FOREIGN DIVORCE OPINIONS

Jul 30, 2007 @ 03:48 pm by Patricia Wells

This topic is not exactly “about immigration” but we are including this information because clients sometimes ask Patricia Wells about this question.

If you wish to get married in Ontario, but you were divorced in another country (perhaps Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Peru…), you will be given a “Foreign Divorce” package when you go to get your marriage licence.  This means you must find an Ontario lawyer to send a legal opinion to the Ontario government, explaining why your foreign divorce is “equivalent” to an Ontario divorce.

Patricia Wells, among other lawyers, provides this service.

If you contact Patricia Wells, she will ask you to make an appointment with her to answer some questions about your previous marriage and the divorce.  Before the appointment, make sure you have your original divorce document available.*  Also, before your appointment, make sure you have the marriage licence application form filled in by both you and your intended marriage partner.  Finally, take to the appointment with Patricia Wells all the documents you were given at the Ontario marriage licence office.

After the interview, Patricia Wells can generally have your opinion letter ready for pick-up later that day, or the next day.

You will then have to send the legal opinion letter along with your divorce document, translation if applicable, filled-out marriage licence application, and completed “Statement of Sole Responsibility” to: Office of the Registrar General, P.O. Box 4600, 189 Red River Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6L8

You will then receive back, within a few days or weeks, an authorization from the Office of the Registrar General, which you will take back to the marriage licence office in order to get your Ontario marriage licence.  (You must apply for the marriage licence within 3 months, or else your authorization will expire.)

* If your divorce document is not in English or French, it must be translated. Contact Patricia Wells if you require a certified translation of your divorce.