Ontario Marriage Certificate Expediting

[Ontarkie 14,214]

4 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Forget which one it is, but there is at least one state where an officiant is not a thing.  The couple just gets a marriage license, signs it, sends it back to the county and they are married. This would violate:

 

“If one or both parties are not physically present at the ceremony, we won’t recognize the marriage”

Neither party would be present for the ceremony because there is no ceremony.

Wow, that would make such a mess. Maybe at that point the couple should just use common law marriage to immigrate on. Sheesh so messed up.

[TheFarmer12 0]

57 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Thanks. Looks like a Colorado re-marriage certificate will be needed.

 

 

What is this exactly? I don't think we would like to go the common law route for sure. 

 

Also does anyone know if the Utah remote marriage certificate is different from a normal Utah marriage certificate?

[Mike E 11,739]

19 minutes ago, braveswin11 said:

What is this exactly?

Per https://www.findlaw.com/state/colorado-law/colorado-marriage-laws.html Colorado lets you marry your existing spouse. I cannot find the post, but someone of visa journey reported that the Colorado state motor vehicles department rejected an out of country marriage certificate as a lawful change of name document because it was not in English. The department told her to get married and apply again.

 

NY state also has a way for spouses to marry each other.

 

In Colorado an officiant is optional. I believe my daughter (a dual citizen) went that route. Gonna be fun if she ever tries to import hubby to Canada. Luddites (Parliament, not my daughter and son in law).

[AlexSH 5]

On 7/18/2023 at 11:23 AM, braveswin11 said:

Hello,

 

I am getting married in September to a Canadian citizen in Ontario who will be immigrating to the US most likely with the CR-1 Visa path. Does anyone know if there is a way to expedite receiving the Ontario marriage certificate from the 10 weeks that is listed on their website? We would rather not wait an extra 10 weeks to start the process. I see online that I can provide a "Proof of Urgency" with supporting documents. I also called Service Ontario and they said the proof of urgency has to be from a lawyer or immigration with some sort of deadline date. Anyone have any ideas for this?

 

Real experience here to share. When I saw the 6 to 10 weeks processing time, I thought they were juts exaggerating. They were not. It took us almost 3 months (from beginning of May to end of July this year 2023) to have the marriage registered in their system. What a pain...

[milimelo 4,475]

7 hours ago, AlexSH said:

Real experience here to share. When I saw the 6 to 10 weeks processing time, I thought they were juts exaggerating. They were not. It took us almost 3 months (from beginning of May to end of July this year 2023) to have the marriage registered in their system. What a pain...

I thought long wait times for marriage certificate were normal for Canada. Back in 2009 or 2010 an acquaintance was marrying a lady from Canada and even then was an issue with getting marriage certificate in under 2-3 months. I know I told him to consider coming for a visit and getting married here or a destination wedding location to speed things up. 

[Thrillhouse 193]

On 7/19/2023 at 9:46 PM, Mike E said:

In Colorado an officiant is optional. I believe my daughter (a dual citizen) went that route. Gonna be fun if she ever tries to import hubby to Canada. Luddites (Parliament, not my daughter and son in law).

 

It's called a self-solemnization. While you don't need an officiant or witnesses, it is still signed by the county clerk and is 100% a legitimate marriage.

 

Source, please, where this is problematic according to Canadian policy?

[Thrillhouse 193]

To clarify: a Colorado self-solemnization requires that BOTH PARTIES BE PRESENT. An officiant or witnesses need not be. Canadian immigration requires the physical presence of the couple at the marriage, not of an officiant. 

 

See the current regulations here.

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, Thrillhouse said:

 

It's called a self-solemnization. While you don't need an officiant or witnesses, it is still signed by the county clerk and is 100% a legitimate marriage.

In Colorado, the other states, district, and territories, and no doubt in some other countries.

 

1 hour ago, Thrillhouse said:

 

Source, please, where this is problematic according to Canadian policy?

From your link:

 

Marriages that take place in Canada must meet federal requirements with respect to the right to marry and provincial requirements with respect to solemnization

 

and prior to that:

 

All provincial and territorial marriage acts:

provide for religious and civil marriage ceremonies

require witnesses to a marriage ceremony

identify officials or individuals authorized to solemnize a marriage

set minimum age requirements for marriage

 

[Sage11 5]

We got married in Ontario last November and it took us exactly 10 weeks for our certificate to be mailed out, plus an additional 5 days to receive it. They forewarned us at the courthouse that this is standard.