My journey of getting permission to marry my then Afghan fiancé (husband
now) differs from others due to him being a foreign student in Malaysia. And I
had little help and guidance from friends/family because those who had
experience, went through a different process. But generally, the documentation
would be the same, only the differences I think would be based on specific
requirements by the Islamic Department of the respective states.
So, I hope that this blog page would somewhat be able to help you as
well. May Allah SWT simplified your marriage process/affairs and have smooth
sailing wedding ahead. Amin~
KNOW WHICH STATE DOES YOUR RESIDENCE BELONG TO
This is the first fundamental thing to do before you can proceed with
anything: to know the exact location where you reside. This may seem trivial
but is critical in determining which Islamic Department to go, because
different state offices have different forms and requirements. And it gets trickier
if the groom’s/bride’s residence is at the border between two (2) states.
Like mine, smack in the middle of Selangor/Kuala Lumpur borders where I
encountered KL Immigration Officers did a tai-chi on me and intended to
escalate my issue to Selangor Immigration Office in Shah Alam. Well, that’s
another story to tell.
So if you get this wrong, you’re basically fluffed! So to avoid this, you may visit the neighbourhood mosque (kariah tempat tinggal) and the Masjid people (the Committee that manages the mosque) will advise you which Islamic Department to approach.
FILL OUT THE FORMS
I’m not gonna touch a lot about how to get the forms because information
about marriage procedures in general can easily be obtained everywhere. Besides
in our case, my husband and I are lucky to share the same district. So we don’t
have issues having to fill out different set of nikah forms. If your future
spouse resides somewhere not within your district/province/state, then you may
need to seek guidance from your respective Islamic Department office on this
matter.
I however, can share my experience preparing completing the forms online
via SPPIM which I feel it simplifies my life with form
filling and check listing. Once I keyed in my husband details, the system
generates the checklist for us. So, we didn’t get the documentation wrong
including the HIV forms.
PREPARE THE DOCUMENTATION
As you can see, the listing given specifies the documents required for
my husband to prepare (Item no. 9, 11 and 12 don’t apply to him).
Item no 1: Marriage Permission Application Form (generated by SPPIM)
Item No. 6: Pass Confirmation Letter for marriage purpose from Department of Immigration Malaysia.
Item No. 7: Confirmation letter of applicant's status and permission to marry issued by the embassy of applicant's country and certified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I am putting these two (2) items together as the process would require
the groom to obtain item no. 7 first (for non-Permanent Resident)
before he can proceed with item 6. Those who are applying to marry a foreigner are
familiar with item no 6. Item no 7 however, would differ from one embassy to
another but the gist of the content would be similar i.e. confirm that he is single,
and that the embassy has no objection for him to marry a local.
Once the groom has
obtained the letter as per item no. 7, it’s not over yet. He has to get the document
certified at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) in Putrajaya. This is breezy for me because you just need to
submit this document over the counter and the officers behind the counter will
have it certified with rubber stamps and all, then you’re done.
Item no. 6 is not much of a hassle if you know which Immigration Head
Offices to go. And also, depending on the officers who are on duty at that
time. We went to Immigration Office Building Kuala Lumpur located at Kompleks
Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) Jalan Sri Hartamas 1. We were directed to Gate 2
- Passport processing unit, located at Level 1.
We were being told to apply at the Shah Alam Office in Kompleks PKNS based on our nikah form (refer item no. 1). Then, I clarified that I’m residing in KL. And besides, there was no way that we could be traveling to Shah Alam because there was a massive flood at that time (December 2021) where all roads to Shah Alam were blocked. Allah SWT ease our affairs and our submission for item no. 6 went through. Alhamdulillah.
Item No. 8: HIV Test (gener
This form came together with item no. 1. Have this printed and visit any
Klinik Kesihatan/Government clinic nearby. It has to be a government clinic. My
husband has to pay RM90 while I paid RM1 for the fee to take the test.
Item No. 10: Confirmation as Domicile for passport holders living in Malaysia
SUBMIT THE COMPLETED FORM (WITH ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS) TO THE OFFICE OF ISLAMIC DEPARTMENT
You need to submit the complete documents to the Islamic Office District
(Pejabat Agama Islam Daerah) of where you reside. If you are not sure
which one, you may check with your relevant Islamic Department or your Masjid People
on this. In our case, we both submitted our forms in the same Islamic Office
which is in Gombak (Pejabat Agama Islam Daerah Gombak/PAID)
Documents for Malaysian are pretty much the same all across the states i.e.
copy of Identification Card, Certificate of Pre-Marriage Course, parents’ nikah
certification, etc. Once the groom has submitted his application and was given
the green light, then it’s the bride’s turn to complete and submit hers.
I made a mistake by not completing my documents in concurrent with my
husband. Otherwise, we would’ve got both our approval on the same day. 😢
SOLEMNISATION
Our solemnisation ceremony was not as grand as others. We were being
prudent with the current pandemic situation, so we limited the number of physical
attendees to just immediate family members while providing online platform to
our families/friends to witness the event. The solemnisation was held at Pejabat
Agama Islam Daerah Gombak (PAID), restricting to only six (6) people in the
room i.e. me, my dad, my husband, two (2) witnesses from PAID and the marriage
officiant/Tok Kadi. Others had to wait outside.
English option for Ijab Qabul was given, but my husband opt to say it in
Malay and Alhamdulillah it was in one (1) lafaz~
