Colombia is a fascinating country with a wealth of culture as well as challenges arising from a history of political violence which thankfully nowadays is usually dealt with through political negotiation. Given Colombia’s colorful history, you might think that getting married in the country is a little like getting married in the Wild West.
That would be a mistake.
The documentation required is in fact idiosyncratic, complex, and can be a little confusing to a foreign national not used to Latin America’s bureaucracy. And there is one mistake you should be careful not to make.
You do NOT need a Marriage Visa (M1 Visa) to get married in Colombia.
An M1 Visa – or Marriage Visa – in Colombia is in fact the equivalent of a spousal sponsorship in Canada, but in the opposite direction. If you apply for an M1 Visa, you are applying as a foreign national for residence in Colombia as well as the right to work in the country, followed by permanent residence if you fulfill the requirements, and after a number of years, you are usually eligible for Colombian citizenship.
This blog, however, is about sponsoring your Colombian spouse to come to Canada, so we’ll be giving you an overview of how to get married in Colombia – without an M1 Visa – and then how to sponsor your spouse to Canada. Nevertheless, we will give a brief summary of the requirements of a Colombian Marriage Visa afterwards, in case Cartagena or Bogota bewitches you and you decide to move to the country.
But please remember, our purpose here is help you get started on marrying and then sponsoring your Colombian spouse to Canada.
GETTING MARRIED IN COLOMBIA
Your first step is usually finding a notary in Colombia and going through the documents required for marriage in the country, which reportedly can sometimes vary from one notary to another. Your Colombian to-be spouse should usually be able to take care of this.
CIVIL MARRIAGE
In general, the foreign spouse will have to provide:
- A long-form birth certificate issued within 90 days or less of your marriage date.
- In Colombia, your civil status is indicated on your birth certificate every time it is updated. However, Canadians will usually have to show proof of civil status through a Statement in lieu of, as explained below.
- A valid passport with a valid tourist stamp – Canadians don’t need a visa to visit Colombia as a tourist. Please remember that your tourist stamp is valid for 90 days and can be renewed up to 180 days when gathering documents. Please also remember that the documents cannot have been issued more than 90 days before the wedding date.
- Proof you are single – for Canadians this usually means a Statement in lieu of a certificate of non-impediment to marriage abroad. Check with your Colombian notary to see if additional documentation is required as proof of civil status.
- A divorce certificate if you are divorced.
- Remember that in Colombia marriage, divorce, and civil status are recorded as annotations to your birth certificate. Explain to your Colombian notary that this is not the case in Canada (or in most other countries) and that a separate divorce certificate is instead issued.
- A death certificate of your previous spouse if you are widowed.
- If you already have children, in Colombia they require an inventory of the children’s assets.
- If the children were born abroad (outside of Colombia) you may not be able to present an official document attesting to this. In this case, you’ll need to present an official letter or certificate from a government agency stating this.
- However, as this is also typically unavailable outside Colombia, you can also have a notary public in your country issue an affidavit or letter that an inventory of children’s assets is not available in that country.
- Check with your notary in Colombia to see what documentation is acceptable.
- All documents must be translated into Spanish and apostilled or legalized. Canada is now a signatory to the Hague Convention, so you can apostille your documents in Canada.
- At the marriage ceremony, if you are not fluent in Spanish, you reportedly will need to have an official interpreter with their ID card and official certificate present at the wedding, and they will sign the wedding papers as well as the official (usually a notary or judge) presiding over the civil wedding.
The Colombian spouse to-be will have to present:
- An original copy of their Cedula (Colombian ID card)
- A certified copy of their birth certificate.
- Their birth certificate will give their civil status as an annotation on the same certificate.
Please note that Common Law Marriage (Unión marital de hecho or Unión Libre) is also recognized in Colombia, but requires cohabitation of at least 2 years.
And finally, your marriage needs to be announced publicly 7 days prior to the wedding, to allow for any objections.
RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE
You will have to see what additional documentation is required by checking with the local religious authorities. It will generally include things like:
- Baptismal certificates
- Proof of attendance of marriage preparation seminars
- Remember that religious marriage in Colombia has the full legal effects of a civil marriage. However, the marriage needs to be registered with the Colombian government for this to hold.
Sponsoring your Spouse to Canada
The spousal sponsorship process in Canada is now done online, not on paper, unless you qualify for special treatment, including disabilities, that prevent you from applying online. So, you will have to register with and use IRCC’s Online Portal for permanent residence applications (of which spousal sponsorship is one of the main types along with economic applications such as Express Entry).
There are several key takeaways to the spousal sponsorship process in Canada:
- You have to apply to IRCC to qualify as a sponsor. That means giving information on your job, income, and savings (as well as other information) to ensure that you can successfully support your spouse and any accompanying dependents when they come to live in Canada. If you are deemed ineligible to be a sponsor, the application is often cancelled, although you can appeal.
- Your spouse has to apply for permanent residence in Canada, which means they have to satisfy all the eligibility requirements that IRCC has in place for permanent residents.
- The forms your spouse fills out are region-specific or even country-specific. In this case, they will have to download and fill out and submit those forms appropriate to a permanent resident application from Colombia.
- You have to decide whether you want to do:
- an overseas sponsorship where your spouse remains in Colombia until your application is successful and they have their PR visa, or
- an inland sponsorship where they get a visitor visa to visit Canada and you apply from inside Canada. You can also apply in Canada if your spouse is on a work or study permit.
- There is always the option of bringing your to-be spouse to Canada to get married, and then they return to Colombia and begin an overseas application.
- In this case you’re balancing the difficulty of getting a tourist visa for your spouse (you’ll have to convince IRCC officials they won’t be staying in Canada and you will instead do an overseas sponsorship) against the details of getting married in Colombia.
- As a sponsor, you should also know what your “undertaking” (a contractual obligation to support your spouse) involves and for how long you will be responsible for your sponsored spouse and any dependents.
M1 MARRIAGE VISA
As we explained at the beginning, this is essentially a spousal sponsorship visa for foreign nationals who wish to move to Colombia after getting married to their Colombian spouse. You do NOT need an M1 Visa if you are only getting married in Colombia and not moving there.
It requires the following documentation:
- An authenticated copy of your marriage in the Colombian Civil Registry
- A letter of application for your M1 Visa signed by your Colombian spouse
- A copy of their citizenship card
- A power of attorney granted to the foreign national, permitting them to apply for an M1 Visa with the signature of a notary or Colombian consul
- A certificate of migratory movements from Colombia’s Special Administrative Unit of Migration
Your M1 Visa also acts as a work permit allowing you to work in Colombia and is generally valid for 3 years, after which you can apply for a Resident Visa and then after a number of years you may be eligible for Colombian citizenship.
Once again: you do NOT need an M1 Visa (Marriage Visa) to get married in Colombia unless you want to immigrate to Colombia. Further, an M1 Visa, if you wish to move to Colombia, is applied for after you get married.
I have this problem …
In a multitrack process like marriage abroad combined with spousal sponsorship there will almost always be problems with documentation and status, among other things. Here are some typical issues that can slow down your application or even result in a rejection:
- Not enough evidence of a relationship: one of the key alarm signals for IRCC officials is the suspicion that a spousal sponsorship is for immigration purposes only. Not only that, but either party to the marriage may be suspected of using the sponsorship for the wrong reasons. So, it’s essential you convince IRCC your relationship is genuine.
- Sponsor’s eligibility: you may feel you will be a responsible and caring sponsor, but there are financial metrics you have to meet. It depends in large part on whether your spouse has dependent children.
- Misrepresentation: it is never a good idea to stretch the facts in any application whatsoever when dealing with IRCC. You might get away with it but it is much more likely that a misrepresentation will land you in trouble with IRCC. Cleaning up a misrepresentation is not easy and may sometimes require a waiting period of years.
- Criminality: this is perhaps the toughest one. It will depend on whether a misdemeanor or a felony is involved and means a complex process of appeals to various agencies or departments of the Canadian government.
The key is to prepare as much as possible – especially for possible interviews – when putting together your application. That also goes for planning and doing your wedding in Colombia. So, understanding the process, especially Colombia’s rather unique document requirements. So, it’s key to get a notary in Colombia you trust. Be focused, patient, and prepared and make sure your documentation is in order, and your sponsorship will be that much smoother. As well, please remember that you will need an interpreter for your wedding in Colombia if you aren’t fluent in Spanish.
