Canadian citizenship entitles you to get a marriage visa to marry your Jamaican wife and sponsor her application for marriage immigration to Canada. Applying for a marriage visa and preparing for marriage immigration can be a time consuming task and you will need to be organized particularly with your Canada documents. To qualify for a spouse visa you must fulfill these basic criteria:

• You must be a Canadian citizen or legal permanent resident aged 18 years or over
• You must be financially independent and able to support her for 3 years after she gets her permanent residency
• You must also support any dependent children for 10 years or until they are 25
• You must have adequate housing where you, your Jamaican wife and any dependants can live without relying on state benefits

When you marry your fiancée you can legalise your Jamaica marriage in Canada.

Getting Ready for Marriage Immigration

Before you leave Canada for Jamaica, you should go in person to your local Registrar of Marriages to obtain an Affidavit of Marital Status. This certificate costs $50 and proves your single status by confirming that you are not still involved in another marriage. You can use it within 3 months of the date of issue.

If you fail to do this in Canada, you can do it in the Canadian Embassy in Jamaica prior to the marriage. If you have been married before you must produce one of the following documents to support the Affidavit of Marital Status:

• If divorced, you will need your Divorce Decree
• if widowed you will need your Certificate of Marriage and Death Certificate of your previous spouse

Changing Your Canada Documents

When official documents issued in Canada are to be used in Jamaica, they need to be notarised, “authenticated” and “legalised “in order for them to be valid there.

The first thing you need to do is get a notary stamp and signature from any notary in Canada. Get them “authenticated” by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The purpose of the authentication process is to prove the validity of the documents issued in Canada. After that your documents acquire legal validity in aica.

Documents in Need of Legalisation for Marriage in Jamaica

• Affidavit of Marital Status
• Divorce Decree (if relevant)
• Former spouse’s Death Certificate and previous marriage certificate (if relevant)
• Your Birth Certificate
• Name change certificate (if relevant)
• Your Canadian passport cannot be legalised as it is already an internationally recognised document. You must however have photocopies of the ID and bio page notarised as true copies of the original.

Jamaica Visa Requirements

As a Canadian citizen you do not need a visa to visit Jamaica, providing that your stay does not exceed 180 days. Your passport must be valid for at least six months after the 180 day period and have at least two blank pages. You must have a return ticket or ticket to another destination outside of Jamaica as well as enough money to support your stay in the country.

Once you have prepared all relevant documents and you have a valid Canadian passport, you can make arrangements to join your Jamaican bride.

Getting Married in Jamaica

You may decide to marry your Jamaica spouse in Canada, however, getting married in Jamaica is a fabulous experience and relatively straight forward, providing you are organised and ensure that you and your Jamaican bride have the correct documentation.

Whilst your Jamaican bride is excited about planning the marriage ceremony you should make her aware that under both Canadian and Jamaican Marriage Law, only the civil registration of your marriage will be recognised as legal and only a legal marriage will allow you to bring your Jamaican wife back to Canada.

The legal age for marriage in Jamaica is 18, and anyone under 18 years of age must obtain written consent from her parents or guardians. This should be given personally and in writing in front of the local civil registrar officer. Alternatively, it can be in the form of an affidavit made in the presence of two witnesses.

The marriage ceremony can be performed 24 hours after you apply for a license to the Ministry of national Security. It costs 80 CAD. There are Marriage Officers who can perform wedding for a fee between CAD 50.00 and CAD 250.00. Most officers can perform weddings at their offices, homes or at places chosen by the couples and are able to provide witnesses for the ceremony.

Document Check: Canadian Bridegroom

• Original Affidavit of Marital Status (valid for three months from the date of issue) issued in Canada or by the Canadian Embassy in Jamaica.
• Original valid Canadian passport
• Original birth certificate
• Original death certificate of deceased spouse if widowed
• Original divorce decree or annulment papers if divorced
• A letter of parental consent if groom is under 18

Document Check: Jamaican Bride

• Original Affidavit of Marital Status.
• Original valid passport
• Original birth certificate
• Original death certificate of deceased spouse if widowed
• Original divorce decree or annulment papers if divorced
• A letter of parental consent if bride is under 18

Immediately following the ceremony, you will be given a copy of the Marriage Register which is a proof of marriage. This is signed by the Marriage Officer, yourselves and your witnesses.

The Marriage Certificate must be applied for by the Marriage Officer and takes between 7 working days to 1 month to be processed by the Registrar General’s Department. There are express services available. Marriage to your Jamaican fiancée does not automatically qualify you for Jamaican citizenship however, Jamaica is a country, which permits dual citizenship and in order to become a Jamaican citizen you must apply through the official government immigration channels.

Permanent Resident Application

When your wife comes to Canada she can change her name to that of your own nd you can start the marriage visa process. Any Canadian man wishing to bring his Jamaican wife to Canada must sponsor her for permanent residency. The process takes between 6 and 18 months. Spousal sponsorship is a part of the Canadian immigration system that allows individuals to come to Canada under the Family Class of immigration.

In your case, you will sponsor your Jamaican wife to Canada, as long as you meet the requirements of a spousal sponsor. Spousal sponsorship is an agreement between the Canadian government and you. This agreement is a promise on the part of the sponsor that you will provide your spouse with food, clothes and shelter i.e. all of the basic requirements in order to live in Canada.

The marriage visa sponsorship agreement includes financial support and health care because your Jamaican wife will have no access to the social care system. In the sponsorship agreement you promise to sponsor your spouse for at least three years from the day she becomes a permanent resident. You also have to sponsor any dependent children moving with her to Canada for a period of 10 years or until they are 25, whichever comes first.

Spousal Sponsorship Requirements

To qualify for spousal sponsorship, you must meet the following requirements:

1. You are over 18 years old and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada.
2. You are single and free to marry
3. You have married your Jamaican wife in Jamaica and intend to live in Canada with her.
4. You are not on any Social Assistance program
5. You are not in default of any previous sponsorship agreement
6. You have sufficient funds and you are not bankrupt
7. You are not in prison

You may not qualify if one of the following points applies to your situation:

• You previously failed to provide financial support when you signed a sponsorship agreement to sponsor another relative
• You failed to pay alimony or child support
• You received government financial assistance for reasons other than disability
• You were convicted of a violent criminal offence, an offence against a relative or a sexual offence
• You failed to make payments for an immigration loan
• You have declared bankruptcy and have not recovered from it yet.
• If you qualify for sponsorship, you can fill out the application forms available from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

If you qualify for sponsorship, you can fill out the application forms available from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Read the guide and complete the application. Remember to support the application with relevant documents.

Canada Visa Application

Your Jamaican wife must fill out the immigration forms. As part of the application process, she will need to undergo a medical exam and a criminal check. The medical exam is required to make sure that applicants do not have a medical condition that is dangerous to Canadian public health and safety, or would require elaborate treatment by the Canadian health services. The examination results are valid for 12 months and need to be done by authorised doctors. Your wife must present a valid police certificate from the Ministry of National Security in Jamaica showing she has no criminal record.

The next step is to pay you application fee to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You can pay your fees by bank transfer or online. If you choose to pay at the bank, you have to order a receipt of payment, also called immigration form IMM 5401. Remember to bring this form with you to the bank when you pay your fees. If you pay online, make sure you print the receipt of payment form and include it with your application.

Visa Application Fees

The marriage visa application fees are as follows:

• $75 for you as a sponsor
  $475 for your Jamaican wife

• $150 for a dependent child your wife who is under 22 and not married
• $550 for a dependant of your wife who is 22 or older, or who is under 22 and married $490 for the right of permanent residence fee which your wife will be have to pay before the status is granted.

The last step is to mail your application along with the receipt for the fees paid and all supporting documents to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Case Processing Centre (CPC) in Mississauga, Ontario. You will be notified when your application is received and you can check the status of your application online.

After your wife has held her permanent resident status for three years, she is eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship.

Applications are refused if you provide false information on your application form.