By Claire Dowell - Marriage reports and other pertinent documents in Canada are maintained and distributed by the vital statistics office in each of the provinces in the country. Like in the United States, Canada considers marriage documents, along with other vital reports, as public domain.
Therefore, any member of the public is free to access Canada marriage records as well as any of its associated documents such as birth certificates, death reports, and divorce decrees. There are, however, certain fees that the individual has to deal with when requesting access to specific marriage accounts.
Getting your own marriage records is easy enough. But if you want to request a copy of another couple's marriage report, the first thing you need to do is obtain a written consent from either of them, or if the couple is deceased, you can acquire a court order or consent from the next of kin.
On the other hand, if the files that you are trying to access are more than 75 years old, then obtaining them will no longer require court orders or written consents, since marriage reports that are more than three quarters of a century old are deemed public information.
Once you have the consent, you can proceed to filling up an application form that will clarify your intent in requesting access to free marriage records and other vital documents. This application form can be acquired in person at the vital statistics office in the province where the marriage took place or through online means by downloading the form from the office's official website and printing it out.
You can then submit the form in person or via postal mail along with the appropriate processing fees and administrative charges.
Furthermore, a clear photocopy of your driver's license or any valid identification is also required when you submit your request. The processing period for mail requests can take up to five working days before you get the Canada marriage records you asked for.
Although if you submit the requirements in person, the processing time can be cut significantly shorter as you may be able to get the documents within the day of submission. But make no mistake; these types of procedures will take time, due to the amount of processing it undergoes.
Fortunately though, other alternative means of obtaining vital reports became available as the accessibility of the Internet became widespread. Today, several commercial record providers are getting the attention of many genealogists and professional researchers.
Many data retrieval services have a wide-array of vital records database that covers Canada and the United States, including its territories like Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The extensiveness of such collection can help guarantee a high retrieval rate, which is what most genealogists are looking for.
When you opt for a reputable data fetching website, another advantage that you can expect is the practicality and the convenience of the service. Aside from the relative ease with which you can acquire free marriage records from any state or province, the payment packages can also be rather cost-effective.
Take for example the one-time joining fee that most providers are offering. With a one-time fee, you already have unlimited access to the site's database and other services without having to deal with extra charges or hidden costs. The method is really a terrific resource for any researcher.
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Learn all about Marriage License Records before you go looking for them. Check out Public Marriage Records for some essential information.
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