Marriage in Colombia... required documents for American?

[jessejames 0]

Hi guys,

Has anybody gotten married in Colombia? I'm trying to figure out which documents I will need besides the obvious (passport, birth certificate, etc.) I am a single American and she is a single Colombian.

Thanks!

Jesse

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Mexico, Latin & South America regional forum.

[Mononoke28 135]

Hi guys,

Has anybody gotten married in Colombia? I'm trying to figure out which documents I will need besides the obvious (passport, birth certificate, etc.) I am a single American and she is a single Colombian.

Thanks!

Jesse

You can find more info from other members at MangoBiche, which is a Colombian forum with many American members who live or have lived in Colombia. Or you can try asking the members in the Colombia Club thread.

Diana

[Orando 57]

Hey man, I married my babe on 12/10/2011 in Barranquilla!

What we did was have my then fiancee go to the notary where we married and asked them what documents I would need to present for the marriage as a foreigner. This may vary from notary to notary.

I presented the following:

Birth Certificate (With apostille, translated to Spanish, apostille translated to spanish)

Declaration of single status (With apostille, translated to Spanish, apostille translated to Spanish)

Copy of my passport (No translation or apostille required, US Passport comes with Spanish translation and is a federal document)

That was it. I think the apostille needed to be within 90 days of the wedding. If you are divorced, you will have to present these papers translated with apostille. We then took the documents to the notary, about 5 days later, my wife called the notary and they said the documents were good. One thing we did not anticipate, they needed me to be there at the notary when we set the wedding date, they had me and my wife sign a form with our intention to marry which had the wedding date on it. I am not sure if I was not in country, if they would have let us slide with this. Also, your Spanish needs to be good enough to follow what the notary is saying and be able to respond to him. If not, and you want to bring a translator, the lady said the translator would need to be a certified translator in Colombia. Fortunately for me, my Spanish is at the Advanced level, so if the Costenos speak slowly, I can half way make out what they are saying, jejejeje, it was all good.

One of your first steps should be to have your lady go to the notary where you will marry and get the requirements for the foreigner. I cannot speak to a religious wedding, we had a civil ceremony.

Hope this helps.

Orando

[jessejames 0]

Thanks Orando! Great information!!!

One quick question - she went to the notary and apparently they said my birth certificate needs to be issued within the last 3 months? I told her that doesn't make sense - that maybe it needed to be notarized in the last three months.

Do you know anything about that?

Thanks so much,

Jesse

[Mononoke28 135]

Thanks Orando! Great information!!!

One quick question - she went to the notary and apparently they said my birth certificate needs to be issued within the last 3 months? I told her that doesn't make sense - that maybe it needed to be notarized in the last three months.

Do you know anything about that?

Thanks so much,

Jesse

Colombians are very strict about having documents issued in the last 90 days, so if your birth certificate was issued even six months before they need it, it's too old for them. I know, it doesn't make sense to me either but that's how they like it.

Diana

[Orando 57]

Thanks Orando! Great information!!!

One quick question - she went to the notary and apparently they said my birth certificate needs to be issued within the last 3 months? I told her that doesn't make sense - that maybe it needed to be notarized in the last three months.

Do you know anything about that?

Thanks so much,

Jesse

You're welcome Jesse! Getting married in Colombia was quite the experience, it was pretty cool.

Yeah, if that particular notary is saying the birth certificate itself needs to be issued within 90 days, then that is probably what you should do. You can submit a request to the office of vital records of the state you were born in, pay the nominal fee of $5 to $20 bucks or so, and they can issue you a birth certificate within a couple of weeks usually. I used my original birth certificate from 1981, an old, shabby document. The notary we married at was cool with this old birth certificate although they did keep the document, I am still a little upset about that but, whatever. My wife may have explained to them that the birth certificate was good in the US and that the apostille is what they should worry about, I can't remember. They will most likely keep whatever documents you give them and not return anything. When we asked the notary what I needed, they did not give us any time limits on my documents, but I had heard of the 90 day requirement so I at least made sure the apostilles were within 90 days.

In Colombia, they keep the original vital records at the central location, wherever that is, I do not know. So every time they need to present a vital record, they go to this location and have a certified copy issued. This may be their way to prevent fraud by always having people get fresh, recent documents to present, so they apply this same standard to foreigners. In the US, our vital records processes are more secure and keep their validity for a long time. Well, our drivers licences expire after a while, the passport expires after a while, but the Soc Sec card does not expire, the birth certificate and marriage licenses do not expire.

Have fun at your wedding Jesse!

Edited March 15, 2012 by Orando

[Ravel 0]

You're welcome Jesse! Getting married in Colombia was quite the experience, it was pretty cool.

Yeah, if that particular notary is saying the birth certificate itself needs to be issued within 90 days, then that is probably what you should do. You can submit a request to the office of vital records of the state you were born in, pay the nominal fee of $5 to $20 bucks or so, and they can issue you a birth certificate within a couple of weeks usually. I used my original birth certificate from 1981, an old, shabby document. The notary we married at was cool with this old birth certificate although they did keep the document, I am still a little upset about that but, whatever. My wife may have explained to them that the birth certificate was good in the US and that the apostille is what they should worry about, I can't remember. They will most likely keep whatever documents you give them and not return anything. When we asked the notary what I needed, they did not give us any time limits on my documents, but I had heard of the 90 day requirement so I at least made sure the apostilles were within 90 days.

In Colombia, they keep the original vital records at the central location, wherever that is, I do not know. So every time they need to present a vital record, they go to this location and have a certified copy issued. This may be their way to prevent fraud by always having people get fresh, recent documents to present, so they apply this same standard to foreigners. In the US, our vital records processes are more secure and keep their validity for a long time. Well, our drivers licences expire after a while, the passport expires after a while, but the Soc Sec card does not expire, the birth certificate and marriage licenses do not expire.

Have fun at your wedding Jesse!

Hi Orando,

I was wondering if you could tell me which notary in Baranquilla you got married in. I am running into this problem mentioned earlier in the thread about the Birth certificate needing to be issued within 90 days of the wedding. I also have an old shabby document from 1983 ( like you mentioned about yours ! ) and I'm not sure of being able to obtain a recent copy because of my situation ( I'm a Canadian citizen now but was born in Libya as an Indian citizen... ). My girl went to a notary in Bogota and they said that document wouldnt work and told her about the 90 day requirement. She insisted that this document has always worked for me everywhere a birth certificate is required but they are very strict at that notary. I am looking for all kinds of solutions, but if I could find a notary that accepts my birth certificate from when i was born that would be awesome ! .. I can probably get it apostilled now so it will be apostilled 90 days before the wedding. So, please let me know the address of the notary in Baranquilla where they accepted your old birth certificate. Its possible they will accept mine too.

Thank you very much in advance ! Any other suggestions would be appreciated too.

Sahir

[Orando 57]

Hi Orando,

I was wondering if you could tell me which notary in Baranquilla you got married in. I am running into this problem mentioned earlier in the thread about the Birth certificate needing to be issued within 90 days of the wedding. I also have an old shabby document from 1983 ( like you mentioned about yours ! ) and I'm not sure of being able to obtain a recent copy because of my situation ( I'm a Canadian citizen now but was born in Libya as an Indian citizen... ). My girl went to a notary in Bogota and they said that document wouldnt work and told her about the 90 day requirement. She insisted that this document has always worked for me everywhere a birth certificate is required but they are very strict at that notary. I am looking for all kinds of solutions, but if I could find a notary that accepts my birth certificate from when i was born that would be awesome ! .. I can probably get it apostilled now so it will be apostilled 90 days before the wedding. So, please let me know the address of the notary in Baranquilla where they accepted your old birth certificate. Its possible they will accept mine too.

Thank you very much in advance ! Any other suggestions would be appreciated too.

Sahir

Hi Sahir:

Please see the information on the notary we were married at below.

Notaria Segunda De Soledad

Calle 18 No. 26A - 45

Soledad, Atlantico, Colombia

Telephone Numbers: 3754096, 3437770, 3662369

I think you should have better success here. I did not have any issues. Your girl should be able to get these docs approved by the notary without you being there.

Take care man,

Orando

[Ravel 0]

Hi Sahir:

Please see the information on the notary we were married at below.

Notaria Segunda De Soledad

Calle 18 No. 26A - 45

Soledad, Atlantico, Colombia

Telephone Numbers: 3754096, 3437770, 3662369

I think you should have better success here. I did not have any issues. Your girl should be able to get these docs approved by the notary without you being there.

Take care man,

Orando

Hi Orando,

Thank you very much ! I'm going to ask my girl to contact that notary. This helps !

Thanks,

Sahir

[pbstriker38 0]

I was married at

Notaria Quinta

Carrera 55 No. 72-35

Barranquilla

Tels: 3688732 - 3690519 - 3694949 - 3600574 - 3585215

e-mail: notariaquintabq@hotmail.com

I have all the wedding documents translated from that notary if you would like them.