Assalamualaikum and Happy Monday!
After 11 days of his departure, I finally decided to write about our to-get-married-procedures. For those who are in doubt, Malaysia allows her citizen to marry foreigner but he/she is ought to follow the law. There are list of procedures as you google and specific requirements are according to your state's Pejabat Agama. I am a Muslim from Johor and I will write my experience as Muslim Johorean. Non muslims Malaysian might have different procedures. I'm not sure.
My husband is from Albania and we took a solid 2.5 weeks only for procedures IN MALAYSIA. He already done with the documentations from his side before he came. Plus A MONTH. So guys, if you want to do it in one shot, it takes 6.5 weeks overall.
Based on my own experience, the procedures are simple and tricky, however, you must present to correct document at the correct office for the correct purpose. Do your research and try to understand the flow. Be smart.
Here is our story.
My husband started to get the documents needed I think in the middle of August 2017. From his country, Albania, he must prepare few papers before we can proceed in Malaysia. So, if you plan to get married in October, your future husband must prepare all the papers you need in HIS COUNTRY FIRST, in more or less 2 months before. Say, August.
So, the papers he needs to prepare before he fly are:
1. Single Status Letter from his country's Civil Office. The Civil Office is equivalent to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara if in Malaysia. In the Single Status Letter, do not forget to state full name, date of birth, identification/social number, and parents' details of your future spouse.
2. Muslim Status Letter from his Local/Community Islam Office. The Local/Community Islam Office is equivalent to Pejabat Agama in Malaysia. Do not forget your future spouse's details. Make sure the letter is clear.
3. Copy of passport (validity maximum please).
4. No Objection Letter from your future spouse's country's Embassy/Consulate. In my case, since the Albanian Embassy in Malaysia has closed, he was told to refer to Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Beijing, China. So he contacted the person in charge and we get the letter by post. Do however possible to get the original copy.
>>> Item 1, 2 & 3:
a. If not in English, please translate to English by certified English Translator in his country.
b. These documents must be approved by his country's Ministry of Internal Affairs (COMPULSORY).
c. Submit these documents to the nearest/responsible Malaysian Embassy for second approval. In our case, he referred to Embassy of Malaysia, Holy See.
Now, your future spouse can buy a ticket and fly to Malaysia :-)
IN MALAYSIA
5. Get item 1, 2, 3 & 4 approved at Wisma Putra, Putrajaya. We paid RM60 here. The process was fast and eficient. Remember, they only accept original copy. Then make 5 copies of these documents.
6. Take passport sized photo for both of you. At least 4 copies for each person. Make copies of your Malaysian IC too.
7. Go to Immigration Office (we went to Immigration Office in Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam) and ask for Borang Permohonan Pengesahan Pas Bagi Tujuan Perkahwinan Warganegara Asing.
Go as early as possible. Kindly, ask the officer about the Form and make sure you have clear understanding of the documents they need. Don't worry, if you follow the above mentioned steps, you have everything they need.
Make 2 copies. Complete and return the form at the counter, and they will ask you to wait for a while. We waited for about 1 hour. Then the officer gave us approval and return back to us the Borang Permohonan Pengesahan Pas Bagi Tujuan Perkahwinan Warganegara Asing to proceed.
8. Go to http://encr.johor.gov.my/PRFDFTAWM00.aspx to apply for marriage if you plan to get married in Johor. For those from other states, go to your own state's website for marriage application.
Download the forms and details. Most importantly, the HIV test form.
Do not forget the Borang Saksi. Go and find 2 of your male friends and ask them to become to Marriage Application Witness (not nikah witness). Ask them to fill the Marriage Application Witness (Borang Saksi Permohonan) and get their IC copies. Buy them lunch after. Be nice ya. You need all of the blessings.
You might feel a bit stress at this time. Relax and take a cup of coffee. This trick always work for us :-)
9. Go to Government Hospital/Clinic for HIV test. You, as a Malaysian will need to pay RM1 and your foreign future spouse will need to pay RM70 for the test. Go early. They have limited form daily. I went to Hospital Shah Alam, but we were late. They told us to go to Klinik Kesihatan Seksyen 19, Shah Alam. Alhamdulillah. All went good.
Fuhh...Now, you are already halfway. Take a deep breath and keep moving.
10. Now, gather all of the documents and forms. Go back to your hometown and talk to your father. There are more procedures need to be done as Jabatan Agama Johor stated. All of the forms needed you already downloaded after the Application of Marriage. Fill all of the documents, and now you are ready to submit application to Pejabat Kadi Daerah.
My father, him and I went to meet our Kadi. He used to be my Arabic language teacher when I was 8 years old. :-D. This is for introduction, advices and to show some courtesy. We are village people. Orang Melayu memang penuh budi bahasa. :-) . Prepare some cash for the Kadi and Witness. RM250 is the amount we handed.
11. Go to Pejabat Kadi Daerah and the officer will check your documents. They will ask you to go to Pejabat Kadi Daerah Johor Bahru because you are getting married to a foreigner. This is additional step compared to normal marriage in Johor.
Here, make sure you bring all of your documents together with your parents' Nikah Certificate (if you are a lady). Make 3 copies of everything and clip accordingly.
Plastic folder is important to hold everything safely and in order. The Officer will go through your document one by one and if everything is okay, they will take one copy of your documents. If there is something lacking, you might need to go back and complete the incomplete. Ours was fine. Alhamdulillah.
Now, go back to Pejabat Kadi Daerah (in my case, Pontian) and submit everything.
Get ready to be interviewed. Don't worry, they Imam only ask basic Islam fundamentals and some advices. Everything was easy for me. Alhamdulillah. Thanks Ustaz Abdullah! :-).
Now, smile and relieve that breath. You are good to be married! :-)
Thats all for now. It does not look easy, really. But as we went through every steps together, we understand that the procedures are all possible and doable. Just prepare the right documents. The challenges are real. But, it is all more than worth it. October 14, 2017, 9.50am is the moment. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah.
My very simple marriage ceremony is impossible without my family members' help. My parents who always supported us, his parents, my brothers whom helped to clean around the house, my sisters whom cooked and make sure everything went well. I deeply appreciate everything they do.
And to my Husband, who initiated the afford and determinedly went through every steps so that our dream came true. Thank you, Sugar.
Alhamdulillah.
After 11 days of his departure, I finally decided to write about our to-get-married-procedures. For those who are in doubt, Malaysia allows her citizen to marry foreigner but he/she is ought to follow the law. There are list of procedures as you google and specific requirements are according to your state's Pejabat Agama. I am a Muslim from Johor and I will write my experience as Muslim Johorean. Non muslims Malaysian might have different procedures. I'm not sure.
My husband is from Albania and we took a solid 2.5 weeks only for procedures IN MALAYSIA. He already done with the documentations from his side before he came. Plus A MONTH. So guys, if you want to do it in one shot, it takes 6.5 weeks overall.
Based on my own experience, the procedures are simple and tricky, however, you must present to correct document at the correct office for the correct purpose. Do your research and try to understand the flow. Be smart.
Here is our story.
My husband started to get the documents needed I think in the middle of August 2017. From his country, Albania, he must prepare few papers before we can proceed in Malaysia. So, if you plan to get married in October, your future husband must prepare all the papers you need in HIS COUNTRY FIRST, in more or less 2 months before. Say, August.
So, the papers he needs to prepare before he fly are:
1. Single Status Letter from his country's Civil Office. The Civil Office is equivalent to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara if in Malaysia. In the Single Status Letter, do not forget to state full name, date of birth, identification/social number, and parents' details of your future spouse.
2. Muslim Status Letter from his Local/Community Islam Office. The Local/Community Islam Office is equivalent to Pejabat Agama in Malaysia. Do not forget your future spouse's details. Make sure the letter is clear.
3. Copy of passport (validity maximum please).
4. No Objection Letter from your future spouse's country's Embassy/Consulate. In my case, since the Albanian Embassy in Malaysia has closed, he was told to refer to Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Beijing, China. So he contacted the person in charge and we get the letter by post. Do however possible to get the original copy.
>>> Item 1, 2 & 3:
a. If not in English, please translate to English by certified English Translator in his country.
b. These documents must be approved by his country's Ministry of Internal Affairs (COMPULSORY).
c. Submit these documents to the nearest/responsible Malaysian Embassy for second approval. In our case, he referred to Embassy of Malaysia, Holy See.
Now, your future spouse can buy a ticket and fly to Malaysia :-)
IN MALAYSIA
5. Get item 1, 2, 3 & 4 approved at Wisma Putra, Putrajaya. We paid RM60 here. The process was fast and eficient. Remember, they only accept original copy. Then make 5 copies of these documents.
6. Take passport sized photo for both of you. At least 4 copies for each person. Make copies of your Malaysian IC too.
7. Go to Immigration Office (we went to Immigration Office in Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam) and ask for Borang Permohonan Pengesahan Pas Bagi Tujuan Perkahwinan Warganegara Asing.
Go as early as possible. Kindly, ask the officer about the Form and make sure you have clear understanding of the documents they need. Don't worry, if you follow the above mentioned steps, you have everything they need.
Make 2 copies. Complete and return the form at the counter, and they will ask you to wait for a while. We waited for about 1 hour. Then the officer gave us approval and return back to us the Borang Permohonan Pengesahan Pas Bagi Tujuan Perkahwinan Warganegara Asing to proceed.
8. Go to http://encr.johor.gov.my/PRFDFTAWM00.aspx to apply for marriage if you plan to get married in Johor. For those from other states, go to your own state's website for marriage application.
Download the forms and details. Most importantly, the HIV test form.
Do not forget the Borang Saksi. Go and find 2 of your male friends and ask them to become to Marriage Application Witness (not nikah witness). Ask them to fill the Marriage Application Witness (Borang Saksi Permohonan) and get their IC copies. Buy them lunch after. Be nice ya. You need all of the blessings.
You might feel a bit stress at this time. Relax and take a cup of coffee. This trick always work for us :-)
9. Go to Government Hospital/Clinic for HIV test. You, as a Malaysian will need to pay RM1 and your foreign future spouse will need to pay RM70 for the test. Go early. They have limited form daily. I went to Hospital Shah Alam, but we were late. They told us to go to Klinik Kesihatan Seksyen 19, Shah Alam. Alhamdulillah. All went good.
Fuhh...Now, you are already halfway. Take a deep breath and keep moving.
10. Now, gather all of the documents and forms. Go back to your hometown and talk to your father. There are more procedures need to be done as Jabatan Agama Johor stated. All of the forms needed you already downloaded after the Application of Marriage. Fill all of the documents, and now you are ready to submit application to Pejabat Kadi Daerah.
My father, him and I went to meet our Kadi. He used to be my Arabic language teacher when I was 8 years old. :-D. This is for introduction, advices and to show some courtesy. We are village people. Orang Melayu memang penuh budi bahasa. :-) . Prepare some cash for the Kadi and Witness. RM250 is the amount we handed.
11. Go to Pejabat Kadi Daerah and the officer will check your documents. They will ask you to go to Pejabat Kadi Daerah Johor Bahru because you are getting married to a foreigner. This is additional step compared to normal marriage in Johor.
Here, make sure you bring all of your documents together with your parents' Nikah Certificate (if you are a lady). Make 3 copies of everything and clip accordingly.
Plastic folder is important to hold everything safely and in order. The Officer will go through your document one by one and if everything is okay, they will take one copy of your documents. If there is something lacking, you might need to go back and complete the incomplete. Ours was fine. Alhamdulillah.
Now, go back to Pejabat Kadi Daerah (in my case, Pontian) and submit everything.
Get ready to be interviewed. Don't worry, they Imam only ask basic Islam fundamentals and some advices. Everything was easy for me. Alhamdulillah. Thanks Ustaz Abdullah! :-).
Now, smile and relieve that breath. You are good to be married! :-)
Thats all for now. It does not look easy, really. But as we went through every steps together, we understand that the procedures are all possible and doable. Just prepare the right documents. The challenges are real. But, it is all more than worth it. October 14, 2017, 9.50am is the moment. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah.
My very simple marriage ceremony is impossible without my family members' help. My parents who always supported us, his parents, my brothers whom helped to clean around the house, my sisters whom cooked and make sure everything went well. I deeply appreciate everything they do.
And to my Husband, who initiated the afford and determinedly went through every steps so that our dream came true. Thank you, Sugar.
Alhamdulillah.
