Marriage certificate

[ayrazar]

Hey guys!

I'm sponsoring my NY state (USA) fiance to move to Canada after we get married.

Getting the marriage certificate is definitely the bottlenecking factor in our case. We have a wedding sate set for Dec 19, and then found out it'll take 2-3 months to get the marriage certificate, which slowed a lot of our plans.

A friend of my partner's family who moved to Canada after marriage just told him that the turn around for marriage licences in NY state is much, much quicker. She said she got hers 2 weeks after the marriage because they got married in NY. I can't find anything online supporting this, it says processing only takes 5-10 business days, but not how long it takes for them to receive the marriage license on file and register the marriage. As I understand, thats the slow part for Ontario marriage licenses, that it takes 10 weeks for them to register the marriage after the ceremony/receiving the license. Does anyone have any experience with this and knows it to be true or knows where it states this?

Also, I've already paid the deposit for the officiant for Dec 19, sent out invitations and such, so if we did this we would just be doing a JOP ceremony with no one in attendance in November or so, then still keeping the Dec 19 ceremony. The last thing I want is CIC getting suspicious because we got married ahead of our ceremony date. Do you think it's a cause for concern?

 

[taffy7]

Yes we got married Dec 19th and we had it sent off that day.It still took 10 weeks for us to receive it,which slowed our plans down too . Some people got it a bit faster and if the sponsored person needed it to say in Canada you can get it faster .

Some just sent off the solemnize bit then sent the marriage certificate . Its a chance you can take but i preferred to be safe and not have my application returned . You can apply for the certificate straight away but they still took 10 weeks ..

 

[ayrazar]

Yes we got married Dec 19th and we had it sent off that day.It still took 10 weeks for us to receive it,which slowed our plans down too . Some people got it a bit faster and if the sponsored person needed it to say in Canada you can get it faster .

Some just sent off the solemnize bit then sent the marriage certificate . Its a chance you can take but i preferred to be safe and not have my application returned . You can apply for the certificate straight away but they still took 10 weeks ..

It's more us considering getting the license/certificate in new york state instead that Im wondering about. It asks for the certificate, so either way that's what Im gonna send. I think youre right that sending the license would be risky at best.

 

[keesio]

Hey guys!

I'm sponsoring my NY state (USA) fiance to move to Canada after we get married.

Getting the marriage certificate is definitely the bottlenecking factor in our case. We have a wedding sate set for Dec 19, and then found out it'll take 2-3 months to get the marriage certificate, which slowed a lot of our plans.

A friend of my partner's family who moved to Canada after marriage just told him that the turn around for marriage licences in NY state is much, much quicker. She said she got hers 2 weeks after the marriage because they got married in NY. I can't find anything online supporting this, it says processing only takes 5-10 business days, but not how long it takes for them to receive the marriage license on file and register the marriage. As I understand, thats the slow part for Ontario marriage licenses, that it takes 10 weeks for them to register the marriage after the ceremony/receiving the license. Does anyone have any experience with this and knows it to be true or knows where it states this?

Also, I've already paid the deposit for the officiant for Dec 19, sent out invitations and such, so if we did this we would just be doing a JOP ceremony with no one in attendance in November or so, then still keeping the Dec 19 ceremony. The last thing I want is CIC getting suspicious because we got married ahead of our ceremony date. Do you think it's a cause for concern?

My wife and I got married in Brooklyn, NYC. It took ~4 weeks to get our marriage certificate from the date we got married to when it showed up in her mailbox.

Because CIC does not scrutinize Canadian/American couples so much, you could likely get away with doing a quick City Hall wedding first to get the ball rolling and explain why you did it.

 

[scylla]

I was married in Ontario and applied for my marriage certificate immediately afterwards. I received mine about a week and a half after I got married. It really seems to vary from individual to individual...

 

[keesio]

Note that some people were able to request for expedited processing in Ontario. The below is for someone in Thunder Bay. Maybe you can check if other cities can do this. Doesn't hurt to call.
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sample-letter-proof-of-urgency-marriage-certificate-ontario-t190108.0.html

 

[ayrazar]

Note that some people were able to request for expedited processing in Ontario. The below is for someone in Thunder Bay. Maybe you can check if other cities can do this. Doesn't hurt to call.
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sample-letter-proof-of-urgency-marriage-certificate-ontario-t190108.0.html

We're outland, so it's more just being impatient. We don't have any reason for urgency other than like, wanting to be together as soon as possible.

 

[xabibella]

We applied for our license in the city hall in Manhattan and got it the same day (but it was only valid after a full 24 hours after you applied.) Two weeks after, we got married in Queens City Hall and we got our marriage certificate the same day too. I guess this is only true within NYC though.

edit: I can't post the links but if you look up the NYC City Clerk's office Marriage Bureau in google, there's info there on the license and marriage certificate i.e. if you get married outside of the City Clerk's office, you will get your marriage certificate in 20 days.

 

[keesio]

We applied for our license in the city hall in Manhattan and got it the same day (but it was only valid after a full 24 hours after you applied.) Two weeks after, we got married in Queens City Hall and we got our marriage certificate the same day too. I guess this is only true within NYC though.

edit: I can't post the links but if you look up the NYC City Clerk's office Marriage Bureau in google, there's info there on the license and marriage certificate i.e. if you get married outside of the City Clerk's office, you will get your marriage certificate in 20 days.

I was wondering how you got it the same day until you made your edit. I got married in a church in Brooklyn and yeah it was ~20 days to get it in the mail.

 

[xabibella]

I was wondering how you got it the same day until you made your edit. I got married in a church in Brooklyn and yeah it was ~20 days to get it in the mail.

Yeah we got married in the City Clerk's office in Queens and we were surprised when the officiant just made us sign, took pictures with it and then handed us the paper haha

 

[keesio]

Yeah we got married in the City Clerk's office in Queens and we were surprised when the officiant just made us sign, took pictures with it and then handed us the paper haha

Nice! Yeah that makes sense because after we signed at our wedding, the priest took it and had to mail it to the city clerk's office to get processed. But getting married at the city clerk's office would mean they can process it right then and there!

 

[ayrazar]

We'd be getting married in NY state, not NYC. They have entirely different records, it turns out. Which is odd to me, haha. So I'm curious about NY state outside of NYC.

 

[xabibella]

We'd be getting married in NY state, not NYC. They have entirely different records, it turns out. Which is odd to me, haha. So I'm curious about NY state outside of NYC.

Oh I just looked it up, and you're right. (look up "Information on Getting Married in New York State" and apparently it's handled by the New York State Health Department? Odd indeed.) It says on there "If the marriage license is issued by a town or city clerk in New York State outside of New York City, it costs $40. This fee includes the issuance of a Certificate of Marriage Registration. This certificate is automatically sent by the issuing clerk to the applicants within 15 calendar days after the completed license is returned by the officiant (person who performs the marriage ceremony). It serves as notice that a record of the marriage is on file. Couples who do not receive a Certificate of Marriage Registration within four weeks of the wedding should contact the town or city clerk who issued the license."

 

[ayrazar]

Oh I just looked it up, and you're right. (look up "Information on Getting Married in New York State" and apparently it's handled by the New York State Health Department? Odd indeed.) It says on there "If the marriage license is issued by a town or city clerk in New York State outside of New York City, it costs $40. This fee includes the issuance of a Certificate of Marriage Registration. This certificate is automatically sent by the issuing clerk to the applicants within 15 calendar days after the completed license is returned by the officiant (person who performs the marriage ceremony). It serves as notice that a record of the marriage is on file. Couples who do not receive a Certificate of Marriage Registration within four weeks of the wedding should contact the town or city clerk who issued the license."

Your googling skills far surpass my own. I could not find this anywhere. Boss.

So, I guess it's still if CIC would be snarly about us getting married on a different date than our wedding ceremony (few weeks before), and whether we wanna spend the extra money (can't cancel Dec wedding lawl.) Maybe this means I can apply in like.. Late January 2016!!!!!!

 

[xabibella]

Your googling skills far surpass my own. I could not find this anywhere. Boss.

So, I guess it's still if CIC would be snarly about us getting married on a different date than our wedding ceremony (few weeks before), and whether we wanna spend the extra money (can't cancel Dec wedding lawl.) Maybe this means I can apply in like.. Late January 2016!!!!!!

oh btw, your spouse will need the FBI background check too and those take a couple weeks now. It took around 3-4 months for us (mailed it in March, got them in June :/) so best to get them a little early. But there's a thingy that says it has to be that CIC will receive them within 3 months from when FBI ran the check? I'm not entirely sure. But yeah, waiting for that background check caused the major delay in sending our application to CIC :/