Non-Muslim couples will now have to verify their marital status at the national registration department (JPN) before they can register their marriage.
The JPN announced this in a recent statement.
“It doesn’t mean non-Muslim couples cannot register via affiliated associations, temples or churches. It’s just that now they need to come here to verify their marital status first before getting their registration form (JPN.KC02) chopped,” the department’s public communications officer Jainisah Mohd Noor said.
She said the new procedure was introduced to avoid invalid marriages which could implicate the status of the couple’s children later.
The procedure is now being implemented in Kuala Lumpur and Federal Territories, Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan.
Prior to this, it is a norm for non-Muslim couples to register and commence their marriage in associations, temples or churches affiliated to their ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Many of them will register and swear-in their marital status with the assistant marriage official in attendance, then having the official to verify their documents with JPN later.
The new provision is to standardise the registration procedure in alignment with the department’s ISO 9001:2008 requirement.
The registration fee is still maintained at RM20.
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