lilbiteb

Hi there,

My first post and probably one of many to come!

I've been looking around here for a while and have found it very interesting/overwhelming!

My boyfriend is Canadian, I'm English, and we're hoping to get married next year. Just a simple question, would it be better to marry here or there, he lives in Alberta. From what I can gather, if we get married here he needs to get a marriage visa, is that right and if so does anyone know about how long it takes and the cost etc. Is it simpler to get married in Alberta, I can't find anything about a Canadian marrying an English girl?

Many thanks in advance!

apri

Hi There

I was in the same situation, I am English and my wife is Canadian. We got married in Canada. The marriage is recognized in Canada and England. You can get married here in Canada all you have to do is show a passport and I.D to get a marriage licence. This is in Manitoba but I am pretty sure it would be the same there. We got married in my Wifes parents house and had a small ceremony with close friends and family, all in all it cost about $10000 in total.

Hope this was some help, feel free to contact me if you need more info.

destinationnovascotia

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of you life. Don't let practicalities of paperwork influence where you want to spend it. As for the cost....surely the cost of your families flying across the atlantic will outweigh other expenses. Have your wedding where you and your OH want it and have a lovely day.

ptomlin01

Hi there,

Well I can give you a few grains of advice I have gathered as I am in the same situation as you..

Over this last month I have looked into getting married in Ontario and the UK and here is what I found (it's easier in Ontario than UK..)

To get married in Ontario
------------------------
In my situation I am divorced and to marry in Ontario I would go to a Canadian lawyer with my decree absolute, he writes to the Canadian government and after 2 and 4 weeks gives me a letter to take with me to the city hall to buy the licence, you can marry straight away and it's valid for 3 months. I assume if you are not divorced you just buy the licence.

To get married in the UK
-----------------------

The UK is more complicated as they brought in a new law a couple of years ago, there are two things he has to do... (for civil/register office weddings)

1) Apply for a

Marriage visa, around £100 (just to marry here) OR

Fiance visa, around £300 (if he intends to live with you in the UK)


2) Apply for a certificate of approval from the home office here in the UK which costs in the region of £300 and can take between 4 and 14 weeks.


However......Something you may not be aware of is if you want to marry in an Anglican Church in the UK (Church of England) then none of the above applies.. I don't know if you are religious or not but I understand that everyone has a right to ask to be married in their parish.

We went to my local parish church (even though we are both catholics) Outside they have a notice board of the night the church is open for enquiries and asked the vicar there if she would marry us (as we are both divorced and each parish and vicar have their own personal views on marrying divorcees)


Good luck..

cov-canuck

When we got married I was Canadian with indefinite leave to remain in the UK, and my husband was British. We got married in South Carolina, so in neither country. No problems whatsoever with visas or anything else. We picked up the marriage license in SC, had a small ceremony performed by a family friend (who's a judge). Marriage is recognised everywhere. No problems updating my info when we got back to England.

ptomlin01

Here is the link to the visa information on marrying a canadian in the UK..

http://www.britishhighcommission.gov...ocation=Canada

Go to the Home Office Website for information on the certificate of approval, you can download all the forms to fill in.. if you need help finding it send me a message.. I saved it somewhere..

It is a difficult decision to make.. we decided on a traditional English wedding with all the family and friends versus speed..

newshoney

My OH is Canadian, I'm British - (second time around for both of us).

We found it really straightforward, easy and hassle-free to marry in Alberta. We arranged everything in advance via email with a marriage commissioner in Banff (see link below) who specialises in outdoor weddings (he will ski down a mountain with you if required!), swung by to get our marriage licence in Banff on our way to our chosen location and had a truly magical day.

http://www.kunelius.com/

P.S. There's nothing to stop you having ceremonies in both countries to satisfy all family requirements etc. - one can be the real deal, the other a blessing.

lilbiteb

Thanks for all of the replies, we've had a load of options to consider!

We're pretty sure now that we'll get married in Canada. As it's our second marriage and as we're trying to keep costs down at the moment we'll be happy to just have our children there and I think that we'll get in touch with Kunelius as my boyfriend lives in Canmore so Kunelius will be perfect!

I just hope that we can get this all done sooner rather than later, all of this "commuting" is awful now, we just want to be together to get on with our lives.

Thanks again

newshoney

I wish you every happiness... we were so lucky (blessed even) to find our soulmate second time around and I can only say that we have learned from our earlier experiences to value every second of what we now have.

Rick Kunelius is a hoot... and will completely put everyone at their ease. The ceremony can be as formal or informal as you like... you can even write your own vows. He's a former park ranger, expert skier etc. and has a lifetime of fabulous stories to tell. If you want any more info PM me and I'll supply.

BTW I was in Canmore several times last week - picking up a latte from the Starbucks on Railway Avenue at 6.30am or thereabouts prior to going off on hikes in Banff park.