Ontario will not issue you a marriage licence until the province has authorised your foreign divorce. Here is exactly what is required, and how long it takes.
You were divorced in China, or Taiwan, or anywhere outside Canada. You have met someone here, you have set a date, and you go to book your marriage licence appointment. That is usually when you learn that you cannot simply walk in with your divorce certificate.
If your previous marriage was dissolved or annulled outside Canada, Ontario requires a Foreign Divorce Authorization from the Office of the Registrar General before any marriage licence can be issued. One of the required documents is a legal opinion letter from an Ontario lawyer.
The package goes to the Office of the Registrar General, and must include:
The Marriage Office is located in Thunder Bay, and the Registrar General's review generally takes about four to six weeks. You cannot obtain a marriage licence while it is under review.
This is not a formality, and it is not a one paragraph note. The letter must be written by a lawyer licensed in Ontario, must be addressed to both applicants, and must state whether the foreign divorce would be recognised as valid in Ontario, giving the reasons why.
To reach that conclusion, the lawyer has to analyse the recognition rules under Canadian law. In broad terms, a foreign divorce is generally recognised if either former spouse was ordinarily resident in that country for at least one year immediately before the divorce proceedings began. Canadian law also recognises divorces on other established bases, including where there was a real and substantial connection between the parties and the jurisdiction that granted the divorce.
The analysis therefore turns on facts, not just on the certificate: where each spouse actually lived and for how long, where the marriage took place, where the proceedings were brought, and each party's domicile. Two couples holding a similar looking divorce certificate can receive different answers.
We review your divorce documents and the underlying facts, confirm whether the divorce is recognisable under Canadian law, and prepare the opinion letter with reasons that address the recognition test directly. Where the file is not straightforward, for example where residence is difficult to evidence, we tell you that honestly at the outset rather than after you have paid and waited.
Because we act for many Chinese-speaking clients, we regularly deal with Chinese divorce documents, including both court judgments and administrative divorce registrations, along with the translation and certification requirements that come with them.
Yes, if your divorce was granted outside Canada. It is a required part of the Foreign Divorce Authorization package.
The Registrar General's review generally takes about four to six weeks, and no licence can be issued during that time.
Often yes, but it depends on residence and connection to that jurisdiction. The certificate alone does not answer the question.
No. An original or court-certified copy is required, with a certified translation and translator's affidavit if it is not in English or French.
The marriage licence will not be issued. Obtain the authorization first.
Request a foreign divorce opinion letter See our family law service →
Immigration, family, corporate or cross-border. We will tell you honestly what can be done, and what cannot.
Book a Consultation在安省获得省府对境外离婚的认可之前，婚姻登记处不会发给您结婚证书。这篇讲清具体要求与所需时间。
您在中国、台湾，或加拿大以外的任何地方离过婚。如今在这里遇到了合适的人，定好了日子，去预约领结婚证(marriage licence)。多数人就是在这一刻才知道：拿着离婚证直接去，是办不成的。
如果您的前一段婚姻是在加拿大境外解除或宣告无效的，安省要求先取得注册总署(Office of the Registrar General)签发的境外离婚授权(Foreign Divorce Authorization)，之后才能签发结婚证书。而所需材料之一，就是安省持牌律师出具的法律意见书。
整套材料寄往安省注册总署，须包括：
婚姻办公室位于 Thunder Bay，注册总署的审核通常需要 四到六周。在审核期间，您无法领取结婚证书。
它不是走过场，也不是一段话的便条。该意见书必须由安省持牌律师撰写，必须同时写给双方申请人，并说明该境外离婚在安省是否会被认可为有效，同时给出理由。
要得出这个结论，律师必须依加拿大法律分析"离婚承认规则"。概括而言，境外离婚通常在以下情况下获得承认：离婚程序开始前，任一前配偶已在该国经常居住满一年。此外，加拿大法律也依其他既定基础承认离婚，包括当事人与作出离婚判决的法域之间存在真实且实质的联系(real and substantial connection)。
因此，判断依据是事实，而不只是那张证书：双方各自实际住在哪里、住了多久、婚姻缔结地、诉讼提起地，以及各方的住所(domicile)。两对拿着看起来相似离婚证书的夫妻，完全可能得到不同的结论。
我们会审阅您的离婚文件与背后的事实，确认该离婚在加拿大法律下是否可被承认，并撰写直接回应"承认要件"的说理意见书。若案件本身并不顺畅，例如居住事实难以举证，我们会在一开始就坦诚告知，而不是等您付了钱、等了几周之后才说。
由于我们长期服务讲中文的客户，我们经常处理中国的离婚文件，包括法院判决与民政登记离婚两种情形，以及随之而来的翻译与认证要求。
是的，只要离婚是在加拿大境外作出的。它是境外离婚授权材料的必备一项。
注册总署审核通常约四到六周，期间无法签发结婚证书。
通常可以，但取决于居住情况与该法域的联系。仅凭离婚证本身无法回答。
不可以。须为原件或法院核证副本；非英法文的还需认证翻译及翻译人员誓章。
结婚证书不会签发。必须先取得授权。