I recently tied the knot with Andrea, he is an Italian programmer who has been renewing his tourist visa for the past 2 years in order to be here in Malaysia. Aherm, enough of the personal stuff. So the scenario is this…. Andrea (man) wants to tie the knot with Ching (woman) here in Malaysia.
Was it difficult? Well, a lot of our expat friends said that we were lucky for just going to 6 offices in order to get our marriage certificate done. For those who do not know, because Malaysia is deemed a Muslim country and although they try to make it easier for expats to get married to locals, I have to still say, it is hell.
So let’s get a nice overview of marriage registration procedures for an expat to tie the knot with a local Malaysian woman.
1. Go to your local municipal office to get a document which states that you are a single man.
This applies of course for my Italian man. He got his father to do it and FedEx it over in several days.
2. Get this document translated by a panel of translators at your embassy.
We were kind of lucky to get this done online, we paid the translator only when we met him face to face.
3. Get the “letter stating that you have never been married” officially endorsed by your embassy.
Again, this took just a 5 minute visit to the local Italian embassy. Unfortunate for us, we are from Penang and we had to travel all the way to Kuala Lumpur to get this piece of paper.
4. Go to Putrajaya to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and get the Translated Letter #3 endorsed.
Just so that you know, the office was closed between 1200 to 1400 PM so please try not to arrive between those hours. You will need to register at the guardhouse with your ID (passport etc) and then get permission at the counters to do your endorsement. I think we waited for 1 hour before the document was endorsed and payment was made.
5. Again at Putrajay, queue up for JPN’s Jabatan Pendaftaran Perkahwinan (Department of Registration of Marriage).
The queue was very long. The rest of the people seemed to just queue up there for the entire day. Some couples have to go through a short 5 minute interview, some just get away with it. You will need passport photos together with a nice long list of documents, please check on this before you leave. You would not want to leave home without them.
They will issue a letter enclosed in a sealed envelope which you WILL NOT have to open (it is for the officers on the registration at the local office).
6. We headed to Penang’s JPN’s Department of Registration of Marriage.
We thought we would get the dates here, but because we needed an “express” service…. Andrea’s visa lasted only for 90 days this time and we wasted quite a lot of time during the proposal etc….. So we headed to Komtar in order to pay the “express fee” of RM100 and then back again to Penang’s JPN in order to get the dates for registration.
7. We went to the Magistrate Court in order to take our oath.
At this point, we were a bit puzzled. Why not just the Commissioner of Oath? But no, we had to go to the REAL court for that. Although it costed only RM5, it was still quite a hassle. We needed a translator as well to say “Andrea, you understand that if you lied and you were married, the Malaysian government can take legal action against you.”
8. For the final and LAST time, We headed to Penang’s JPN’s Department of Registration of Marriage.
This time, it was the proper registration and we managed to get everything done. Solemnisation and oath. You have to wait for one week in order for everything to get ready though.
Although I am very tempted to include one photo of our happy faces when we finally got everything done in 9 and 1/2 trips between Penang and KL, I do not have any photo stored in this wonderful Macbook of mine. Too bad. I don’t think the wedding photos concern you very much, the information above does however.
When I decided to start this blog, this was the MAIN REASON WHY I DID IT. The offices never bothered to explain in ANY detail what sort of procedures were required, or else, we could have planned our time in advance and also the “amount of trips to KL” in advance. But little consideration does the government give to us.
Happy getting married in Malaysia. I have to say it is already easier than lots of other countries (namely UK)
A believer's journey 
HI.I am a malaysian girl and i am going to marry a foreigner(American) too next year in March.
But he is still working there in the States. Since he doesnt have a a long vacation holiday, we need to properly plan his stay in malaysia to settle all the legal procedures
How long does it take for you to do step 1 to step 8?
not including weekends?
Your help is much appreciated!
Ana
Hi Ana, I’m in the same boat as you. May I know how long it took for you? Also if he had to produce a certificate of non indemnification (CNI)? Apparently the US government doesn’t issue these documents and instead he has to sign an affidavit in front of a US consular officer. Is this what you used in lieu of the CNI?
Thanks and best regards,
Andrea
Dear Ching,
Andrea here, Italian guy living in Malaysia since 2 years and willing to marry Yee Wei. 🙂
A question comes to my mind: we plan to get married next year, at first in Italy and later in Malaysia. Shouldn’t be easier that way?
Looking forward to hear any suggestion, we feel a bit lost…
Thank you 🙂
Andre
What a hassle 😦 I’m facing the same dilemma. Thank you for sharing this info!
Thanks!! This post is very helpful!
Hi I’m quite confused my future husband is from India we have just got done with his single status… Which ministry should we give his single status letter. Ministry affairs or home ministry… Pls really need idea
Hi Ching,
for Step 3, this letter that states your single status, is it just for Andrea (your foreign spouse) or is it for the both of you? If it’s for you as well, do you have to obtain this from Wisma Putra in Putrajaya?
Cheers,
Ying
i have an important question, the third step is made in my country (Romania) or in her country (Malaysia) ? cuz i am confused