Ontario Marriage Certificate vs. Certified Copy of Statement of Marriage

[fnet87]

Hi guys,

I am confused as to whether the Certified Copy of Statement of Marriage (Long Form) can be used in place of the Marriage Certificate (File Size) for marriage in Ontario.

I am sponsoring my wife for immigration as we recently got married on Feb 18, 2012 in Ontario. We applied for an expedited marriage certificate and we checked "Long Form" thinking it would be the more detailed version and that CIC would have preferred that. We just received it today (2.5 weeks later) but I noticed that all it is is a photocopy of the Marriage Licence filled out, with the Registrar General's signature filled in and dated. On the top of the certificate, it says "Certified A True Photostatic Print of a Record on file at the Office of the Registar General Ontario, Canada". It has a certificate number and a stamp/signature of the Registar General at the bottom.

Some people on the forum say that the "Long Form" is acceptable while on another forum it says that this is not accepted by CIC and that it is not really a Marriage Certificate.
Personally I don't see why they need to be picky as it has all our information/signature/witnesses' signatures and proof that the marriage was registered..

Could someone please clarify if I can send in the Certified Copy of Statement of Marriage? If not I'd have to go request the "File Size" again, which could delay the process again.

 

[NBaker]

The document check list states photocopy of the marriage certificate if married other than in Quebec in Canada so if this is not sent you are likely to expect delay.

The documents are quite different.

You could certainly send what you have, but as noted delay is certainly a possibility. If you get the other you could send both since the one supports the other, but not necessary provided the document requested is sent with the application to avoid delay once it is opened and reviewed.

 

[smokijoe]

My wife and I got married in Canada and we used the record of Solemnization of Marriage to send with our application, as we did not want to wait the 12 weeks as required by Ontario. It was accepted by CIC, but when our file reached the VO we then sent on the marriage certificate as we had by then received it.

 

[tajc]

Now, I am confused. For our sponsorship application we did send the solemnization of marriage which was accepted by CIC Mississauga. The VO on the other hand was asking for a copy of our marriage certificate. Talking to an agent from Vital Statistics, he said the long form of the marriage Registration should be fine. I mean it has a registration number, and it is an official document. We waited 4 weeks to get it. Whats the big difference between a certificate and a certified copy of statement of marriage? I just can hope, our VO will accept our added document.

 

[fnet87]

Tajc, Sorry to hear that you share the same dilemma as me. The application form for the certificate is really deceiving...the marriage certificate (File size) is labeled "Only basic information such as names, date etc" whereas the Statement of Marriage is indicated to have ALL information of the marriage registration. We obviously chose the latter as it was more fulsome.

Just don't understand why CIC won't accept a more fulsome/complete document that is issued by the SAME government office (Ontario Registrar General) and is an official document, just with a title different from "Marriage Certificate".... but obviously that is what bureaucracy is....

I've ordered the "file-size" marriage certificate online just now, which may take god knows how long to arrive but I think in the meantime we will send in the Certified Copy of Statement of Marriage (Long Form) with a cover letter as you did and hopefully the Visa Office in France would accept that as a Marriage Certificate.

To Clarify another point, if you write a cover letter stating that the certificate will follow, the CIC Mississauga office will accept that and forward it to the Visa office? then subsequently you send everything to the Visa Office? Or does CIC Mississauga accept the reason and hold the application in Canada until you send Mississauga your certificate before they forward everything to the Visa Office?

 

[6133029671]

Good day. Would anyone happen to have a web link to an Ontario Marriage certificate Long-Form? (I just want to see what the form actually looks like to ensure I sent in the proper documentation) I’m confused what the difference is between the “Ontario Certificate of Marriage” vs “Certified copy of Marriage Licence” or is this the same form, but just referred to it with a different name? Any enlighten would be greatly appreciated.