How to Register a Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage in Punjab: Form-III, Rs 501 Cap and the 30 Day Rule
Register a Sikh Anand Karaj marriage in Punjab: Form-III within 30 days, Rs 501 fee cap, Rs 101 a certificate, who can be a Registrar and how dissolution works.
In Punjab, every Sikh marriage must be registered with a licensed Anand Karaj Registrar within 30 days. The couple or the Granthi fills the Anand Karaj Form (Form-III), the Registrar registers it at once and issues the Anand Karaj Certificate. The Registrar can charge at most Rs 501 for registration and Rs 101 for each certificate.
These rules come from the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018 and two sets of rules made under it in July 2024. Before 2018, Sikh couples in Punjab had no simple way to get a marriage certificate. Now the law gives them the same paper trail that a nikah nama gives a Muslim couple, which matters for a CNIC update, a passport, a visa or an inheritance claim.
Every Sikh marriage in Punjab must be registered
The 2018 Act says every marriage between Sikhs in Punjab shall be registered. The groom and bride, or the Granthi who performed the Anand Karaj, must present the filled form to the Anand Karaj Registrar within 30 days of the marriage.
An Anand Karaj, under the Act, is the union of a Sikh man and a Sikh woman where the four laavaan from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib are recited. Three conditions apply to both partners:
- Both must be of sound mind and at least 18 years old.
- Both must give free and full consent.
- They must not be related in a degree that Sikh customary law forbids.
A marriage done through another ceremony that is customary among Sikhs stays valid. It still needs to be registered. If the Registrar did not perform the marriage himself, the Granthi or the person who performed it must report it to him within the same 30 days.
How to register an Anand Karaj in Punjab, step by step
Registration is done by a licensed Anand Karaj Registrar, usually based at a gurdwara. You fill Form-III, he checks that the marriage was performed under the Act, registers it in his register and gives you the Anand Karaj Certificate on Form-IV.
- Find the licensed Anand Karaj Registrar for your district. His licence must be displayed in the gurdwara or his office.
- Fill the Anand Karaj Form (Form-III). The groom and bride can fill it, or the Granthi can fill it for them.
- Fill every column accurately. The Act makes this a duty of the couple and of the Granthi.
- Hand in the form within 30 days of the marriage.
- The Registrar registers the marriage and issues the Anand Karaj Certificate on Form-IV.
- The Registrar sends a copy of the certificate to the Chairman of your union council or municipal committee.
What Form-III asks for
We read Form-III in the July 2024 rules. It is an Urdu form. For both the groom and the bride it asks for the name, father's name, CNIC number, nationality, passport number, date of birth, age, education, marital status and mobile number, plus a signature. It also asks for the place of marriage (ward or mauza, local area, town, tehsil, district) and the Granthi's name, father's name, CNIC, nationality and passport number.
Bring the original CNICs of the groom, bride and Granthi, so the numbers on the form match NADRA records. A spelling mismatch here causes trouble later at NADRA and the passport office.
The Registrar's fee is capped at Rs 501, plus Rs 101 a certificate
Rule 8 of the Registrar Rules 2024 caps the registration fee at Rs 501, charged from one party only, where the Registrar runs an office for Sikh marriages. Each Anand Karaj Certificate costs at most Rs 101.
| Item | Rule | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Registration of the marriage | Rule 8(1) | Rs 501, from one party only |
| Each Anand Karaj Certificate | Rule 8(2) | Rs 101 |
| Deadline to submit the form | Section 5(3) of the Act | 30 days after the marriage |
| Fine for breaking section 5 | Section 5(8) of the Act | Up to Rs 10,000 |
| Registrar licence | Rules 3 to 5 | Rs 1,100 fee, valid 5 years |
The rules say the fee cannot be charged from both families at once. If you are asked for more, or asked to pay twice, ask the Registrar to show the rule. The rules also say a Registrar must not delay a lawful registration, and a Registrar who fails in his duties or enters wrong details on purpose can lose his licence and be fined.
Who can be an Anand Karaj Registrar
The Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Department licenses Registrars for five years. An applicant must be a Sikh with a matric certificate, aged 21 to 70, with two years' service as a Granthi and a recommendation from the gurdwara committee.
The applicant applies on Form-I, by hand or on the department's website, and pays Rs 1,100 into the government treasury. The department gets a character report from the Punjab Police Special Branch before sending the case to the government. The Local Government Department then tells the local councils who the licensed Registrars are.
A licence can be revoked if the Registrar fails in his duties in at least two cases, registers a marriage with wrong details on purpose, or is convicted of moral turpitude. Renewal is on the same Form-I, within 30 days before the licence expires, with the same Rs 1,100 fee.
Ending a Sikh marriage goes through an Arbitration Council
Section 6 of the Act lets either spouse give written notice to the union council Chairman. He forms an Arbitration Council within 30 days. If there is no reconciliation within 90 days, the Chairman declares the marriage dissolved and issues a certificate.
The Arbitration Council Rules 2024 set out who sits on it. The Chairman of the area where the bride lives forms the council. It has one Sikh convener with no link to either family, two Sikhs named in writing by the bride and two named by the groom. Amritdhari Sikhs are preferred for all five seats.
- Write a notice of your wish to dissolve the marriage and give it to the Chairman.
- Give a copy of the notice to your spouse.
- The Chairman forms the Arbitration Council within 30 days.
- The council hears both sides, tries to reconcile you and keeps your details private.
- If you cannot reconcile, it can record a mutual agreement on the dissolution and related matters.
- It finishes within 90 days and writes a reconciliation note in four copies.
- If there is no reconciliation, the Chairman issues the Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage.
This is a paperwork guide, not legal advice. Child custody, maintenance and property are separate questions, and a family lawyer can help with them.
After registration: update NADRA and keep copies
Once you have the Anand Karaj Certificate, use it to change your marital status at NADRA and to add a spouse's name to a passport. Keep at least two certified copies, because embassies and NADRA keep the copies they are given.
The steps for the CNIC are in our page on updating your CNIC after marriage. If you need the certificate for a spouse visa, it will usually need attestation as well. Sikh couples in Sindh follow a different law, which is covered in registering a Hindu, Jain or Sikh marriage in Sindh. Hindu couples in Punjab follow the federal Hindu Marriage Act, set out in how to register a Hindu marriage in Punjab, KP, Balochistan and Islamabad.
Many Sikh families from abroad travel to Nankana Sahib for Guru Nanak's birthday, and some hold weddings during the visit. A marriage held in Punjab during that trip falls under the same 30 day rule. Details of the event are in Guru Nanak's birthday at Nankana Sahib.
Common questions
Is Sikh marriage registration compulsory in Punjab?
Yes. Section 5(1) of the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018 says every marriage between Sikhs shall be registered under the Act. Breaking section 5 can bring a fine of up to Rs 10,000.
How much does an Anand Karaj Certificate cost?
The Registrar may charge at most Rs 501 for registration, from one party only, and at most Rs 101 for each certificate, under rule 8 of the Registrar Rules 2024.
What is the deadline to register a Sikh marriage?
Thirty days from the marriage. The couple or the Granthi must present Form-III to the Anand Karaj Registrar within that time.
Can the Granthi register the marriage for us?
Yes. The Act lets the groom and bride or the Granthi fill and present the form. Where the Registrar did not perform the marriage, the Granthi or the person who performed it must report it to him within 30 days.
How long does a Sikh divorce take in Punjab?
At least 90 days from the date the notice reaches the Chairman. The Arbitration Council must finish within that period, and the Chairman then issues the dissolution certificate if there was no reconciliation.
Does this law apply to Sikhs in Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?
No. The 2018 Act extends to Punjab only. It replaced the Anand Marriage Act 1909 in Punjab.
How we verified this
What we checked and where we read it.
We checked this guide on 15 November 2026 against the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018 on the Punjab Assembly's laws site, and the two rule sets on the Punjab Code: the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage (Registrar) Rules 2024 and the Arbitration Council Rules 2024, both notified on 12 July 2024 and published in the Punjab Gazette on 2 August 2024. The rules are scanned Gazette pages with no text layer, so we read them page by page, including Form-III in Urdu. The rules do not set a fee for the dissolution process.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
