Canada - document showing civil marriage status

utopiacowboy says on Feb 2, 2006, 18:23:

I am Canadian and I got married in Medellin. Who cares what the consulate says. The final arbiter of what documents are necessary is the notaria and if one is too difficult, simply try another one. In my case I only needed a Certificado de Solteria signed by two people who knew me more than 10 years that I was single and was not living with anyone. It was in Spanish and they signed in front of a notary. Canada does not have apostilles and most documents go through the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa to be authenticated. After that you take them to the consulate where the document originated to have them authenticate it. Afterwards you take it to the Minister of External Relations in Bogota to have them authenticate the consul's seal. In my case the notaria was satisfied with the consul's authentication and I did not need to take any documents to Bogota. Why the hell can't Canada sign the treaty authorizing the use of apostilles??????

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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DCShoeCo says on Feb 2, 2006, 20:06:

Signed in front of a notary in Canada?

How do I get it authenticated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa if I live in BC?

What do you mean "consulate where the document originated"? You mean the Colombian Consulate in Canada?

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DCShoeCo says on Feb 2, 2006, 20:09:

Also, can it be signed by parents, or does it have to be two non-relatives?

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utopiacowboy says on Feb 2, 2006, 20:13:

Signed in front of a notary in Canada? Yes.

How do I get it authenticated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa if I live in BC? You mail it to them. Check out this web page: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/common/authentication_documents-en.asp I notice that they will also provide a Statement In-Lieu of Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage Abroad. This may satisfy the notaria.

What do you mean "consulate where the document originated"? You mean the Colombian Consulate in Canada? There are several Colombian consulates in Canada and they each have provinces of jurisdiction. My Quebec birth certificate had to be authenticated by the Colombian consul in Montreal, not Toronto where I originally took it.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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DCShoeCo says on Feb 2, 2006, 20:57:

Thanks, I'll look into that. Still not sure what exactly has to be done with the letter allowing her to marry me by proxy, if anybody has an info on that please let me know. I have an idea what it has to say, but not sure if it has to be signed in front of a notary, translated, and apostilled by the consulate or what.

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Steve-88 says on Feb 3, 2006, 08:25:

I am a Canadian from Ontario and I had my wedding in Colombia last summer. All I needed was to send a photocopy of my passport, a long-form of my birth certificate, a marriage search letter and a signed letter from me stating that I was letting my father in law act on my behalf to submit all this to the Notary. I didnt get anything "notarized" just took all the docs to the Colombian embassy in Toronto, they signed and stamped everything, sent it all to my wife, she gave it to the Notary, and we were golden. The hard part is getting the marriage search letter, in Ontario, they will do a search as far back as you were legal marriage age and if you bring in a wedding invitation (real or fake) to prove it is an emergency, they will do it in 3 business days. The long form birth certificate takes at least 6 weeks but I think you can rush order that too by stating it is an emergency. Not sure about Alberta though. P.S. getting married in Colombia was awesome, for about 3 grand, we had a luxury wedding that would have cost 40K in Canada.

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dave_travels says on Feb 5, 2006, 10:30:

Statement In-Lieu of Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage China required a statement that I was single also. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing gave me a "Statement In-Lieu of Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marriage Abroad" that satisfied the Chinese requirement. That was in 1989. I see that the Departments of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will do the same when in Canada. I suspect that the Canadian Embassy in Bogota can produce the same document.

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DCShoeCo says on Feb 5, 2006, 22:34:

Steve, how have you found the visa process (bringing her to Canada?)

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Steve-88 says on Feb 6, 2006, 06:43:

DC,
The mechanics of the process are relatively simple, you need to collect security documents for your spouse from Colombia (which is fast in colombia) and if she lived in any other country more than 6 months, you need from there too. For example, we needed FBI clearance for my wife since she lived in the states. That takes 6-8 weeks. We needed to provide birth certificates and all personal information for my wife. I needed to provide income tax receipts proving my income and needed to provide evidence of my job in Canada. Anyways, we sent it all in about a month after the wedding, and it has been 6 months since our wedding, she is still in Colombia, I am in Canada waiting for her permanent residence approval. It took 2 months for them to approve me as a "sponsor" in Mississauga, and then the file was sent to CPC office in Bogota, where it is still waiting. We have heard people say the whole process takes about 6 months, but I really dont believe it. A fair estimate is 8 months to 1 year depending on the case. If you look at the stats, the Bogota office is the slowest in ALL of south america, which is not a good sign!
Canadian immigration is far more paranoid then US immigration. You cant bring a "fiance" to Canada and they would never grant a visitor visa to a colombian woman if they found out she has a canadian husband in canada.
They actually do multiple background checks, first you need to provide your own copies from colombia, FBI, etc. THen the Visa office will do their own private background checks with CSIS, FBI, etc to make sure your wife is not on any "terrorist watch lists" etc. They check to make sure all the info is accurate. Did she really go to that school? Did she really work there? Did she really graduate university? etc etc. So its the background checks that take months and months to perform.
On the bright side, it gives you an excuse to go to Colombia every few months to enjoy the awesome weather and have some fun.

Finally, we submitted tons and tons of evidence from our relationship. About 50 photos of our dating and wedding, honeymoon, etc. Pages and pages of phone bills, cell phone bills, e-mail records, personal letters, birthday cards, valentines cards, x-mas cards, our file must have been 300 pages!! Anyways, good luck. I hope your process goes faster than mine does and I will post again once I have the visa and provide the other Canadians on the site with the complete timeline for my visa process.
Cheers

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DCShoeCo says on Feb 6, 2006, 16:56:

Did you send all those pictures and cards with the initial package? Did you send originals or just photocopies of docs?

Also, once you've sent the initial package, do you have to send anything else later on? For example, once you've sent proof of income, could you quit your job and go to Bogota, or do you have to prove it again later on?

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