Certificate of non impediment to marry: confusing paragraph. Thoughts people?

[fandv]

Hi people...

I'm a Canadian citizen who will be marrying an Indonesian woman. The wedding will take place in Indonesia. As required by the Indonesian civil registry office, I need to request, from the Canadian embassy in Indonesia, for a certificate of non impediment to marry (which states that Canada has no objection to my marrying, basically).

On Monday, my fianceé sent the application package to the Canadian embassy in Indonesia, and within the envelope was a letter (written by me) which basically stated my request to have the certificate of non impediment to marry.

My fianceé received the "certificate" (which turned out to be a statement in lieu of) in the mail yesterday, and she scanned it to show me how it looks like.

Here it goes:

STATEMENT IN LIEU OF A CERTIFICATE OF NON-IMPEDIMENT TO MARRIAGE

A, bearer of Canadian passport number XXXXXXX, has applied for a Certificate stating that he is free to marry B and that according to Canadian authorities there exists no impediment to his marrying.

Canadian law neither requires nor provides for the issuance of such certificates. Therefore, the embassy is not in a position to issue the certificate required. This statement however, is given in the event that it may be of relevance should the authorities of the country concerned be prepared to consider a waiver of the production of the requested certificate.

Note: A = me, B = my fianceé.

My concern is about the first paragraph. It only restates my request to have a letter that says that:

a. I am free to marry my fianceé
b. The Canadian authorities see no impediment to my marrying

The paragraph doesn't exactly state that Canadian authorities see no impediment to my marrying, which could be misunderstood by the civil registry official who will be reading the letter.

I feel that the paragraph should've been written like this instead:

"A, bearer of Canadian passport number XXXXXXX, has applied for a Certificate stating that he is free to marry B. According to Canadian authorities, there exists no impediment to his marrying."

That way it's very crystal clear that the Canadian authorities see no impediment to my marrying.

Any thoughts? Do you guys agree that the original paragraph is such an ambiguous English...?!

 

[truesmile]

No it's not ambiguous English, it is just VERY CAREFULLY worded is all. All they are really saying is that you have applied for such a certificate and that YOU have stated that you are free to marry under Canadian law. You will have to see if the local issuing office for marriage licenses will accept that. I suspect that they will accept it.

 

[fandv]

All they are really saying is that you have applied for such a certificate and that YOU have stated that you are free to marry under Canadian law.

Thanks for the reply .

Yes that's exactly my point....they only restated what I stated to them. I thought they're supposed to say something along the line of the following?? (more formally of course)

"Hey, A told us that he wants the certificate of non impediment to marry. We did some background checking and we found out that yes, in fact he really is single just like he claims, and is therefore free to marry indeed. Hence we don't object to his marrying."

But the letter doesn't explicitly say that...right??!

 

[OhCanadiana]

Thanks for the reply .

Yes that's exactly my point....they only restated what I stated to them. I thought they're supposed to say something along the line of the following?? (more formally of course)

"Hey, A told us that he wants the certificate of non impediment to marry. We did some background checking and we found out that yes, in fact he really is single just like he claims, and is therefore free to marry indeed. Hence we don't object to his marrying."

But the letter doesn't explicitly say that...right??!

No, but the second paragraph explains that.

Canadian law neither requires nor provides for the issuance of such certificates. Therefore, the embassy is not in a position to issue the certificate required. This statement however, is given in the event that it may be of relevance should the authorities of the country concerned be prepared to consider a waiver of the production of the requested certificate.[/b]

Note: A = me, B = my fianceé.

The first sentence says: Canadian law doesn't (require or) say how to issue these certificates (implicitly they are saying in Canada we don't track this information).
The second sentence says: So we can't give you what you want but we will tell you officially we don't do it and we also are asking officially for a waiver of A and B to provide this certificate.

Given that this came from the Canadian Embassy in Indonesia, I think it's most likely that Indonesia will accept this. I wouldn't worry (this isn't the first time a Canadian marries an Indonesian and they create that document or it would have been really hard/impossible to get the document at all)

 

[fandv]

No, but the second paragraph explains that.

The first sentence says: Canadian law doesn't (require or) say how to issue these certificates (implicitly they are saying in Canada we don't track this information).
The second sentence says: So we can't give you what you want but we will tell you officially we don't do it and we also are asking officially for a waiver of A and B to provide this certificate.

Given that this came from the Canadian Embassy in Indonesia, I think it's most likely that Indonesia will accept this. I wouldn't worry (this isn't the first time a Canadian marries an Indonesian and they create that document or it would have been really hard/impossible to get the document at all)

Ahhh I see!! Makes sense......!

Thanks a lot everyone...what would I do without you guys...!!

 

[OhCanadiana]

Ahhh I see!! Makes sense......!

Thanks a lot everyone...what would I do without you guys...!!

Glad you'll sleep well tonight

 

[fandv]

Glad you'll sleep well tonight

Oh I will indeed .

Btw, just curious: you seem to be extremely experienced about the whole sponsorship thing...!! That's amazing.....Did you sponsor someone, or were you yourself sponsored to Canada? Are you Canadian?

Cheers

 

[Bold9900]

Hello fandv,

I don't know which province are you from. I have the same situation , I'm sponsoring my wife outland (Vietnam) the Vietnamese marriage registration office need the Status Certificate from me. I got this Status Certificate through Service Ontatio cost $10 Cdn applied online and takes 7 days they well mail you a copy. Then I bring it to Ottawa Department of Foreign Affairs to get them notarized and certified for no cost.

I am not sure is this what you are looking for?

 

[fandv]

Hello fandv,

I don't know which province are you from. I have the same situation , I'm sponsoring my wife outland (Vietnam) the Vietnamese marriage registration office need the Status Certificate from me. I got this Status Certificate through Service Ontatio cost $10 Cdn applied online and takes 7 days they well mail you a copy. Then I bring it to Ottawa Department of Foreign Affairs to get them notarized and certified for no cost.

I am not sure is this what you are looking for?

Hi Bold9900,

Thanks for the insight. Well what I need is called the certificate of non impediment to marry. Apparently it's slightly different from what I thought it was. But as everyone clarified, it's in fact acceptable by the Indonesian government, so I guess I'm good now .

 

[dallywally]

fandv,
I just received the same letter from foreign affairs and thought i applied for the wrong document! I was thinking maybe I did this all wrong. I am stressed but I'm starting to think this is the proper document/letter from foreign affairs, and my marriage date can finally be set up. I'm curious how your marriage worked out with this document? Thanks

 

[Christoph100]

Ok the certificate everyone is searching for is normally only available from the Canadian Embassy. It is known by several different names.

Marriage Affidavit
Certificate of legal capacity to marry
Affidavit of single status.
Original affidavit of marriage status.
Certificate of No impediments.

The embassy will charge around $50.00 and you normally can not get this unless you are present at the
embassy as it is a sworn statement that will be notarized, officiated by a consular officer of the embassy.

this is just an example of one. ... (do not use it as every country is slightly different.)

Marriage Affidavit

I ______________, bearer of Canadian Passport number__________________issued at________on________was born on ________in_______and my address in Canada is __________

I am fully qualified and eligible to marry a __________________citizen in Thailand and there are no impediments to doing so pursuant to Canadian law.

My occupation is ________________________________
My income is CAD$_____________________________per month
I am ____________(single, divorced,widowed)
I do do not have dependents or support other persons.

References in Canada who may be contacted concerning my character and the veracity of the above information are full address in Canada Required)

1. _____________________________
2. _____________________________


Signature:__________________


FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Affirmed/Sworn before me
this____________day of _____,_________
at the Embassy of Canada, Bangkok, Thailand


Hope this gives everyone an idea of what it is your really searching for with the Certificate of No Impediments.

Chris

 

[MofC2014]

what you have posted is the sworn affidavit (you need to prepare it and notarize it with your own lawyer) and submit to either the ministry of foreign affairs in Ottawa or to a canadian embassy with a cover letter asking for a certificate of non impediment of marriage. Canadian Embassy or Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares a form based on the sworn affidavit they were provided.

Also not only embassies abroad provide this, the ministry of foreign affairs in Ottawa does as well and through the ministry it's free.

 

[Christoph100]

what you have posted is the sworn affidavit (you need to prepare it and notarize it with your own lawyer) and submit to either the ministry of foreign affairs in Ottawa or to a canadian embassy with a cover letter asking for a certificate of non impediment of marriage. Canadian Embassy or Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares a form based on the sworn affidavit they were provided.

Also not only embassies abroad provide this, the ministry of foreign affairs in Ottawa does as well and through the ministry it's free.

I have been down this road... I did not need a lawyer and the Canadian Embassy will notarize it in the foreign country providing you are present. The $50.00 is the charge for notarizing at the embassy.

Its simple to get just walk into the Embassy and ask for it. Or before going abroad contact the Embassy and they will gladly provide the affidavit, Just have to wait to sign it in front of them.

This is the only thing I had there was no certificate and as long as it was authorized by the Embassy and stamped it was accepted, However it had to be translated first and then legalized for use in Thailand at Thai DFA. Other countries may be different. My wife's was similar but a certificate was issued from her country and no lawyer used either.

Chris

 

[Astri Kusmanti]

Hi, I just read your question and I have the same question. Anyways I am Indonesian, I have Canadian bf and plan to engage first. I am sorry if I am asking here cos I think its similar problem. My bf is a widowed. Is there a rules in Canada that you should wait until 5 years before you can get remarry (due the fraud problem that happened there, which use marriage as the reason)? Cos to get married in Indonesia, he needs to get the certificate of non Impediment like you talk about. The problem is his status as a widow, should he wait til 5 years before he can get marry again? And you said it was your gf that send application to Canada Embassy in Indonesia, shouldn't you come there by yourself? I thought that is how the procedure should be. I am sorry if this little bit confusing. Hope somebody can answer my question. Thanks, God bless