San Andres Marriage Certificate

vladimiro says on Jun 16, 2007, 08:21:

San ANdres Marriage I was married in San Andres and brought my wife to the US on K-3 last year. For the whole visa process we used the paper work that we got from the San ANdres notary and had no problem. We did not register the marriage in Bogota, and the marriage is legal in Colombia and the US. The notary in San ANdres did mention something about registering the marriage in Bogota, but to be honest we did not understand clearly what he was talking about. We had our docs translated to English in Colombia by a translator licensed by the COlombian government for about $30.

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 16, 2007, 10:12:

Great, thanks! Vladimiro,

Thanks for the info. I am glad to see that I can avoid all the additional
time involved in running those errands in Bogota. According to people on VisaJourney, it seems like I can translate it myself or my best friend's mother owns a translation service here in Houston.

How long did your K-3 take from start to finish?

Thanks again,

CG

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barrys425 says on Jun 16, 2007, 17:57:

San Andres I was married in S.A. in October, and my application was approved, and so far no problems, (my wife should be here within the next month) I did not take my papers to Bogota, but from what I understood, the reason to go to bogota was for ME to get a cedula, (which i did not do yet) but as far as visa issues, I have understood the marriage to be 100% valid, and as far as the u.s gov't has been concerned, they seem happy.
Good luck, and congratulations. San Andres is AWESOME

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Gator says on Jun 20, 2007, 05:59:

The Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro in Bogotá has nothing to do with you registering your marriage. It is the national agency that regulates and certifies notaries in Colombia. The notary in San Andres (there is only one) will (should) register your marriage and give you the proper copies of the marriage certificate.

Make sure you take care of this in San Andres as you will not be able to register later in a different city or departmento.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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Gator says on Jun 20, 2007, 06:03:

HUMM, No way to edit?????

What you have at this point is valid allow you to apply for the I-130 and begin the process

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 20, 2007, 13:56:

Hmmm. We were married in San Andres by the notary. He has sent us an official version of the marriage certificate and three certified copies.

We were told by the wedding planner in San Andres that the registration in Bogota has to do with the fact that San Andres has different laws regarding marriage and the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro has to certify the marriage in order for it to be recognized in the rest of Colombia. Is the not true?

Either way, I don't think this is necessary in order to use the marriage certificate for the I-130. My wife is going to send me the marriage certificates and her signed G-325A forms by DePrisa.

Thanks,
CG

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Gator says on Jun 20, 2007, 15:56:

Ask the San Andres Notary not the wedding planner. If the notary says yes then do it(but I would call Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro in Bogotá FIRST) I am sure they do not act as a central regestry

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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Gator says on Jun 20, 2007, 16:21:

Here is the applicable section:

LEY 915 DE 2004,CAPITULO VII. DE RÉGIMEN TURÍSTICO. ARTÍCULO 56. En el departamento Archipiélago los matrimonios se celebrarán conforme a las siguientes reglas:

Los extranjeros podrán contraer matrimonios con la presentación de su pasaporte en la que se determine que es mayor de 18 años.

- Los colombianos podrán contraer matrimonio con la presentación de su registro civil de nacimiento válido para matrimonio y su cédula de ciudadanía.

- Para la celebración de los matrimonios en el departamento Archipiélago no se requerirá la fijación de edicto emplazatorio, ni la declaración de testigos. Recibida la solicitud el Juez notario o Ministro Religioso autorizando, procederá a realizar la ceremonia matrimonial sin más formalidades que las exigidas en esta ley.

En lo que no contravenga lo aquí dispuesto, se aplicarán las demás disposiciones sobre matrimonio contempladas en el Código Civil.

No mention of the registering in Bogotá

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 21, 2007, 00:00:

Thanks for the info Gator. I will call the Registraduria. They do have all sorts of odd rules for San Andres.

I am not worried about it for the I-130 filing and will file that with the certificate we now have. Later, I want to make sure that if necessary, it is registered properly in case the US embassy expects it that way for the interview.

CG

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Gator says on Jun 21, 2007, 06:31:

The Embassy will NOT require the registration with Colombian authorities BUT if the novvia/wife every want to change her Colombian cedula, passport, driver's license, bank accounts, etc. to her married name it must be registered in Colombia. The hassle is one reason many Colombian women, including Mrs. Gator, never bother to make the change.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 21, 2007, 07:33:

Great. I have absolutely no problem registering the marriage certificate. In fact, I will just have someone in Bogota go handle it for me.

However, I am just chomping at the bit to file the I-130 so I am going to have my wife send me a few of the certified copies they sent her from the San Andres Notary. I am planning on doing the translation myself and it will be "certified" by a friend who owns a translation service here in Texas. I know this visa process will take at least six months if everything goes without a hitch and although I love traveling to Colombia, I am well tired of the trips back without my wife.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate you taking the time to look into it.

Peace,
CG

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 21, 2007, 08:35:

OK Folks. I called the Superintendencia and got the following scoop.

The marriage certificate is already valid in all of Colombia. The service provided by the Superintendencia is to validate the signature of the San Andres Notary so that the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores can apostille the document.

The guy at the Superintendencia insisted that the US government requires an apostille. I don't think this is true, but I am going to try and call the USCIS to ask about their requirements.

Peace,
CG

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kfc2801 says on Jun 23, 2007, 10:01:

Hello,
I was married in SA a couple of weeks ago. June 7th to be exact. I came home to USA and my wife went to the Superintendence office and filed our marrige certificate in Bogota. We did this because the SA notary was almost insistant that we do it. He even gave us written directions and instructions.......I to this day do not know why we had to do this. I have sent off my I-130 packet this past Friday. I did NOT apostille the marrige certificate. I did have a certified translator here in the states to translate. I was told that this was all that was needed.......QUESTION: Is it unreasonable to expect that my wife and step-daughter will be here with me by Christmas?? Airfare to Bogota is killing me!!

KFC

Gringo from Georgia USA who is married blissfully to Colombian Lady.

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ColombianoGringo says on Jun 25, 2007, 07:44:

The only reason to take the thing to the Superintendencia is to validate the notary's signature for the apostille. It is possible that you could have your family here by Christmas, but unlikely.

The times for a K-3 from filing of the I-30 to the visa interview seem to be six to eight months if there are no delays or Requests for Evidence. We got married June 11th and are about to send in our I-130 this week and we're hoping for a January or February interview date.

If you haven't already, make sure to visit VisaJourney.com.

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