Ansaar India: Getting a declaratory religion (& name) change affidavit

Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu brothers & sisters in faith, this post is to assist you in obtaining declaratory religion (& name) change affidavit.

Sample here.

Simple steps:
1. Visit a e-stamp issuing centre, find the nearest one here & fill application (checkout the note below) & purchase e-stamp paper for amount of Rs.20 (issuing charge additional - Rs.10 - as of 2013); You'll need @ least 2 photos along with e-stamp paper you've just purchased.
2. Now you have 2 options, either you can type in/print the content (in the sample link above) on this e-stamp (be careful while printing of printing side, lest you mess it up!!) & take it to a notary who would probably charge you Rs.50/- (as of 2013) to notarize OR take this directly to a notary who would have the content typed in & notarized, charging probably about 4 times (ie . Rs. 200/- or more). (For the record, I took the latter).
3. You'll be typically asked to provide your assumed/new name. So be ready with your assumed name & signature, if you plan to change it.
Pls understand name change is NOT a requirement for practising Islam, but the wakf board mandates you to change the 1st name; I strongly recommend you retain your last/family name - helps in daawa'h lines in future, insha Allah...

You'll be asked to sign in the notary's register (a formality) & you are DONE.
I recommend take 3-5 xerox copies immediately & keep them handy.

Please remember this declaratory affidavit is not used for Passport or any other Govt.doc renewal with new name, instead its the Annexure E affidavit, sample here.

Note for filling application:
a. Reason/description field - provide article 4 affidavit
b. 1st party - your current name (NOT the assumed name)
c. 2nd party - none

Ansaar India: Getting Conversion Certificate from Local Wakf Board

Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu brothers & sisters in faith, this post is to assist you in obtaining the Conversion Certificate from your local wakf board.

Pre-requisites include,

- Photocopy of Address proof (Telephone bill, electricity bill, old passport etc)

- Photocopy of Paper cuttings (both national & regional - only the sheet showing ur ad & some specifics of the newspaper)

- Photocopy of marriage certificate or joint affidavit (if availble)

- Photocopy of general affidavit for conversion to Islam

- Application requesting to issue conversion certificate, with the purpose (in this case for issue/reissue of passport) specified

- 2 passport size photographs

Carry all the originals as they are asked for verification.

No fees is collected by the authorities to issue the certificate.

May Allah make it easy for us & accept it from us.

Note: 

a. Usually the authorities would mention it, in case they don't - remember one shouldn't laminate the certificate issued.

b. The conversion certificate would act as the legal document acceptable @ all govt.offices to change your identity.

Wa salaam,

Abdullah Raj (Sundeep)

Ansaar India: Passport Issue/reissue with particulars changed (incl. name)

Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu brothers & sisters in faith, 

this post is to assist you with Indian Passport issue/reissue (assuming you are a citizen of Indian republic) post reversion to deen al-Haq (true Deen, ISLAM).

1st of all, the Indian passport is issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) through the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) across the country. Their website - passportindia.gov.in, through which one needs to submit the passport application for Issue or re-issue. The mandatory documents that one needs for issue/re-issue are all listed on the above website, except for the Conversion certificate; Inshaa Allah, I'll try to explain the process of getting them below.

Background work before getting to the passport application process is as follows,

a. One needs 2 to 3 affidavits (affidavit refers to a sworn legal document (in front of a notary), nothing to be bothered by official sounding name) for this purpose,

1. Affidavit that declares conversion to Islam (general affidavit to declare acceptance of Islam as one's religion & abiding by its laws)

2. Annexure E affidavit for Passport name change (specific for name change in official docs like Passport)

3. If married & spouse's name in not included in passport, Joint affidavit.

NOTE: Affidavits are printed/typed on stamp paper or e-stamp paper issued by authorities in your city/town & notarized by a notary.

For each of the affidavits, one needs to take e-stamp paper of minimum stamp value - Rs.20/-.

I recommend to take e-stamp papers for each of the affidavits, from the nearest issuing centre (find the nearest one here) (Regular stamp papers are NOT accepted by most PSKs except a few like PSK in Marathahalli, Bangalore)

NOTE: Usually, one can get the affidavits done at any City magistrate court's campus where several lawyers & notaries would be available. Please consider be-friending a muslim lawyer who could help not just you, but any other brother/sister who would need to get these affidavits done, in future.

Specimens of each of them are available on my gdrive here.

b. Publish name change ad in national & regional daily

With the above affidavits, the next step is to get your name change published in newspaper. Note that this is a requirement for official purposes, this publication does NOT carry your photo. Please carry 1 to 2 photocopies of the annexure E affidavit along with the original to the newspaper office.

- Using the annexure E affidavit, a 'classified' ad needs to be published in 2 newspapers - one a national daily & the other a local/regional daily. I recommend using a national daily that also has a regional daily, as this service is usually provided @ a discounted rate. Also enquire them for charges on different days of the week, as theres usually specific days in the week when the rates are discounted.

(Ex - In Karnataka, Deccan Herald (national daily) has a regional newspaper Praja Vaani (in Kannada) & they offer 50% discount on ad bookings for publishing (in both dailies) on tuesdays).

Specimens of the ad is available on my gdrive here.

Make sure to buy 5-6 copies of both newspapers on the day its published, for future purpose.

c. Certificates from Wakf board,

1. Conversion certificate: 

This is an official document (specimen here) from the local Wakf board acknowledging your acceptance of Islam; this is a MUST @ passport office. 

To get your conversion certificate, a letter from local masjid (specimen here)is essential that states /acknowledges your reversion to Islam & vouches on your behalf, for which you would need to carry your conversion affidavit (refered above).

Refer to this post to understand how to get your Conversion certificate

2. Marriage certificate (if applicable): 

For those who are married & are looking for spouse's name inclusion, use the joint affidavit to get your Marriage certificate. Refer to this post to understand how to get your marriage certificate.

NOTE: One can use the joint affidavit to apply for passport, but theres a catch - the passport authorities take the joint affidavit in original, that leaves you to get an affidavit again for other official purposes or to obtain a marriage certificate in future.

d. Other documents - specific to your case, please ensure to check the official documents that PSK requests online based on the changes/inclusions that you are requesting for in your passport (like address proof, ECNR - Emigration Check Not Required etc).

Get started with Passport application

Now that you are done with the background work, its time to get started with getting an appointment with the PSK,

Steps:

1. Create a login user id (pretty straight forward - Pls use your new name here)

2. Use the e-form submission method (which is basically offline filling up of pdf file, saving & generating an xml file out of it, that needs to be uploaded to passport website) 

One would need 2 local references in nearby area(s) (within your city/town limits should suffice).

3. Login with the user id -> View/Submit applications -> Upload the application (xml file)

4. Next step is to book an appointment - this is a little tricky. Appointments go out like hot cakes. The appointment slots (of 15 mins) open @ 6PM everyday (well almost every day) & are all gone within 5 mins. So pls plan for your suitable slot (date & time) before hand & don't be disappointed on initial failure to get one. May Allah make it easy for you.

5. Once appointment is booked, an Application receipt is generated & is made available for saving/printing (I recommend save to your hard disc as pdf file, which you can print later). This sheet would consist of ARN (Appln. Reference No.) & all several details you filled in the application form. 

Refer to some of the additional tips @ the bottom of the post.

On the day of appointment:

- Please reach the PSK @ or before the reporting time.

- PSKs are managed by TCS folks, who would check all the docs (in original & photocopies)  & then if found satisfactory, issue a token with which you can enter the processing room.

- Rest of the flow is pretty straightforward, starting with collecting of documents, scanning & uploading by TCS folks, verification by Passport officers & final clearance, @ the end of which you would receive a summary receipt/acknowledgement.

Tips:

- Passport e-form requires Acrobat 9.0 version & above, with 8.0 you'll be able to fill in most of the fields but it throws an error for certain fields

- While booking an appointment @ PSK, pls bear in mind that the lunch timings @ PSK is from 1:30 PM (usually 30 mins, but gets extended by 15 more minutes)

- One doesn't need to carry any photos to PSK, as photos are taken @ PSK while processing ones application 

More tips to be added soon, inshaa Allah... :)

May Allah accept it from us..

Wa salaam,

Abdullah Raj (Sundeep)

Ansaar India: Getting marriage certificate from Local Wakf board

Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu brothers & sisters in faith, 
this post is to assist you in obtaining your marriage certificate from the local wakf board. The process is quiet simple & the documents required to be submitted include,

• Nikaah naama issued from the masjid
• A letter from the masjid (which basically states that nikaah was conducted by the concerned authorities on the specified date)
• Joint affidavit (this would require a joint photograph with your spouse)
• 3 joint photographs
• Application requesting to issue marriage certificate

A fee of Rs.1000/- is charged by the local wakf board to issue the marriage certificate.

Hope you find this post useful. May Allah make it easy for us & accept it from us.

Wa salaam,
Abdullah Raj (Sundeep)

Ansaar India: Purpose of this blog

Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu brothers & sisters in faith, this blog is exclusively to publish material that can assist you post reversion to deen al-Haq (true Deen, ISLAM), inshaa Allah.

The topics covered would include information on official processes in India to update your official IDs/documents, with plans to expand it further, inshaa Allah. The posts would be published based on the actual experiences, so that the rest of the community can benefit from it, bi-idhnillah (by the permission of Allah).

May Allah make this effort fruitful for all of us & accept it from us, Aameen.

Wa salaam,
Abdullah Raj (Sundeep)
Contact: +91 9740 700 220.
Based out of Bangalore, India.