Am I still here?

Was advised by a Bogota notary that my birth certificate had expired. Of all the paperwork required for a marriage in Colombia, everything doubly certified by both Canadian notaries and the Consulate of Colombia, just my 'Birth Certificate' is expired. When I mentioned this to the staff at Vital Statistics Canada, everyone broke out laughing! What kind of logic do they have in Colombia?

The notaria refers to the date of issuance... meaning when I last applied for a copy of my birth certificate. This date was June 2007. Hmmmm ... I know for a fact that we, in Canada, are only allowed one birthdate. Do they have something different in Colombia?

Curious if anyone has any insight in this........

By Terry2 on May 13, 2008, 09:04 in Visa & paperwork.

Mononoke28 says on May 13, 2008, 09:52:

People in Colombia like to have documents hot off the press. If they are more than 6 months old, they will ask for a new one even if the document doesn't have an expiration date. It's weird I know, but that's how they do bihness down there.

Diana

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Gator says on May 13, 2008, 13:14:

Not the document itself. Probably was over 90 days from the date it was certified buy the notary or apostilled in Canada. The reason official documents need to be issued or re-issued within 90 days of date of marriage is that Colombian Civil Notaries and other Colombian government authorities require "fresh" or recent issued official documents, rather than "stale" or old ones, to generate a valid marriage certificate.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

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lampltr says on May 13, 2008, 17:44:

Bingo Gator...absolutely correct! Usually anything over 30 days old are unacceptable unless you have someone on the inside!!

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TimH says on May 13, 2008, 17:50:

90 days is pretty usual. Getting all the paperwork together to get married with a 90 day time limit of getting each document translated into spanish and then certified so it`s valid in Colombian law can be real fun. When I went to renew my visa (I´m married to a Colombiana), they wanted a new copy of the wedding certificate - the old one wouldn`t do - we were married near Cali (because the notary wasn´t overly concerned with dates). They (the ministry of exterior relations) wouldn´t accept a faxed copy from the notary, so I ended up getting a patrimonio visa (being the father of a Colombian citizen) - fortunately our 2 year old was running around their office (and we had a copy of the birth certificate - which oddly enough was well over a year old). Go figure put it down to the vaguaries of living in Colombia.....

It´s better to be silent and thought a fool than open your mouth and prove the fact....

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Gator says on May 13, 2008, 20:19:

Así es CVolombia

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

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goin_south says on May 14, 2008, 00:16:

nevertheless... the canadians' humor is well-taken, I got a good chuckle, myself.

'what does it mean, when one of you (colombians) tell another: YOU WERE NOT/ARE NOT. 'COLOMBIAN ENOUGH'?? jejeje..a mixture, I think, of stupidity mixed with a false sense of arrogance.. How 'colombian' do you have to be? to be 'colombian enough

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jonas says on May 14, 2008, 11:54:

And yes, you are still here...

What I have, I do not want to lose, but Where I am I do not want to stay, but those I love, I do not want to leave, but those I know I no longer want to see, but Where I die, I do not want to go;I want to stay where I have never been

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GregYohn says on May 14, 2008, 12:25:

Hola!

While I heard from a notary in Cali how simple it was to get married there at their notary, it has seemed to become more and more complex! Now, I can redeem an Avianca voucher to fly anywhere in Colombia after paying the taxes, so we expect that we will be married at San Andres.

Are the prices different for a matrimonio or patrimonio visa?

12VOIP.com gives free calls to Colombia.Greg

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Tinto (Moderator) says on May 14, 2008, 12:39:

Double check the age of the document/information you're referring to about matrimonial visas. I think I read that Colombia did away with those two or three years ago.

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untreated says on May 14, 2008, 12:51:

My daughter got married last Saturday in Santa Marta. She was born in Santa Marta but lives in USA, groom was born in Brazil, also lives in USA. We had a lawyer friend handle the paperwork. The marriage was done by a notary public who charged 220.000 pesos to do it in a beach house at sunset.

Birth certificate for marriage has to be older than 6 days and less than 30 days.

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Gator says on May 14, 2008, 19:32:

Tinto, I think Greg is referring to a Colombian visa from MRE so he would have a Colombian spouse visa. If not then Tinto is correct-no special Colombian visa required to get married.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

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GregYohn says on May 15, 2008, 07:44:

Hola!

Yes....Colombian spouse visa, not to get married.

12VOIP.com gives free calls to Colombia.Greg

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