Marriage Certificate

[chyiochan 1]

Most definitely will let everyone know how it goes. I jsut want to know if this fast Toronto-Trip will make it go faster!

And yes, I do know now, that the papers signed when we physically did the Marriage are not legal, and the only legal certificate is the one you send away for, that takes the "amount of weeks" to arrive.

Thank you for the help!

Also, does anyone know the number for the Toronto US Embassy I can call and ask about forms? Please let me know, or direct me to a page where I can look for it. The website I've Google'd for it just say numbers but they say I cannot make visa inquiries. I don't know if my questions would be related to visa inquiries.

Edited October 27, 2009 by ambermiele

[chyiochan 1]

I had called today, and asked about this. I know now that you must have your license registered first before you can request a Legal Certificate. On the information sheet I received, it says to call the Registrar allowing four weeks from the date of forwarding the license to them before calling for confirmation.

I will have to wait for the Letter of Urgency anyways to send with both the license and the request afterwards.

The lady on the phone mentioned, that you CAN take it to Toronto to request for the certificate, but it would take just as much time as mailing it in. I may not take that chance, and just take it straight to Toronto to request the certificate WITH the letter of urgency. I believe it would go faster anyways, because I would be handing it in personally!

Let me know if this works for any of you!

[bowflex 0]

Our priest actually made a call to the Thunder Bay office first to get everything rolling, and then when we called we asked if there was any way to expedite the processing but picking it up at the Registrar's Office in Toronto. Apparently it's just a lesser-known process and you've got to bring it up in order to use it, maybe they're just not fans of doing it or something Lol. We just had to bring a copy of our marriage certificate from the priest as well as having him mail a copy over before we had left. We just paid for everything to be expressed and were able to get it very quickly.

Also please note that no unofficial docs should ever be sent to USCIS unless it's also accompanied with the official doc as well. Our lawyer warned about this as it's not uncommon at all for someone with USCIS to come across an unofficial doc and then just RFE the entire file for the needed docs right away. I had printouts and such with our case when we went to Montreal and the Consulate actually refused to look over the rest of our documents. Just make sure that everything that you submit is what's needed, don't try to do any shortcuts. Good luck!!

[chyiochan 1]

Wait, why did you have to mail your certificate? do you mean your License?

Were you able to get your license registered very fast as well? (Within a week?)

I'm sorry I don't understand fully, but I will call whoever I need and let them know that I will pick and deliver everything to Toronto if need be! Let me know step by step and how fast your received everything (If you would like to, I don't mean to hassle at all!) Thank you for any help you can give!!!

[antda 13]

Hi CAN2US,

I got married here in New York State, so I don't exactly know about Canadian marriage certificates...

But I do know that yes, for immigration purposes, you will have to send in a copy of the official certified marriage certificate, and not the marriage license or other marriage paperwork. Sorry to hear that in Canada there is such a wait for your marriage certificate, and that it would delay your process because of that.

So based on that, these are your following options:

1) If you are not married yet, file for marriage license, get married, and as soon as the ceremony is over, run over to city hall to get your marriage certificate, explaining that you are in a hurry for it, for immigration purposes (lol..I did that with my marriage...applied for the marriage license..waited 2-3 days as required..got married...ran to city hall...and got the marriage certificate 10 minutes later after after we were married at another place..still dressed up and all...rofl..though that didn't help much..as I had to delay my immigration case anyways...for other reasons....)

2) Contact someone in Canada to see if they can "expedite" the processing of your marriage certificate. Say that it is for immigration purposes, and provide proof that it is needed for such, if need be....

3) Wait the 10 weeks (or however long it takes to process a marriage certificate in Canada)...Send in the paperwork later, until you have the certificate.."better safe than sorry", I suppose.

If it makes you feel any better, I had to delay my citizenship application, because there was a delay in my son's birth certificate. I did have proof that I applied for such when he was born, and even provided a copy of such. But I didn't want to take the chance of my case being RFEd or denied for not having a certified copy of his birth certificate...So I just waited for the actual birth certificate and made a copy of that (and had to track the certificate down..apparently they sent it to the wrong address), before I sent in all my paperwork in, just in case...."better safe than sorry, better late than never". And overall I think: It's better to delay the case myself, then it is for the USCIS to delay it..makes one look better if they have all the completed paperwork late instead of the incomplete paperwork early...lol..

Hope this helps. Good luck on your journey too.

Ant

Hey Everyone,

I was told by City Hall that a marriage certificate will take 8-10 weeks to issue, and we definitely need a copy of the marriage certificate to file for a CR-1...so is it possible for now to apply for the CR-1 based on the unofficial document given to us by our priest...and provide USCIS with a proof that we have ordered our marriage certificate and that once its available we will ship it off...??

Do you think its best to wait 10 weeks (AND delay our process )to get a marriage certificate and then file? Or should we go ahead with the filing and provide the necessary proof?

Please advice if anyone been in the same situation! thanks in advance!!

Edited October 27, 2009 by Ant+D+A

[CAN2US 0]

I had called today, and asked about this. I know now that you must have your license registered first before you can request a Legal Certificate. On the information sheet I received, it says to call the Registrar allowing four weeks from the date of forwarding the license to them before calling for confirmation.

I will have to wait for the Letter of Urgency anyways to send with both the license and the request afterwards.

The lady on the phone mentioned, that you CAN take it to Toronto to request for the certificate, but it would take just as much time as mailing it in. I may not take that chance, and just take it straight to Toronto to request the certificate WITH the letter of urgency. I believe it would go faster anyways, because I would be handing it in personally!

Let me know if this works for any of you!

This is the information I was able to gather today.

I called the following service Ontario (see below) and they transferred my call to the Office of the Registrar

777 Bay Street

ON M5G 2C8

Phone: 1-800-267-8097

The lady at the registrar ( I also know her name) said the following:

The priest has to submit the signed documents to us before you can apply for a marriage certificate

The marriage certificate is only available within 8-10 weeks

The only way you can get a marriage certificate in 5 days is if the marriage has been registered a long time ago OR if you have a letter from the consulate suggesting an interview date

There is the option of writing a letter of urgency to the manager of the registrar but priority is only given to people with interview dates

I mentioned how some people with marriages as a few days old were able to get the certificate in 5 days ,to that she replied that its impossible, and that we should reconfirm with them their wedding dates.

Basically she said its best to just “wait” as it was obvious she was discouraging any sort of expeditation. She also told me not to waste money on getting it expedited.

I was going through all the services that are offered by service Ontario and there is something called “Certified copy of Statement of Marriage (long form)” I am not sure what that is, anyone any idea, because if its something certified which means it becomes an official document, then maybe we can use that until we wait for the actual certificate.

I am going to get married, make sure my priest submits the document ASAP, and then I am going downtown to make it work. Show them the requirements of US immigration and speak to the manager if possible OR get them to write me a letter (notarized) that I have applied for a marriage certificate and it would be available in 8-10 weeks etc.

Since, I don’t’ understand, how some people can get it while others can’t. I also don’t understand how USCIS can approve visa application without a certificate for others but would give others people a hard time. They should know it takes 8-10 weeks to get a marriage certificate in Ontario!!

[lgg 2]

I cannot explain how some people got it expedited -- it could have been a few years ago and since then, they have really tightened up the regulations. What I CAN tell you? USCIS is NOT going to accept anything BUT the official registered marriage certificate. So, if it takes 6-8 weeks, that's what you will have to wait for. You can try and get the slip of paper they give you once you get married notarized but I'll tell you, the USCIS will not accept it. Try and send it if you will, they'll send you back your package or RFE you for it, but it all works out to the same waiting period.

The thing is, these visas are MARRIAGE Based -- they want to see some serious, hard-core evidence that you are married and that it's a fully recognized marriage within Canada.

Just my two cents but I don't think you have any other choice but to wait to have your marriage registered by the Province of Ontario.

Good luck.

I had called today, and asked about this. I know now that you must have your license registered first before you can request a Legal Certificate. On the information sheet I received, it says to call the Registrar allowing four weeks from the date of forwarding the license to them before calling for confirmation.

I will have to wait for the Letter of Urgency anyways to send with both the license and the request afterwards.

The lady on the phone mentioned, that you CAN take it to Toronto to request for the certificate, but it would take just as much time as mailing it in. I may not take that chance, and just take it straight to Toronto to request the certificate WITH the letter of urgency. I believe it would go faster anyways, because I would be handing it in personally!

Let me know if this works for any of you!

This is the information I was able to gather today.

I called the following service Ontario (see below) and they transferred my call to the Office of the Registrar

777 Bay Street

ON M5G 2C8

Phone: 1-800-267-8097

The lady at the registrar ( I also know her name) said the following:

The priest has to submit the signed documents to us before you can apply for a marriage certificate

The marriage certificate is only available within 8-10 weeks

The only way you can get a marriage certificate in 5 days is if the marriage has been registered a long time ago OR if you have a letter from the consulate suggesting an interview date

There is the option of writing a letter of urgency to the manager of the registrar but priority is only given to people with interview dates

I mentioned how some people with marriages as a few days old were able to get the certificate in 5 days ,to that she replied that its impossible, and that we should reconfirm with them their wedding dates.

Basically she said its best to just “wait” as it was obvious she was discouraging any sort of expeditation. She also told me not to waste money on getting it expedited.

I was going through all the services that are offered by service Ontario and there is something called “Certified copy of Statement of Marriage (long form)” I am not sure what that is, anyone any idea, because if its something certified which means it becomes an official document, then maybe we can use that until we wait for the actual certificate.

I am going to get married, make sure my priest submits the document ASAP, and then I am going downtown to make it work. Show them the requirements of US immigration and speak to the manager if possible OR get them to write me a letter (notarized) that I have applied for a marriage certificate and it would be available in 8-10 weeks etc.

Since, I don’t’ understand, how some people can get it while others can’t. I also don’t understand how USCIS can approve visa application without a certificate for others but would give others people a hard time. They should know it takes 8-10 weeks to get a marriage certificate in Ontario!!

[She_Fitz 0]

ANd NO, NO, NO!!!! Do NOT just send the record of marriage you get the day of getting married -- that is NOT an official document it is not an official Marriage Certificate, USCIS will NOT accept this. That is incorrect information.

You have to get the official document from The Registrar. If anyone else from Ontario can back me up, please do. But that slip is akin to a receipt of purchase, if I may, it's not the actual article.

I think both you guys need to relax a bit there are is SH1TLOADS of forms and stuff to fill out -- they're not hard but you need to be accurate and send these government organizations what they need or you'll only delay yourselves.

Okay?

Good luck. We're here to help. Really.

PS

Do let us know if you do manage to get your Marriage certificate faster and such, I'm sure other Ontarians will want to know this information.

I provided the sheet that we got the day we were married and I received my NOA2 and have moved on to NVC.

It did take 9 or 10 weeks to get the official certificate and I will be providing that to NVC via electronic filing. We have paid our AOS and IV bills.

I can only speak for myself and I may have been lucky... but it worked for me.

I included joint finances and affidavits of people who were at the wedding as well. Don't know if that helped.

[lgg 2]

Wow! Well, I guess it never hurts to try, right? It does annoy me though that they'd be so unkind as to demand one thing but meanwhile, someone else in the same office accepts the thing we were told not to send in! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy if it works out for someone else this way but we would have been 9 weeks ahead if we'd done the same thing.

Well, it's just testament to the fact that there is a definite lack of consistency amongst the government offices!

Good on you though for getting that done quicker. I guess the the thing is, try... you never know, right?

[CAN2US 0]

ANd NO, NO, NO!!!! Do NOT just send the record of marriage you get the day of getting married -- that is NOT an official document it is not an official Marriage Certificate, USCIS will NOT accept this. That is incorrect information.

You have to get the official document from The Registrar. If anyone else from Ontario can back me up, please do. But that slip is akin to a receipt of purchase, if I may, it's not the actual article.

I think both you guys need to relax a bit there are is SH1TLOADS of forms and stuff to fill out -- they're not hard but you need to be accurate and send these government organizations what they need or you'll only delay yourselves.

Okay?

Good luck. We're here to help. Really.

PS

Do let us know if you do manage to get your Marriage certificate faster and such, I'm sure other Ontarians will want to know this information.

I provided the sheet that we got the day we were married and I received my NOA2 and have moved on to NVC.

It did take 9 or 10 weeks to get the official certificate and I will be providing that to NVC via electronic filing. We have paid our AOS and IV bills.

I can only speak for myself and I may have been lucky... but it worked for me.

I included joint finances and affidavits of people who were at the wedding as well. Don't know if that helped.

Hey Please Please help me! and tell me exactly what you submitted...the sheet that your talking about...was it the signed marriage license? or something else? A title of the document would greatly help as I can ask my priest to do just that!

I will also include pictures and everything else plus the receipt that I have submitted payment and applied for a marriage certificate!

Please help!!!