sponsor my colombian girlfriend

[fab]

Hi,

I got a Colombian girlfriend and I want to her to come to Canada with me.

I wanted to know what is the best way to do it ? Can we get married at the civil in Colombian and put our application in or we got to have a ceremony with all the family ?
thank you

 

[Sweden]

Hi,

I got a Colombian girlfriend and I want to her to come to Canada with me.

I wanted to know what is the best way to do it ? Can we get married at the civil in Colombian and put our application in or we got to have a ceremony with all the family ?
thank you

You will have to sponsor her to come to Canada as your partner, or your spouse.
If you have lived together for 12 months and can prove it, you can apply under the "common law partner".

If you have not lived together for 12 months, then you have to get married first and then apply (unless there are some barriers to you getting married, but from your post it doesn't seem so).

About the type of marriage - it depends on your situation. CIC will assess if you are in a genuine relationship to grant the visa. If you have been together for a long time, have lots of proofs etc, then a "civil marriage" might be enough. But you have to be prepared to explain why you didn't have a traditional marriage with all the family etc. If you have a good explanation, then you can choose....

You have to convince the VO that you are in a genuine relationship and you didn't get married just for the purpose of immigration. some VO are more suspicious than others, because of previous history of marriage of convenience in the region, or any other reason, so it also depends on where you will be applying from.

If you will go through Bogota ( for the second stage, the first one is always done in Canada), then you might want to read the thread for people going through Bogota to get a better idea, and also get their opinion of what is considered acceptable for Bogota VO. Here is the thread from the beginning http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/bogota-visa-office-2012-applicants-t109614.0.html, there are a few pages to read, but it will give you a better idea of what to get prepared for, and you can also ask questions to people that are in a similar situation (canadian/colombian couples).

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[canadianwoman]

I wanted to know what is the best way to do it ? Can we get married at the civil in Colombian and put our application in or we got to have a ceremony with all the family ?

A ceremony with family and friends will look better on the application. There is a question about whether relatives were at the wedding ceremony, and if not you have to explain why.
A civil ceremony is good enough, though, just be aware that it is not as 'convincing' as a more formal wedding. If you do have just a civil ceremony, then try to make it look special: get dressed up, have at least a few friends or relatives if possible, have a ring, flowers, go out for dinner afterward. etc. Anything that shows that it was a special occasion for you two.

 

[amikety]

Colombia has one of the highest rates of emmigration. Due to it's political climate, wars, and social unrest, a lot of people do whatever they can to leave. And if I know this, Immigration Canada knows this too. You can have a civil wedding, but I would recommend doing the best you for a wedding, even if it's small with only a few guests. Even if only a brother or aunt can make it.... make sure you have pictures and your decriptions of events match the pictures. Pictures should include you, your bride, and guests. If you can have some sort of reception, even a dinner at a restaurant, that's great.

Do the best you can. Immigration will respect your right to have a small civil wedding (which is what we've done). Just remember, the burden of proof is on us in these applications

 

[fab]

our idea was having something small with my parents. her mother and brothers and sisters. something small small ceremony with a dinner in a nice place.
does that sound right ?

no church wedding is it ok ?
thank you guys !

 

[Sweden]

our idea was having something small with my parents. her mother and brothers and sisters. something small small ceremony with a dinner in a nice place.
does that sound right ?

no church wedding is it ok ?
thank you guys !

sounds like a good plan - your family will be there, her family as well, and some celebrations afterwards in a nice place. It doesn't matter that it is not in church as it is not a requirement, but make sure that you take lots of pictures (see previous comments) and keep the receipt for booking the place, the restaurants, eventually the plane tickets for your family coming to Colombia etc... everything that helps prove that you had a wedding and it was special, that your family was there etc.

Good luck in putting together your application,
Sweden

 

[amikety]

It's great to have family there.

South Americans are stereotyped as being very Catholic. If she happens to be, she might want to write a statement why she preferred a civil wedding.

 

[ccunnington]

Something else to consider is the cost of getting married abroad. My wife and I had a small civil wedding here in Colombia, and it cost me $900 to get my documentation translated and apostled just for a civil wedding. (birth certificate, and statement to legally marry.) If we were to get married in the church, the priest we talked to said they would additionally need my baptism and confirmation certificates, translated and apostled, which would have been another $900, and that's before you pay for a wedding! The apostling is required as Canada didn't sign the Hague treaty of 1967, or whatever year it was!!

 

[lunas]

It's great to have family there.

South Americans are stereotyped as being very Catholic. If she happens to be, she might want to write a statement why she preferred a civil wedding.

I second that!!

 

[AnaMaria]

Hi,

I got a Colombian girlfriend and I want to her to come to Canada with me.

I wanted to know what is the best way to do it ? Can we get married at the civil in Colombian and put our application in or we got to have a ceremony with all the family ?
thank you

May I ask how long and how often you have been dating?

 

[fab]

for about one year. and I have been in Colombia for 6 months.
I am going back in a few months.

 

[canadianwoman]

our idea was having something small with my parents. her mother and brothers and sisters. something small small ceremony with a dinner in a nice place.
does that sound right ?

no church wedding is it ok ?

That sounds like it will be fine. Keep proof of everything!

 

[fab]

Something else to consider is the cost of getting married abroad. My wife and I had a small civil wedding here in Colombia, and it cost me $900 to get my documentation translated and apostled just for a civil wedding. (birth certificate, and statement to legally marry.) If we were to get married in the church, the priest we talked to said they would additionally need my baptism and confirmation certificates, translated and apostled, which would have been another $900, and that's before you pay for a wedding! The apostling is required as Canada didn't sign the Hague treaty of 1967, or whatever year it was!!

900$ ? where did it go ?
I'm also looking at that but its far away from 900$ what doucments you neaded to get married at civil ?

thanks

 

[amikety]

Anything in Spanish will have to be translated into English or French. You'll need a translator as we as a notary, judge, or commissioner of oaths to certify the translation is a true and accurate translation. Which means you'll need to find someone that can read and write Spanish and English/French. You'll also need items such as her birth certificate translated. These services can get pricey.

Translations cannot be done by you or any member of the family. It needs to be someone independent.

 

[doorsopen]

I also had many questions regarding the papers before I got married. I kept a list of what is required. Here is that list. Note that your individual requirements might be different to mine. Some variables you should be aware of:
- I am Canadian and British. I hold dual citizenship for both countries, but I live in Vancouver/Canada.
- I was born in England
- I was married before, but no kids
- Check with the notary in Colombia who is marrying you. Their requirements might be different.


Notes:
- In Colombia, since they don't have centralized record keeping, you have to post a notice in the newspaper or somewhere a week before you are married.
- Required to be in country for 4 days prior to the wedding.
- Apostilled in Canada = "Authentication" + "Legalization". Authenticate at the DFAIT in Ottawa. Colombian Consulate in Vancouver can legalize. Canada is not a member of the Hague Convention so there is no "apostile"

THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED TO DO:
1) Canadian Passport
- Needs to be notarized in Canada.
- Then the notary's signature needs to be authenticated at the DFAIT in Ottawa (I used this company: http://www.alscanada.ca/authentication_apostille.html)
- Have the passport translated from an official translator (I had the contact information of the person to use in Vancouver. Approved by Colombian consulate in Vancouver)
- Take translated version to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization
- Take original version to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization
Go to the notaria in Colombia before the wedding to present original passport, sign a bunch of docs, have fingerprint taken, etc.

2) British Birth Certificate:
- Apply for a long form birth certificate from vital statistics - from UK
- Get it apostilled from here: http://www.apostilles.org/birth-certificate-apostille.html
- Have the birth certificate translated from an official translator (I had the contact information of the person to use in Vancouver. Approved by Colombian consulate in Vancouver)
- Take translated version to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization
- Take original version to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization

3) Notice of BC search of marriage
- Apply for a "marriage search certificate" in British Colombia from here: http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/genealogy/geneal_serch_marit_recrd.html
- Get it Authenticated from here: http://www.alscanada.ca/authentication_apostille.html
- Have the search of marriage translated
- Take translated document to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization
- Take original to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization

4) BC Divorce Certificate
- Get divorce certificate from here: http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/family/divorce/certificate.htm. 800 Smithe Street M-F 9-4. Counter 209. $40.
- Make sure you get the correct spelling of the signature of the person who signs the divorce certificate
- Get it Authenticated from here: http://www.alscanada.ca/authentication_apostille.html
- Have the divorce certificate translated
- Take translated document to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization
- Take original to Consulate in Vancouver for legalization

Can get docs 1, 3 and 4 authenticated from here: http://www.alscanada.ca/applynow_AL.php

Note: "Authentication" = by DFAIT to make the documents legit by the Canadian government (saying that your province's civil registry is true and the government of Canada says it's a legit and legal paper)
Note: "Legalized" = document verified as being legitimate: http://www.alscanada.ca/embassylegalization.html

In Colombia:
Note: I didn't need to do this - but other people were not allowed to be married until they did. I had to show my notary pictures of me and my fiance on Facebook together so that he would allow us to skip this! Crazy I know.
- The MRE (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) needs to legalize the documents that the consulate authorized, then you make the translation by an official translator (from MRE's list) and then you need to legalize the translation by MRE again.
- If you cannot speak Spanish, you will need an official translator for the marriage.

And then if you want to bring your spouse to Canada you are going to need to apply for her permanent residency, and as you can tell by this forum, that is a whole lot of "fun".

Good luck.