Posted by RedBaron/IN on 11/17/10 11:33am
Msg #361684

Canadian Marriage License

A man called me and ask me to certify a copy of his marriage license to send to the Canadian Government to help his wife qualify for a pension. Has anyone done this and what did you do?

Reply by Philip Johnson on 11/17/10 11:43am
Msg #361689

3rd question from the bottom gives guidance to this

http://www.in.gov/sos/business/2481.htm

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 11/17/10 12:15pm
Msg #361696

what does your SOS handbook say about certifying

vital statistic documents?

Reply by PAW on 11/17/10 12:25pm
Msg #361697

The man needs to be directed to the proper office within the province that the marriage license was filed. Only that office can make a certified copy. (Just like the US, the issuing authority is the only authority that can make a certified copy.)

For Ontario, they need to contact the Office of the Registrar General. (That's the only province that I have information on.) A certified copy can be requested using the Office of the Registrar General's Online Certificate Application website - https://www.orgforms.gov.on.ca/eForms/start.do

In my experience, it took a VERY, very long time to get a certified copy of a birth certificate from that office. I would imagine the same would hold true for marriage licenses.

Reply by Caring Hands Services Inc - Carol on 11/17/10 2:45pm
Msg #361726

Hi there,

To Certify a marriage certificate it must be sent to the Secretary of State for the state the document originated from. The Authentication Office is the division that processes the document for use in a foreign country.

The document will be issued an Apotille which is the certification used for countries that are part of the Hague Treaty (Canada is a Hague country). We do this everyday for our clients and would be glad to assist this person if that would help you.

Feel free to contact us.

Carol

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/17/10 2:49pm
Msg #361727

What?

Carol, I think you misunderstood the original post - he wants to know if he can notarize a copy of a marriage license -

To my knowledge, SOS's don't issue apostilles for marriage certificates - they authenticate the notary who did the notarization.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/17/10 2:53pm
Msg #361728

Re: What? ... reading the post again

if the OP can, in fact, certify a copy of the marriage license (which is unlikely) the document holder will have to get an apostille attached also from the SOS for the notary's signature (authenticating his notary standing).

Apologies...maybe I misunderstood your response.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/17/10 8:28pm
Msg #361781

Carol...I was wrong...my apologies...

SOS, at least in FL, do issue apostilles for marriage certs to be used in a foreign country...

Reply by PAW on 11/17/10 7:09pm
Msg #361770

I misunderstood. I thought the license was issued in Canada. My bad.

>>> The document will be issued an Apotille which is the certification used for countries that are part of the Hague Treaty (Canada is a Hague country). <<<

BTW, Canada HAS NOT ratified or acceded to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. (See http://tinyurl.com/2egagap for details.) Notarized documents from US states are issued Certificates of Notarial Authority (or similar document, depending on the state). Public Record documents are issued a similar document authenticating the signature on the certified copy. (Since Canada is not a member of this specific Convention, an apostille will not be provided.) These documents must then be authenticated by the US Department of State and finally, legalized by the Embassy/Consulate of Canada.

But, the recipient of the document may not want or need full legalization of the license. Therefore, the certified copy may be enough to satisfy the requirement.