Certified True Copies?

[KelseyTVS]

I'm curious - in Guide 3900 it says copies of documents have to be taken to a notary and certified as true copies. It's unclear whether or not this is for all documents or only translated documents. So if the documents are already in English, do photocopies need to be certified, like passports, marriage certificates, etc?

 

[Majromax]

I'm curious - in Guide 3900 it says copies of documents have to be taken to a notary and certified as true copies. It's unclear whether or not this is for all documents or only translated documents. So if the documents are already in English, do photocopies need to be certified, like passports, marriage certificates, etc?

Certification is only necessary for translated documents. The statutory declaration of a common-law union will also need notarization, but not translation (obviously). Otherwise, CIC requires either original documents (like the Option C printout) or photocopies (like birth certificates). As a married US-citizen applicant, I did not need to have anything notarized.

 

[Mapleson]

A certified true copy is different than the declaration of translation. The certified true copy is done by comparing the original to the photocopy and stating that it is an exact duplicate. The copy certification must be on the photocopied page. If that page is non-English, it would subsequently be translated.

The requirement for certified true copies varies by country.