Yes — and Kanpur's Family Court hears a significant number of NRI matrimonial matters, given the city's large diaspora across the Gulf, the UK, the US, and Southeast Asia. The key question is not whether an NRI can file, but whether the Kanpur court has jurisdiction over the particular case — and in most NRI situations, at least one valid jurisdictional ground is available.

Under Section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act, jurisdiction may be established where the marriage was solemnised, where the parties last resided together, where the respondent is currently residing, or where the wife currently resides. For NRI matters, the most commonly used ground in Kanpur is that the couple last resided together in Kanpur before one spouse went abroad, or that the wife has now returned to Kanpur and is residing here. Either establishes the Kanpur Family Court's jurisdiction firmly. For marriages under the Special Marriage Act, Section 31 provides a similar framework.

The practical question that follows is how to manage the proceedings when one or both spouses are abroad. The BNSS and the evolving e-courts framework permit evidence to be recorded via video conferencing, and the Kanpur Family Court can accommodate NRI litigants who cannot attend every hearing in person. That said, the first motion (in a mutual consent divorce), the recording of statements, and key contested hearings will generally require a personal appearance or a properly executed power of attorney enabling your counsel to act for you in procedural matters. For NRI spouses abroad who want to file, or who are being served with a petition from a spouse in Kanpur, the family law and NRI divorce specialists on the Kanpur panel at Aapka Legal Advice can advise on jurisdiction, manage video-conference appearances, and ensure you are neither disadvantaged by distance nor caught unawares by a proceeding you did not know was filed.

One important caution for NRIs who have obtained a divorce decree abroad: a foreign divorce is not automatically recognised in Kanpur or anywhere in India. It is valid only if it satisfies the requirements of Section 13 of the Civil Procedure Code — including that both parties genuinely submitted to the foreign court's jurisdiction — and many ex-parte foreign decrees obtained without the Indian spouse's participation are not recognised. If you have a foreign divorce decree and are uncertain of its standing in India, have it assessed by a qualified advocate before making any decision that assumes you are validly divorced under Indian law