He got Divorce order a year ago and got Divorce certificate just today after being married
I do not know precisely the answer to the question. I have my
guess (somewhat educated guess, but a guess) below.
YOUR FRIEND SHOULD CONSULT A LAWYER TO CHECK.
If I'm right, this is a fairly easy answer and won't require that much more inquiry or additional steps. But the correct answer may depend on which province and some other details.
If so, great, the lawyer may just confirm what I've said below.
BUT I MAY BE WRONG. HE NEEDS TO ASK A LAWYER with specific of his case.
Sorry for caps. But I think this is important and it will save him a lot of trouble.
Hi everyone
My friend was married in 2015, stayed together for one week but the woman did not want to move to Canada from Europe. In 2022 he applied for divorce to Ontario Court and got Divorce order in March 2023. Unfortunately he did not ask for Divorce Certificate. In September this year, he went back to his home, Africa, with the Divorce order, Ontario Marriage Search that was Notarized. He came back getting married. While he was trying to apply to sponsor his spouse, he came across 'Divorce Certificate', with curiosity he went to the court where he got Divorce Order and got it within 10 minutes. Question: will CIC accept and his current marriage without Divorce certificate? If no, then what should he do other than going back to remarry? Appreciated.
My
understanding (on which I base my guess) is that in Ontario at least (and other provinces likely similar) divorce orders are the initial order and take effect 31 days after the divorce order is published.
See here for example:
https://divorceoffice.ca/ontario-divorce-certificates/
Canada typically requires (to carry out a marriage within Canada) the divorce certificate, as that also comes with central registration of the marriage having legally ended.
I therefore am
guessing that there is no particular issue (even though it should have been done with the divorce certificate) as long as the marriage in Africa was carried out
after the divorce took effect.
That sounds like it's the case with the timeline you provided. And I presume the divorce certificate that he got shows the actual (legal) date of the divorce, i.e. from 2023. (It shouldn't matter what date the physical copy he got issued says on it).
I don't know beyond this simple logical conclusion - and I don't know what the Ontario marriage search document is (or if it's meaningful in this context).
To me the simple facts should be:
-marriage was dissolved by court order in 2023, as attested by the divorce certificate.
-marriage was legally carried out in country in Africa.
-Canada shouldn't much care what documents were shown to get married there (and I don't think IRCC will ask for all those docs - just the new marriage certificate and the divorce certificate, probably the old marriage certificate too - but not the other docs he showed in Africa to demonstrate he was divorced).
In other words, Canada will generally recognize a marriage abroad as long as the person wasn't married at the time (and a few other things like not a proxy marriage, etc). Doesn't sound like he was married at the time.
But to others in this situation: get the actual divorce certificate. No sense risking it when getting the divorce certificate only means waiting 31 days. (And of course if the divorce doesn't take legal effect for some reason - you've committed bigamy).