The marriage of every person ordinarily resident in Malaysia and of every person resident abroad who is a citizen of or domiciled in Malaysia after the appointed date shall be registered pursuant to this Act.

(1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may appoint any public officer to be Registrar General of Marriages for the purposes of this Act who shall have general supervision and control of Registrars and of the registration of marriages under this Act and any other public officer to be Deputy Registrar General of Marriages.

(2) The Minister may appoint so many public officers by name or by office, to be-

(a) Assistant Registrar General of Marriages;

(b) Superintendent Registrars of Marriages; and

(c) Registrars of Marriages and Deputy Registrars of Marriages for such marriage district in any State and the Federal Territory as may be specified in the appointment.

(3) The Minister may, in addition, appoint by name or by office, any person whether public officer or not, to be Assistant Registrar of Marriages in respect of any race, clan, association, church or temple, for such marriage district and for such term as may be specified in the appointment, and every such person so appointed and similarly every Registrar, Deputy Registrar and other Assistant Registrar, shall be deemed, to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code:

Provided that such appointment shall be made on the recommendation or nomination of the recognised representatives of the race, clan, the committee of management of the association or the governing authority of any religious denomination, church or temple, as the case may be.

(4) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint any member of the diplomatic staff of Malaysia in any country, either by name or by office, to be Registrar of Marriages for the purposes of this Act in that country.

(5) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare any area in a State and the Federal Territory to be a marriage district and define the boundaries of each district; and where an Assistant Registrar of Marriages is appointed under subsection (3), the Minister may define different areas to be marriage districts for any particular race, clan, association, church or temple.

(6) The Assistant Registrar General and the Superintendent Registrar may subject to any general or special direction of the Registrar General exercise any of the powers and duties of the Registrar General conferred and imposed by this Act.

Every Registrar shall keep a marriage register and such books as are prescribed by this Act or rules made thereunder and every marriage solemnized in Malaysia by the Registrar shall immediately after the solemnization thereof be registered by the Registrar in his marriage register.

(1) The Registrar solemnizing the marriage shall deliver to the Registrar General the original and to the Superintendent Registrar the duplicate of every entry made in the marriage register as
attested by the parties to the marriage and by the witnesses and as signed by him.

(2) All such copies shall be kept by the Registrar General and the Superintendent Registrar in such manner as may be prescribed and shall constitute the marriage registers of the Registrar General and the Superintendent Registrar respectively.

(1) Where any person who is a citizen of or is domiciled in Malaysia has contracted a marriage abroad, not being a marriage registered under section 26, such person shall-

(a) within six months after the date of such marriage, appear before the nearest or most conveniently available Registrar abroad; and

(b) register such marriage.

(1A) Where before the expiry of six months under paragraph (1)(a), either or both parties return to Malaysia and the marriage was not registered, such person shall-

(a) within six months of arrival in Malaysia, appear before any Registrar; and

(b) register such marriage.

(1B) A person who applies to register a marriage under subsection (1) or (1A) shall-

(a) produce to such Registrar the certificate of such marriage or such evidence either oral or documentary as may satisfy the Registrar that such marriage took place;

(b) furnish such particulars as may be required by the Registrar for the due registration of such marriage; and

(c) apply in the prescribed form for the registration of the marriage to be effected and subscribe the declaration therein.

(2) A Registrar may dispense with the appearance of one of the parties to the marriage if he is satisfied that there exists good and sufficient reason for the absence of such party and in such case the entry in the marriage register shall include a statement of the reason for his or her absence.

(3) Upon the registration of any marriage under this section, the Registrar shall deliver the triplicate copy of the register to the parties to the marriage and the original to the Registrar General and the duplicate to the Superintendent Registrar who shall cause such copies to be bound together to constitute the Foreign Marriages Register.

(4) Where the parties to a marriage required to be registered under this section have not appeared before a Registrar within the period as prescribed in subsection (1), the marriage may, upon application to the Registrar, be registered by him on payment of such penalty as may be prescribed.

No person other than the Registrar General or a Superintendent Registrar appointed under this Act shall-

(a) keep any book being or purporting to be a register kept in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or

(b) issue to any person any document being or purporting to be a copy of a certificate of a marriage or a certificate of marriage registered by the Registrar.

(1) Notwithstanding section 4, the parties to any marriage solemnized under any law, religion, custom or usage prior to the appointed date may, if the marriage has not been registered, apply at any time to a Registrar in the prescribed form for the registration of the marriage.

(2) The Registrar may require the parties to the marriage to appear before him and to produce such evidence of the marriage, either oral or documentary, as he may require and to furnish such other particulars as may be required by him.

(3) The Registrar may on being satisfied of the truth of the statements contained in the application register the marriage by entering the particulars thereof in the marriage register prescribed for this purpose.

(4) The entry of the marriage in the marriage register shall be signed by the Registrar making the entry and by both the parties to the marriage, if available, otherwise, by whichever party shall appear before the Registrar for effecting registration of the marriage.

(5) Upon the registration of the marriage, the Registrar shall deliver the triplicate copy of the register to the parties to the marriage, the original to the Registrar General and the duplicate
to the Superintendent Registrar.

(6) The Registrar shall not register a marriage under this section if he is satisfied that the marriage is void under this Act.

Nothing in this Act or the rules made thereunder shall be construed to render valid or invalid any marriage which otherwise is invalid or valid merely by reason of its having been or not having been registered.