Getting your Marriage Licence after a divorce outside of Canada.

Getting married in Ontario? Congrats! Have you or your spouse been previously married/divorced outside of Canada? It's going to take more time and $$ than you might expect. Here's what you need to do:

Before you can get your Ontario Marriage Licence, you need to get authorization from the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. And, to quote Cher, they do not 'believe in life after love'.

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1. Order your Divorce Certificate from the country the divorce took place. ($15-50).It cannot be a photocopy, and if it's in a language other than English or French, it has to be translated. Get the translator to sign an affidavit. ($60- $220)

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2. Fill out a marriage licence application online for any municipality (city hall) in Ontario. It doesn't matter which one you pick, you can change the location that you are going to actually pick it up. You simply need the form completed.

NOTE- When you go to print it, change the printer settings to 'fit on page' because the formatting is legal sized, not letter. 

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3. Download a Statement of Sole Responsibility from ServiceOntario, which you both have to sign with 1 witness. If you don't want to purchase Adobe Acrobat PDF v. 8 or higher ($32.99) - go to your MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) and ask them to print it for you. 

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Also ask them why this form is inaccessible?

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Also ask them why they prioritized changing the Ontario Marriage Act to allow them to perform weddings, rather than fixing all the issues with the marriage process in Ontario?

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4. Hire anOntario lawyer to give a legal opinion, address to both of you, stating the divorce would be recognized as valid in the province.

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In Ontario, hiring a family lawyer to draft a Foreign Divorce Opinion Letter typically costs between $200 and $800 plus HST on a flat-fee basis, depending on the urgency and complexity of your situation. 

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After spending $275-$1105 (plus tax and courier), Mail the package to The Office of the Registrar General, 189 Red River Road, Box 3000, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5W0. It an take a minimum of 4 weeks or several months.

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