NRI divorce lawyer in Amritsar when one or both spouses live overseas

Our chamber at the Amritsar District Court

You can meet us at Chamber No. 9B/1, District Court, Amritsar, Punjab, the chamber of Adv. Deepak Sabharwal, Punjab and Haryana High Court. Appointments come first: call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454 or write to info@vivs.in.

The firm is led by Adv. Swanand Pandit (BLS, LL.B, LL.M, PGDBM, JAIIB; Advocate, High Court of Bombay) from its head office in Sanpada-Vashi, Navi Mumbai. A spouse living overseas can deal with us by email and by video call, at a time that fits their own time zone.

Can a court in Amritsar hear your divorce?

It depends on the link between your marriage and the district, and living abroad does not break that link. For a Hindu or Sikh marriage, Section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets the test. The examples below are illustrations only.

The district court's list of judges shows a Principal Judge and two Additional Principal Judges of the Family Court at Amritsar. Section 31 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 follows a similar list, and adds a route for a wife domiciled in India who has ordinarily lived here for three years when the husband lives outside India.

Domicile can be a preliminary fight. In Sondur Gopal v Sondur Rajini (2013), the Supreme Court held that the Hindu Marriage Act reaches a Hindu outside India only if domiciled in India. Long residence abroad and a new nationality are evidence of giving up that domicile, and do not settle it alone. If you hold a Canadian or British passport and have settled there, raise this at the first call.

Does the Anand Marriage Act change anything for a Sikh couple?

For divorce, rarely. The Anand Marriage Act, 1909 recognises the Anand Karaj ceremony, and since 2012 its Section 6 provides for registering such marriages. It has no divorce provision: as The Tribune reported at the time, the clergy could not agree on one. Section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act expressly covers Sikhs, so a Sikh couple's petition is normally filed under that Act, wherever the marriage was registered.

In Amanjot Singh Chadha v Union of India (2025), the Supreme Court ordered states and union territories still without rules to frame them, and said that non-registration does not invalidate a marriage. So a missing certificate does not bar a petition. Send us whichever record you have: the gurdwara's certificate, a registration entry, or photographs of the ceremony. If you married or registered under the Special Marriage Act, that Act's own sections apply.

Mutual consent divorce with one spouse overseas

Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act (Section 28 of the Special Marriage Act) needs a joint petition, a period of living apart for at least one year, and two motions.

1. Settle the terms. Alimony and how it crosses borders, stridhan, Punjab land, custody and access, and the withdrawal of any case in either country.
2. Sign the petition. Whoever is abroad signs before a consul, or before a notary with an apostille. Our guide to signing abroad compares them.
3. First motion. The petition is presented, and the court records both statements, in person or as it permits.
4. The gap. The statute sets a second motion between six and eighteen months later. Under Amardeep Singh v Harveen Kaur (2017), a court may waive the wait where the one-year separation and the six-month period have together already run before the first motion, mediation has failed, and all disputes, including custody and maintenance, are genuinely settled.
5. Second motion and decree. The court satisfies itself that consent continues, and passes the decree.
6. After the decree. Carry out the deeds and withdrawals, and collect certified copies for any overseas lawyer or registry.

How long this takes depends on the court and the facts.

Appearing by video or power of attorney: what courts have decided

No rule lets you stay away as of right. The court decides, and these are the decisions it will look at.

Three points follow. Choose a parent or sibling as attorney, since the Punjab and Haryana rulings lean on that closeness. Put your reason for not attending on record, with proof such as a visa or work letter. And keep a travel plan in reserve, because the judge may still want you.

Contested cases and petitions filed against you

If your spouse files in Amritsar, answer the notice even if you think the court lacks jurisdiction. A court that hears nothing from you can proceed without you. The reply is where a jurisdiction or domicile objection belongs.

• Evidence. An attorney can prove what the attorney personally did, but cannot testify to what only you know, as Man Kaur v Hartar Singh Sangha (2010) holds. Your own evidence comes from you, in court or by video if allowed.
• Maintenance. After Rajnesh v Neha (2020), expect to file a sworn statement of income and assets. For someone abroad, that covers foreign salary and overseas accounts.
• A criminal complaint. Cruelty is now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Take advice on anticipatory bail before you fly in, and on any Look Out Circular or passport action.
• The Commission and the police. The Punjab State Commission for NRIs takes marriage complaints and invites requests over Look Out Circulars. In 2019, the High Court held that it cannot order an FIR. Neither body can grant a divorce.

A divorce granted in Canada, the UK, the USA or Australia

An overseas decree counts in India only if it passes Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as read in Y. Narasimha Rao v Y. Venkata Lakshmi (1991). There, a Missouri decree failed: the husband had stayed only briefly to qualify, the wife had not submitted to that court, and the ground was not one the Hindu Marriage Act recognised. Ask three questions.

• Did the overseas court have jurisdiction in a way your marriage law accepts, through real residence and not a stay made for the case?
• Was the ground one that your marriage law recognises?
• Did the other spouse take part voluntarily and contest, or agree to the relief?

A breakdown-based decree that one spouse never answered is the weak case. Before remarrying or relying on it in a Punjab land matter, have it tested. If doubt remains, Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 allows a suit to declare marital status, or a fresh mutual consent petition can be filed here. Our note on divorce across countries explains how the two systems interact.

Children and family property in Punjab

Custody turns on the child's welfare. In Nithya Anand Raghavan (2017), which involved a UK order, the Supreme Court treated the foreign order as one factor and did not treat it as binding. A parent abroad whose child is in Punjab may have to go to the Family Court or file a habeas corpus petition in the High Court.

A decree does not move land. Whatever the consent terms say, a transfer of Punjab property needs a registered deed where the law requires one, followed by an intkal. Stridhan stays the wife's own, so list it in the terms. Where the property side is heavy, our page for an NRI property lawyer in Amritsar and our Amritsar title search page cover the checks.

Where the Punjab and Haryana High Court comes in

The High Court sits at Chandigarh, and it is the next stage after the Family Court at Amritsar.

• Appeals from Family Court judgments and final orders, under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act
• Supervisory petitions under Article 227, for example on a refusal of video
• Requests to move a case between districts in Punjab, under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure
• Habeas corpus petitions concerning a child

What to send us, timing and fees

Start with whatever you hold, by email: the marriage certificate or gurdwara record, passports and visas, any notice or order from either country, a list of joint property, and the children's school details. We then explain the court, the route and what you must sign.

Timing depends on the court and the facts, and on whether your spouse agrees. We quote our fee after reading the papers.

Documents for an NRI divorce case

• Marriage certificate, or other proof of the marriage such as the invitation card and photographs.
• Your passport, and your visa or residence card for the country you live in, and your passport.
• Addresses of both spouses in India and abroad, and where you last lived together.
• Children's birth certificates and school records, if custody is in issue.
• Income proof: salary slips or employment letter, tax returns and bank statements. In a maintenance claim both sides file an affidavit of assets and liabilities, as the Supreme Court required in Rajnesh v Neha (2020).
• Any notice, complaint or court order already issued, in India or abroad.
• A power of attorney for the person who acts for you in India, signed abroad and attested at the Indian embassy or consulate, or apostilled where that country uses apostilles. It must be stamped in India within three months of arriving here.

Related help on NRI divorce

For other places, see our NRI divorce services, the notes for Canada, the UK, the USA and Australia, or our divorce lawyers in India page. Background reading: whether an NRI can file in India and which personal law applies. To begin, contact us.

This page is general information, not legal advice on a particular matter.