Declaration of Residence

What this document contains

6 clauses every declaration of residence carries, plus 3 you can add.

1. 01

   Deponent

   The opening recital naming who is making the statement — name, age, parentage and address. The only clause carrying the deponent's personal particulars, and the one that sets whether the document reads as declared, affirmed or sworn.

2. 02

   Present address

   States where the deponent lives and since when. The assertion the whole affidavit exists to make, and the one a verifier copies onto their form.

3. 03

   Basis of occupation

   Why the deponent is entitled to live there — owner, tenant, family member, paying guest or employer-provided. The clause a verifier actually reads, because it says whose name the supporting documents will be in.

4. 04

   No other permanent residence

   Rules out a second permanent address. Takes no input. What makes the affidavit a statement of residence rather than of one address among several.

5. 05

   No fraudulent intent

   Disclaims any intent to evade a debt, tax, obligation or proceeding. Takes no input. Banks and passport authorities routinely refuse a document that omits it, which is why it is mandatory rather than optional.

6. 06

   Verification

   Affirms the numbered assertions above are true and nothing material is concealed, and carries the deponent's signature block. This is the paragraph that makes a false statement actionable — sworn or not.

Optional clauses

• Permanent address

  States a native or permanent address separate from where the deponent currently lives. Optional, and mutually exclusive in substance with the no-other-residence assertion — include one or the other, not both.

  Worth adding when: the user lives somewhere temporarily — for work or study — and the form asks for a permanent or native address as well as a present one

• Purpose

  Names the authority or application the affidavit is made for, and confines it to that. Optional — an affidavit meant to be shown to whoever asks should omit it.

  Worth adding when: the user named who is asking for it — a passport office, a bank, a school, an employer

• Documents annexed

  Lists what is attached, as bullets under a numbered assertion. Optional; useful where the authority wants the annexures named in the affidavit itself.

  Worth adding when: the user listed documents they are attaching, or the authority asked for annexures

What the law requires

Attestation

An affidavit takes effect only when sworn or affirmed before a person authorised to administer an oath — a notary, oath commissioner, or magistrate. Drafting and signing it alone achieves nothing.

Notaries Act 1952, s. 8; Oaths Act 1969, s. 4

Oath or affirmation

The deponent chooses. Affirmation carries no religious observance and is the usual choice; an oath is equally valid. Neither is stronger evidence than the other, and no officer may require one over the other.

Oaths Act 1969, ss. 5–6

False statements

A statement the deponent knows to be false is punishable. The verification is not a formality — it is what makes the declaration actionable.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, ss. 227–229 (formerly IPC ss. 191–193)

First-hand knowledge only

An affidavit states facts within the deponent's own knowledge. It must not be used to assert facts about a third party's rights or affairs — those are for that person to swear to, or for a document to prove.

Code of Civil Procedure 1908, Order XIX rule 3

Stamp paper is not optional here

Unlike an agreement, which binds the parties whether stamped or not and is merely inadmissible until duty is paid, an affidavit on plain paper is simply refused by the authority it is addressed to. Buy the stamp paper before the notary visit, not after.

Indian Stamp Act 1899, Sch. I Art. 4

Evidence, not title

An affidavit of residence is evidence of where someone lives. It proves nothing about who owns the premises, and must not be used or read as a claim to possession or title.

Code of Civil Procedure 1908, Order XIX rule 3

Prescribed formats

Passport offices, RTOs and some banks publish their own address-affidavit formats and reject free-form ones. Check whether the authority has a prescribed form before swearing this.