Q&A – 25 March 2019
Marriage in High Commission overseas
I am a Tanzanian national living in the US for the past 3 years wishing to get married to an American woman. What is the fastest way to get married as we want to close this immediately?
YT, New York
It seems you want to get married under certificate of urgency. We are sure that the American laws allow you to do so. However as Tanzanian practitioners we are unable to guide you under American law. We will, thus, focus on Tanzanian law and the Law of Marriage Act of Tanzania.
The law provides that marriages in Tanzanian Embassies, etc., abroad (1) A marriage may be contracted in the presence of the registrar in an Embassy, High Commission or consulate of the United Republic in any country which has been designated by the Minister subject to the following conditions, that is to say, that the registrar shall be satisfied– (a) that at least one of the parties is a citizen of the United Republic; (b) that each party has capacity to marry according to the provisions of this Act; (c) that in the case of the intended wife who is a citizen of the United Republic or is domiciled in Tanzania, any consent required by section 17 has been obtained; (d) where either party is not domiciled in Tanzania, that the proposed marriage, if contracted, will be regarded as valid in the country where that party is domiciled; (e) that notice of the proposed marriage has been given at least twenty-one days previously in accordance with the requirements of section 18 and that no notice to objection has been received; (f) where a party is not a citizen of the United Republic and the law of the country of which he or she is a citizen provides for the issue of certificates of no impediment that such certificate has been issued in respect of that party. (2) The procedure for the contracting of marriage in a Tanzania Embassy, High Commission or consulate shall be similar to that for the contracting of civil marriages under this Act, and the provisions of this Act relating to the issue of marriage certificates and to the registration of marriages shall apply as if the registrar appointed for that foreign country were a district registrar and the marriage shall be valid for the purposes of this Act accordingly. (3) References in this Act or any other written law to a marriage contracted in Tanzania shall, unless the context otherwise requires, include references to a marriage contracted in accordance with this section.
You can thus contact the Tanzanian High Commission in Washington who can, subject to the above, contract your marriage under our Tanzanian laws.
Children when not married
Is it illegal to have children if you are not married? Do you have to be married to have a sexual relationship? How many kinds of marriages are there? How long are marriages supposed to last?
GI, Mtwara
Before we answer your questions you must understand what marriage is. Luckily it is defined in the Law of Marriage Act of Tanzania. Section 9 defines it as (1) Marriage means the voluntary union of a man and a woman, intended to last for their joint lives. (2) A monogamous marriage is a union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. (3) A polygamous marriage is a union in which the husband may, during the subsistence of the marriage, be married to or marry another woman or women.
Coming to your questions, you have raised some very interesting points and the answers to both is no. You don’t need to be married to have children although for certain rights like custody, child support, you would be in a better position if you were married.
Also to have a sexual relationship you need not be married so long as you are of legal age. Sexuality as addressed by you is not regulated under our laws, although we are told there are a few laws of other countries that regulate it but which are not applicable here.
Our law also recognizes two main forms of marriage that is to say– (a) those that are monogamous or are intended to be monogamous; and (b) those that are polygamous or are potentially polygamous. (2) A marriage contracted in Tanzania whether contracted before or after the commencement of this Act, shall- (a) if contracted in Islamic form or according to rites recognised by customary law in Tanzania, be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be polygamous or potentially polygamous; and (b) in any other case, be presumed to be monogamous, unless the contrary is proved.
Further, a marriage contracted in Tanzania may be converted- (a) from monogamous to potentially polygamous; or (b) if the husband has one wife only, from potentially polygamous to monogamous, by a declaration made by the husband and the wife, that they each, of their own free will, agree to the conversion.
Notwithstanding the above, no marriage between two Christians which was celebrated in a church in Christian form may, for so long as both the parties continue to profess the Christian faith, be converted from monogamous to polygamous and the provisions of this section shall not apply to any such marriage, notwithstanding that the marriage was preceded or succeeded by a ceremony of marriage between the same parties in civil form or any other form.
A marriage shall subsist until terminated – (a) by the death of either party thereto; (b) by a decree declaring that the death of either party thereto is presumed; (c) by a decree of annulment; (d) by a decree of divorce; or (e) by an extra-judicial divorce. These are the only ways a marriage comes to an end. Hence any thoughts you might have of a short term marriage that automatically expire like a contract are not legal in Tanzania although we know other countries allow such relationships.