First off all the documents I'm sending are "originals" that is the original official documents provided by the Panama government. Surely this nonsense about certified true copies is not required? I can't imagine what purpose it serves to photocopy a document and get the copy certified when I'm sending the original anyway. But past experience has taught me that there are generally no limits to bureaucratic stupidy, so it would be nice to confirm that one way or the other.
The second part is I can get them translated by a certified translator (not Canada certified, just whatever passes for certified here), then surely I don't have to drag the translator to a notary and get him to swear an affidavit? I checked with the Canadian embassy here, and they said I can take the translations to the ministry of foreign affairs here, get them to validate the signature of the translator, and then take that to the Canadian embassy where they validate the validation from the ministry of foreign affairs. Surely that's enough? The woman at the embassy thought so, but it's not her money and time on the line here. CIC makes no mention of anything like that.
In general, the directions are horrifyingly vague and unhelpful. Is there a number for CIC I can call to get a human to clarify some of this stuff? Navigating the whole PR process has been very unpleasant so far.
The second part is I can get them translated by a certified translator (not Canada certified, just whatever passes for certified here), then surely I don't have to drag the translator to a notary and get him to swear an affidavit? I checked with the Canadian embassy here, and they said I can take the translations to the ministry of foreign affairs here, get them to validate the signature of the translator, and then take that to the Canadian embassy where they validate the validation from the ministry of foreign affairs. Surely that's enough? The woman at the embassy thought so, but it's not her money and time on the line here. CIC makes no mention of anything like that.
In general, the directions are horrifyingly vague and unhelpful. Is there a number for CIC I can call to get a human to clarify some of this stuff? Navigating the whole PR process has been very unpleasant so far.