Help translate a marriage licence

Question

Hello,
I am engaged to be married to a man that with his first wedding got married in Mexico. They failed to register it in Canada so I am in need of tracking down the marriage certificate in mexico. I have a document here but I can't translate it. I am asking for someone to translate it for me. Any help out there? I can scan it in my computer or type it out to you

Answer 1

I would suggest that you do both. Scan the document and upload the picture file. Then type the parts that you are interested in or ask which questions that you need answered in English. If you just upload the picture with no other input you're going to get a lot of translations that you don't need. Having the picture of the document will provide context for some of the form's content.

Answer 2

I urge you to find a qualified professional translator for this. It shouldn't cost that much, and you don't want to mess around with amateurs on a legal document that is so important.

Answer 3

We are talking about a legal document here. This is a forum, too risky if the document is so important. Do take James's advice.

Answer 4

James Santiago said:

I urge you to find a qualified professional translator for this. It shouldn't cost that much, and you don't want to mess around with amateurs on a legal document that is so important.

You're probably right when it comes to English-Spanish, but in my own experience (I got married in China), someone has a lucrative monopoly making these translations, because my wife and I spent countless hours trying to do a serious translation, but the consulate told us that they would only accept ONE guy on the surface of the planet for this translation. This guy, of course, charged us a fortune, and the translation was a joke beyond your wildest imagination (a machine translation would have been a poem in comparison), but it was worth a fortune, nevertheless. The translator probably didn't even speak Spanish, but there you go.

Answer 5

Ah, the beauty of a strong central government! hehe

Melinda, here is a good place to start your search for a translator.

http://www.atanet.org/onlinedirectories/

Make sure the person has experience translating this type of document. There are many translators who specialize in immigration-related translation, so it shouldn't be hard to find someone. They will want to see the document before committing to the job, but you can make them sign a confidentiality agreement if you want. If it's just a page, I wouldn't think it would cost more than a hundred dollars (US), but I don't translate in this field.

Answer 6

James Santiago said:

Ah, the beauty of a strong central government! hehe

I think I know where you're getting at, but the rules were set by some motherfu'''' within the Spanish Consulate. The Chinese part was, believe it or not, the easy part.

Anyway, James is a very knowledgeable person (who knows what he is talking about), and an excellent translator, but make sure -just in case- that the Consulate (or whatever) is happy with the paperwork you provide, to save time and money. These places are full of... well... let's say paperwork-robots who don't care about logic.

Answer 7

lazarus1907 said:

James is a very knowledgeable person (who knows what he is talking about), and an excellent translator, but make sure -just in case- that the Consulate (or whatever) is happy with the paperwork you provide, to save time and money.

Yes, that's good advice. The Canadian government agency may require a certain kind of certification, notarization, etc. Ask them exactly what they require.

Oh, and I recommend that you find a native speaker of English. The general rule is to translate INTO your native language.

Answer 8

Thank you everyone. My lawyer has reached someone that can help.

Answer 9

All marriages are registered with the local Registro Civil, and he should have got 2 important pieces of paper headed Estados Unidos Mexicanos Acta de Materimonio; one giving the names of the bride and groom and the names of their parents, and one (legal size) with the above plus names and addresses of witnesses, signatures and fingerprints. Both documents have a serial number each, or numero de control.
So if you need copies, you need to turn to the regristry office where the marriage was registered.

I don't remember if Canada is a part of the Haag convention, if it is, you will probably be asked to provide an apostille for the document authenticating it, and that has to be done in the country of origin. If you need to, I used these guys apostilla.com/ but you will find many firms (and government bodies) doing similar things.

I suggest calling the embassy too, the Mexican embassy in Canada and/or Canadas Embassy in Mexico, at least someone at the british one provided me with names of recommended translators at a reasonable price.

Good luck!