Vietnam - get married abroad or in Canada

[John Ey]

Hi, I am planning to get married to my Vietnamese fiancee in April. We are doing the ceremony in Vietnam and I originally had plans to do the legal marriage there too because it's quite cheap. But I just discovered there is quite a difficult procedure for me to get my documents translated and notarized in Canada first. I am going off the procedure mentioned in the embassy website. The goal here is just to get it done legally and as cheaply as possible. If anyone has done this process before do you know if its cheaper to just get the marriage done in Canada? The thing I dont understand is when she comes to Canada will we have to pay for the health exam (I have employer health benefits but she is not legally my "spouse" yet?). Otherwise it is quite cheap for her to obtain her paperwork in vietnam (marriage status, police records, medical records) and get them translated and notarized. But I am betting it will cost a fortune for me to get the below documents translated and notarized in Canada!


https://www.vietnamembassy.ca/marriage-procedure

• Single Status Declaration done before a Canadian notary public or Commissioner of Oaths (The statutory declaration must have your full name, present marital status and your permanent address in Canada.
  
• Notarized copy of Marriage Search, issued by Provincial Vital Statistics certifies that no marriage certificate or marriage record of the applicant has been found for the period from the beginning of legal age for marriage to date.
  
• Notarized copy of Medical Certificate, issued by an authorized medical organization or physician and clearly indicates that the applicant is free from mental and infectious diseases, has no sexually transmitted diseases (especially free from HIV/AIDS) with supporting reports of physician examination and blood tests and is generally healthy and fit to get married (only the page with the comments of doctor needs to be translated into Vietnamese; results of tests are not required to be translated).
  
  
• Notarized copy of Birth Certificate certified by a Notary Public or Commissioner for Oath. In case of having no copy of Birth Certificate (lost, dismissed or cannot obtained), the applicant should make an Affidavit or Statutory Declaration in lieu of Birth certificate.
  
  
  
• Notarized copy of personal documents (Passport, Citizenship Card/Landed Immigrant document).
  
  
  
• Notarized copy of Certificate of changing name (if any)
  

 

[hungvangg]

Are you Vietnamese Canadian or just Canadian? Because I am going to translate and notarize documents for my wife in Vietnam. I can help you a little bit if I can

 

[mikeymyke]

I wish I knew you didnt need to go thru the Viet Embassy for translations, as it costed me $70 per page lol, this was 4 years ago

Just get the entire marriage done in VN, its way cheaper, and you need to do the medical and background check there as well. While you're there, also remmeber to get your docs translated to English and notarized, its way cheaper to do that in VN. And a tip is make sure you do the correct criminal check in VN, I believe its #2 version, not #1, double check the instructions. I made that mistake before. After all docs are translated and you have all the medical and criminal checks, you can return to Canada with everything you need

 

[John Ey]

I'm Canadian not Canadian Vietnamese, I dont understand how I could get the background check done there, since I would have no records with their government? The problem is with our timeline I would have to mail my documents to her before the wedding and I'm not sure if she can get them translated/notarized there without me present. As far as I know there's very little requirement to get the marriage license in Canada, and her other documents (background, health check, ID) have to get translated anyway for the inland application we're planning?

 

[mikeymyke]

Oh you guys are doing inland? I thought you were thinkin about it and then deciding to go with outland instead? My wife did outland and got PR in 5 months.

About the background check I was talking about your spouse.

You'll have to ask your wife to contact a translator to see if you need be present for all the notarizing and stuff.

Also you need to note that to do inland, she would have to be in Canada, and there's no guarantee she will be allowed entry, especially if you mention you plan on doing inland

 

[John Ey]

that's something I don't understand well about inland, since she already has a TRV and has visited twice. We figured it would be better to tell the truth at the border saying we plan to marry and apply for inland in Canada. But if they were to deny her entry it would be kind of stupid because the whole process of inland application is to allow TRV holders to marry while visiting right? I assume the reason for allowing it isn't so visitors will tell a bold faced lie to the immigration officer "I have no plans to marry, just visiting" and then once they're allowed inside, marry and apply.

 

[mikeymyke]

Dont get me wrong, you should always tell the truth at the border, but there's a difference between "not mentioning something" vs outright lying. If they ask you straight up if you plan on marrying, you should tell the truth or risk a ban on entering Canada. If they dont ask about why you're visiting, there's no need to even mention the marriage.

You mentioned that your wife has visited twice right? If she's already seen you twice in a short period of time and now wants to see you a third time, they might even decide to refuse her entry because she's came here so many times already and may not be a genuine visitor. This is unlikely though because she's respected the terms of her stay.

My opinion is since she's already got a TRV and visited twice w no overstay or issues, I think the chances are in her favor she can enter. But its ok because even if shes denied, you should already have all the documents on hand to do an outland app

Also you need to be aware if she goes inland, she cannot leave Canada for more than a couple weeks or the app is refused. I know that more often than not, people tend to miss home and want to go back to visit folks or a family member is sick and they want to go back, so you need to keep that in mind.

And finally how would you judge the strength of your relationship? Small age difference, long courtship before marriage, both parents attending wedding, traditional ceremony performed, etc are all positive factors. If you lack a lot of these things or you feel your relationship has red flags, might be better to do an outland because if she's refused during an inland relationship interview, she cannot appeal it

 

[John Ey]

I think we will have a strong case, she has visited twice in 2 years and I have visited 3 times to vietnam. I assume the very first questions at the border is 1.What is the purpose of your visit and 2. How long is your stay. Anyhow I'm not too concerned about the sponsorship more about the actual legal marriage. Did you get married in vietnam? If so did you have to show the proof of single status?

 

[mikeymyke]

I did marry in VN, and yes I had to show it, along with all those docs listed on the embassy website, translated and all. Make sure you go thru the sponsorship checklist and see what docs are needed when returning to canada and get them translated to english in VN, its way cheaper

 

[nayr69sg]

Get married wherever is more convenient.

 

[YVR123]

If anyone has done this process before do you know if its cheaper to just get the marriage done in Canada? The thing I dont understand is when she comes to Canada will we have to pay for the health exam (I have employer health benefits but she is not legally my "spouse" yet?). O

It doesn't matter where she will get her health exam, you will need to pay it out of pocket. I do not think extended benefit will cover health exam for immigration.

 

[John Ey]

thank you guys, also another question on the guide it explains translation of documents must include:

1.English/French translation.
2. Affidavit from person who completed the translation
3. Certified copy of original document (that has to have printed...I certify this is a true copy of the original document, name, date, title, signature)

What is the difference between #2 and #3? Is #2 another piece of paper? Is it one document for the translator covering all the documents, or is it a separate copy for each document?


Also I'm confused about "must declare all family members" but it says family members are only dependant children and their dependant children? So siblings, parents, are not "family members"? Why dont they just say children or grandchildren...

 

[YVR123]

Also I'm confused about "must declare all family members" but it says family members are only dependant children and their dependant children? So siblings, parents, are not "family members"? Why dont they just say children or grandchildren...

The word "dependant" is important. Once children are over age of 22 or if they are married or have a common-law relationship, they are NOT consider "family member" any more.

Siblings and parents are "additional family members". I think their names needed to be list in another form for "additional family members"