J&K tweaks rules to give non-local spouses of native women domicile certificates

JAMMU: The J&K administration has tweaked its domicile rules to enable spouses of native women married outside the Union Territory to apply for and get permanent residency. Until the J&K Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules 2020 were amended, the term “spouse” was applicable in this context only to non-Kashmiri wives of native men. According to the order issued by commissioner and secretary of general administration Manoj Dwivedi, any outsider married to a native will be eligible to seek a domicile certificate on the basis of the husband or wife’s domicile status. Native women married to non-Kashmiris could so far get only their children to apply for domicile certificates. The documents required for the issuance of a domicile certificate to either non-native spouse include the partner’s papers and a valid proof of marriage. The designated authority for issuance of a certificate is the tehsildar. Till Articles 370 and 35 A were nullified, there was no provision for issuance of permanent resident certificates to husbands of native women married outside J&K. This had created a situation in which a local man who married outside J&K could confer permanent residency on his wife while local women married outside would forfeit their rights. J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina termed the change “a historic decision to end the injustice meted out to the girls of J&K by previous governments”. Former deputy chief minister and senior BJP functionary Kavinder Gupta said, “As of today, our daughters and their spouses will be able to get ownership rights of their already existing properties, besides the properties which they now purchase in J&K.”

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