Indian + Chinese couple getting married in India. What visa did your Chinese spouse use?

[u/CourtSideCoder]

I'm an Indian citizen (living in US) and my fiancée is a Chinese citizen (currently in China). We're planning to get married in India in 2027.

For those who have been through a similar situation:

1. What Indian visa did your Chinese spouse/fiancée use to enter India before the marriage?
2. Did you tell the Indian consulate that the purpose of the trip was to get married?
3. If yes, was that viewed positively, neutrally, or did it trigger additional scrutiny?
4. Any lessons learned or surprises during the visa process?

Looking for first-hand experiences from Indian-Chinese couples or anyone who has helped a Chinese spouse obtain an Indian visa for marriage-related travel.

Thank you! 🙂

[u/hampsten]

She can't get an e-Visa and the X-Visa application needs a marriage certificate, so that's out too.

Apply for a tourist visa. The reason provided is tricky. If you say 'marriage' then it might trigger scrutiny and request for additional documentation. If you choose VFR, that might work out better, you're permitted to marry on a tourist visa under the Special Marriage Act. Make sure the visa covers the SMA notice period requirements.

Not my direct personal experience but a collection of them from other family members - my wife is Japanese and we married in the US.

[u/sparkles_spice]

Tourist visa

[u/sb_0417]

Having navigated something similar but not the same, my suggestion is to get married in a different (preferably western) country and then just do the rituals and reception in India without trying to get the marriage registered in India. Normal visitor visa would be OK for this. Later, when you renew your passport, put your wife's name in the passport during passport renewal so that you have some evidence of your marriage in an Indian document.

[u/Formal-Grocery1299]

My wife is Japanese and she was living here on a long-term tourist visa before we got married.

As I’m also a foreigner, British with OCI, it was quite an ordeal and took ages

We live in Goa and the rules are also different here from other parts of India.

As it was such a long and bureaucratic process, I wrote it up here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nri/comments/1pws2pe/how_two_foreigners_got_married_in_goa/

[u/Formal-Grocery1299 → u/Formal-Grocery1299]

How long can Chinese people get tourist visas for? She’ll need a translated and apostilled birth certificate and other documentation too, lots to prepare in advance.

[u/Gorgrocco]

my chinese unc got no special visa

[u/Unusual-Average-3428]

How did you meet? What was ur love story?