the public notice displayed at that district’s office has meaning. Anyone with a legal objection is more likely to see the notice where one of the partners actually lives.

How Delhi offices check residence

Delhi’s guidelines for Special Marriage Act registration require proof that the parties have resided in the district for at least 30 days before the application. In practice, officials look at your address proof and ask:

Does the address fall inside this district?
Is there something that shows you have lived there for at least 30 days?

Documents that show a date, such as a registered rent agreement, a utility bill from more than a month ago or a bank statement, are stronger for the 30-day element than an identity card that simply shows an address.

Acceptable proof of residence

Document	Shows address	Shows 30 days	Notes
Aadhaar with district address	Yes	Not by itself	Strong for address; combine with a dated document
Registered rent agreement	Yes	Yes, from its start date	Widely accepted in Delhi
Utility bill (electricity, water, gas)	Yes	Yes, by bill date	In your name or the landlord’s, with supporting agreement
Bank statement or passbook	Yes	Yes, if older than 30 days	Must show the district address
Voter ID	Yes	Not by itself	Good supporting document
Passport	Yes	Not by itself	Address page; older passports may show old addresses
Employer letter	Sometimes	Sometimes	Supporting only

Bring originals and self-attested copies. See address proof for marriage registration.

If you recently moved

If the partner who lives in Delhi moved to a new district less than 30 days ago, you have three options:

Give notice in the old district, where that partner lived for at least 30 days immediately before moving, if the timing and proof work.
Wait until 30 days at the new address are complete, and give notice there.
Use the other partner’s district, if the other partner has lived somewhere for at least 30 days and that district’s office suits you.

Do not give notice in a district where neither of you has lived for 30 days. If the office accepts it by mistake, the marriage could later be questioned.

If neither of you lives in Delhi

If neither partner has lived in any Delhi district for 30 days, you cannot give notice in Delhi under the Special Marriage Act. Give notice where one of you lives, in another state, under that state’s procedures. Delhi is not special in this: the rule applies to every marriage officer in India.

Living in a PG, hostel or with relatives

Many young people in Delhi live in paying-guest accommodation, hostels or with relatives, often without a formal agreement in their name. You can still meet the residence rule if you can prove it. Useful documents include:

a rent receipt or agreement from the PG, ideally registered;
a letter from the hostel or institution confirming your stay and dates;
a relative’s address proof together with an affidavit from the relative confirming you live with them, and supporting documents such as a bank statement at that address.

Requirements vary, so check with the office.

Students and working professionals

Students living in Delhi for their studies, and professionals posted to Delhi, often meet the residence rule through hostel letters, rent agreements or employer accommodation letters. If your Aadhaar still shows your home-state address, rely on these dated documents instead.

Common mistakes with the residence rule

Assuming both partners must live in Delhi.
Using Aadhaar with a home-state address.
Giving notice in the district of a relative where neither partner lives.
Counting 30 days from the date of an Aadhaar update rather than from when you actually began living there, without any dated proof.
Moving house during the notice period and assuming the notice transfers. It does not; the notice stays with the office where you gave it.

Worked example

Riya moved from Rohini (North West Delhi) to Dwarka (South West Delhi) on 10 February. She and her partner want to give notice on 25 February. In Dwarka she has lived only 15 days, so she cannot give notice there yet. She can either give notice in North West Delhi, using her old rent agreement and bills, which show she lived there until 10 February, or wait until after 12 March to give notice in South West Delhi. Because her old landlord’s agreement covered the 30 days immediately before her move but not the days after, they ask the North West office whether it will accept the notice; to avoid any doubt, they decide to wait and give notice in Dwarka in mid-March with her new registered rent agreement.

Residence and the publication of the notice

The residence rule also determines where your notice is published. The notice is displayed at the office of the district where you give notice. If the other partner lives in a different district, or has lived in the district for less than the full period while being a permanent resident elsewhere, a copy is sent to the marriage officer of that other district for publication there too. So the residence details you put in the notice affect where it will be seen. Fill them in accurately; an incorrect address can lead to the notice being published in the wrong place, and can be a ground for questioning the marriage later.

What happens if you move during the notice period

Moving after giving notice does not cancel the notice. The notice stays with the office where you gave it, and the marriage is solemnised by that marriage officer. Keep the original address proof you used, and tell the office if your contact details change. If you move to another district and want to marry there instead, you would have to give a fresh notice and wait another 30 days.

The rule for existing marriages

If you are registering a marriage already performed in another form under Sections 15 and 16 of the Special Marriage Act, a similar 30-day residence condition applies before applying. If you are registering a Hindu marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, there is no 30-day residence condition; you generally apply where either spouse lives.

Get your district right first time

Choosing the right district is the first decision in a court marriage, and everything else depends on it. WedProof’s free document check confirms which district your documents support and whether the 30-day rule is met, before you give notice.