Kazza said:
Hello everybody!!! This is the second time I post on here, last time I was getting ready to get married. It was a bit surprising all the paperwork we had to deal with in order to get married in Mexico City but we are now done with that and my husband is back in Canada. We are getting ready to start the sponsorship process (He is the Canadian citizen, I´m Mexican, from D.F.) and we are going to do it Outland. Today while reading the immigration guides, I realized they are requesting all copies to be certified which makes sense and have already done that with our marriage certificate but I wonder if this is applicable for the copies of all the emails we have sent to each other so far??? Do I just print every single one of them and go to a notary to certify they are legit? Sounds a bit over the top to me but nothing would surprise me any more... How about my birth certificate? Do I have to get it legalized with all the local government offices and the canadian embassy just as we did with the marriage certificate? Thanks again and by the way, it was really kind of you to answer to my previous question...
Congratulations on your wedding
1. For your birth certificate, it is best if you send them a 'copia certificada,' often referred to as 'originales' in Mexico. You can get them printed in the Registro Civil or in the centros de servicio in some Gigantes. You'll need to take it with you for the SSP so get it and you can use the same one to submit with your application.
2. Same thing for your marriage certificate. Keep the legalized copy for future use if you ever need it in Canada and just get an 'original.'
To clarify, certified copy is just what Mexicans call 'original.'. Legalization is the process of taking that original to get it stamped by various government authorities in the issuing country and then the receiving country to certify that it is a true document. Since you've done the whole process through the Embassy, if you are ever in Ottawa just have it stamped by Foreign Affairs so you are all done in case you ever need it.
3. For the police certificates, you need to send the originals. Note that you need to submit the SSP one upfront now and the Embassy will later send you the request letter for the PGR.
4. For e-mails just print them out - no need to get them certified. And, usually no need to send every single one either. Send enough evidence (photos, e-mails, letters, phone bills, whatever) so that a total stranger is convinced of your relationship based solely on the documentation. So, usually a selection of photos and e-mails combined with other items you may have works well.
Good luck! Don't hesitate to keep asking
