“Can I update my marital status in JPN (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negera/ National Registration Department) with an overseas divorce order?”
No, the overseas divorce is not recognised in Malaysia unless you obtained a Declaration Order from the Malaysian Court. As such, JPN are not able to update your marital status with the overseas divorce alone.
Moreover, you can engage a lawyer to assist you in obtaining a Declaration Order from the High Court of Malaysia. As a result, the Declaration Order will recognise your foreign divorce order and at the same time, the High Court will give the authority to JPN to recognise and register your foreign divorce order.
JPN will then update your marital status in Malaysia with the Declaration Order.
This is in accordance to Section 107 (3) of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (ACT 164) – Where a marriage which is solemnized in Malaysia is dissolved or annulled by a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction outside Malaysia, either of the parties may apply to the Registrar General for the registration of such decree and the Registrar General, on being satisfied that the decree is one which should be recognised as valid for the purposes of the law of Malaysia, shall register that decree.
Documents Required
- 1 copy of your IC
- 1 copy of your marriage certificate issued by JPN
- 1 copy of the Foreign Divorce Order
Do not worry if the the Overseas Divorce Order is not in English. Our lawyer will assist you to get the Overseas Divorce Order translated. We translate our documents in Malaysian Institute of Translation & Books/ Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia [ITBM]
For further enquiry, you can contact us and speak directly to our lawyers at 0149508667 (Veeran) or 0164770087 (Tan Ti Nee) for a free consultation. You can also drop us an email at veerantanlegal@gmail.com.