KANGAR: Perlis is working on simplifying marriage registration procedure for Muslim couples who tied the-knot abroad, in a bid to resolve unregistered polygamous marriages.
State Islamic Affairs Committee chairman Khairi Hassan said the move is aimed at encouraging Muslims who solemnised their marriage overseas, especially in southern Thailand, to register with the local religious authority.
He said the state government hoped that the move would resolve and avert arising issues concerning inheritance, children's citizenship registration and others.
Khairi said the state Islamic Affairs Department is currently discussing on skipping the usual Sharia court trials procedure, leaving only submissions of the required documents and the compound payment, in order to expedite the process.
“If the discussion goes well and subsequently approved by the higher authority, we will implement the new procedure the earliest by next year.
“Under the new procedure, the couples will only have to prepare complete documentations related to their marriage abroad and pay the compounds fixed by the department in order to register their marriage.
“As for now, we have yet to decide on the quantum of the compound but most probably it will be about RM2,000 for each couple,” he told reporters at the sideline of the fourth term of the 13th State Legislative Assembly sitting.
Khairi added that the department is also mulling on the proposal to allow married Muslim men from outside of the state, who wish to take up another wife, to tie the knot in the state instead of crossing over to the neighbouring country.
"We are looking into the proposal and we might set a condition that the couple have to reside in Perlis for more than three days," he said.
Khairi said there is a large numbers of unofficial requests received from people outside Perlis to have their polygamous marriage registered in the state.
He added that currently, the state Islamic marriage law do not required local men to obtain an approval from their current wife or wives prior to applying for polygamy.
“However, should the court approved the new marriage application, a notification letter would be issued to the current spouse(s), who have the right to oppose to the marriage in court before proceeding with the marriage,” he said.
Earlier in the House, Khairi (BN-Mata Ayer) was asked by Mohd Shukri Ramli (Pas-Sanglang) on moves taken by the state government to simplify the polygamous marriage procedures in Perlis.