Canadian brides getting married in Mexico-Legal wedding info

Hi All,

I'm going to add my 2 bits to this....

We went to a registry office here in Alberta and ordered our long birth certificates and then our travel agent actually had someone that she uses for the whole process so we got the address and contact name from here and couriered it. It was Giovanni Translations in Calgary and we sent to them - our passports, a money order (I think it was $250) and our long birth certificates. He took care of everything else from that point on...very easy process using someone like that.

When you say that they took care of the rest do you mean that they sent it all off to the embassy and finished everything? That seems like a pretty simple way of getting things done if that's the case. (I'm hoping you're going to say it was this easy...but something tells me you're not).

We looked in the Yellowpages under "translators" and found some official translators in Edmonton. One company charges $85 (I think) per document to translate plus they notarize for an extra $35. My fiancee found this so I'm not sure exactly what their name is.

I was also wondering about the whole apostille thing. I thought this was for US citizens only but my wedding coordinator still wants us to have our birth certificate certified by an apostille. I asked my WC whether Canadians could use a different approach but she is still asking for it.

 

Does anyone have any insight or advice on this?

I was also wondering about the whole apostille thing. I thought this was for US citizens only but my wedding coordinator still wants us to have our birth certificate certified by an apostille. I asked my WC whether Canadians could use a different approach but she is still asking for it.

 

Does anyone have any insight or advice on this?

Some resorts require you to have your birth certificate translated and legalized - The apostille refers to the legalization of the document for international use (the apostille is the stamp they put on the document as far as I understand it). You can refer to my first post in this thread for more information on the authentication and legalization of your birth certificate.

Here is some information that I found that might help clarify what this all means!

"When documents are notarized in Canada for use abroad, such documents must go through a process of "authentication" and "legalization" in order for them to be valid in the foreign jurisdiction. "Authentication" is intended to remove the burden on foreign courts and foreign authorities in proving the genuineness of documents originating outside of their countries."

"Authentication verifies the registration of a notary public as well as the notary's seal and signature. When the notary's authority, signature and seal are confirmed, the document to be authenticated will then receive a stamp and/or an additional seal together with a statement from the provincial authentication authority to the effect that the notary is "known to be in good standing". Once this happens, nothing may be added to or removed from the document."

Hopefully this helps!

Thank you!! This is all very helpful!! )

Sorry for the double post.

 

Thanks for all the help clarifying everything, Ryan's girl!

Sorry for the double post.

 

Thanks for all the help clarifying everything, Ryan's girl!

CDNgroom - it was that easy. We literally packaged it all up and sent it to this guy - he has done all my travel agents previous weddings so he knew exactly what to do. We received it all back via courier about 2-3 weeks later and scanned it all and emailed to the wedding coordinator.

Also as far as apostille thing - my understanding from my WC and from the translator was that a notorization was the Canadian equivalent for that requirement.

Thanks Nanner431! That's awesome news and a great help!

 

I just called Giovanni Translators and they confirmed what you just said. Just for everyone else's info, they also mentioned that you have to do everything within 60 days of getting married. This sounds like it will definitely simplify things and take some of the stress out of this process!

 

 

Ryan's girl: I also confirmed the steps you originally posted with my WC and she said that was perfect so I am now comfortable that these things will be legal in the end.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone!