South African and married? Here’s why you need to keep your marriage register

Getting married might be one of the best feelings in the world, and once the honeymoon dust settles, it’s only fair that you’d want to change your status and get your hands on a copy of your unabridged marriage certificate (for a wide variety of reasons). But do you have a copy of your marriage register, a.k.a the DHA-30 (click for an example of the first page)? Did you know that without it, you might have the battle of your life trying to obtain an unabridged marriage certificate.

Marriage register, what marriage register?

The marriage register is also known as the written or first marriage certificate (DHA-30) and it’s the document that you and your partner (along with two eligible witnesses and the marriage officer) sign on the day of your wedding.

The marriage officer is supposed to give you a copy of this written certificate free of charge. The officer is also trusted to hand his book containing all evidence of the marriages he officiated, in to Home Affairs when the book is full, after which the information is partially copied into the National Population Register to ensure your marriage is recorded.

Aside from your copy and the copy in the marriage officer’s book, the DHA also receives a copy of the original DHA-30.  

How can I apply to get a copy of my marriage register form?

If you are based in South Africa, you can head over to your nearest Department of Home Affairs office, cue for hours on end, and hopefully get some kind of assistance in order to locate a copy of your DHA-30, if the marriage officer submitted his copy and if the DHA office can manage to locate it at the Pretoria head office. But in most cases, this is a waste of valuable time that most of us just do not have. 

The other problem is that prior to 2013, marriage officers were not instructed or obliged to submit a DHA-30 to Home Affairs on behalf of the couple, which complicates matters beyond belief for couples that tied the knot before 2013. This is why it is absolutely essential to guard your copy of the DHA-30 with your life. 

Need help? 

The good news is that there are document assistance services out there (like Apostil.co.za) that assist couples with obtaining their unabridged marriage certificates even if they lost their original DHA-30 marriage register, but it goes without saying that this takes much, much longer than it would take if you have a copy of your DHA-30. Service providers like Apostil.co.za can also help married couples apply for unabridged marriage certificates even if they are not in possession of their original marriage register.