Documents needed to get married in Cuba

Quite often our clients feel overwhelmed when trying to understand the requirements for getting married in Cuba.

Our extensive experience translating the documents needed by our clients for this has allowed us to become familiar with the requirements themselves.

In the following, we have provided the documents required by the Cuban consulate in Toronto for getting married in Cuba.

Keep in mind you that all documents required by the Cuban consulate must be original or notarized copies of them plus their certified and notarized translation into Spanish (if the documents are not in Spanish).

If you have any questions about the legalization process beyond what we have provided, you can contact the consulate directly at toronto2@embacubacanada.net . We suggest that you email them rather than trying to call them by telephone.

You will need the original documents + the original notarized and certified translations. Once you have those, they will all need to be authenticate either at the Official Documents Services office (ODS) in Toronto or Global Affairs in Ottawa.

ODS authenticates official documents from Ontario (including notarized copies of official Canadian documents). Unofficial documents may be authenticated provided they have been certified (= notarized) as a true copy by an Ontario notary. Note: It must be a notary and not a commissioner for taking affidavits.

For official Canadian documents from outside of Ontario (but within Canada), ODS may authenticate them provided they have been certified/notarized as true copies.

If your documents are from another country, you will need to have them legalized in the country in which they were issued. It is not possible to do this in Canada; Global Affairs in Ottawa and ODS in Toronto will not authenticate documents from other countries.

As well, the Cuban consulate in Toronto will not legalize documents from other countries, even if they have been stamped by their consulate or embassy here in Canada.

Note: Global Affairs will not authenticate the wallet-size birth certificates; they will only authenticate original certificates issued by the Vital Statistics Office and that are signed by the Registrar. See this information:

* If your documents are not from Canada, the requirements are different. You will need your foreign documents to be to legalized in the country in which they were issued and then legalized at the Cuban consulate/embassy located in that country. As long as your documents have been stamped by the Cuban consulate located in that country they will be accepted in Cuba.

Once your Canadian-issued documents are authenticated you can make an appointment at the Cuban consulate in Toronto. You can contact them via email at toronto2@embacubacanada.net  and send them a picture or scanned copy of all the authenticated documents + a copy of your passport so they can ensure that your documents are in order. Then, they will get back to you with any questions or a date for an appointment. They charge $176 for the legalization of each document. They accept payments via INTERAC debit card, money order or certified check issued by a Canadian bank made out to the “Consulate General of Cuba” or “Consulado General de Cuba”.

Official link of the consulate of Cuba in Toronto

Official link of the consulate of Cuba in Toronto: http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/en/node/1757

FYI: The difference between apostille and legalization:

You may hear of documents being apostilled or legalized. Most countries of the world (including Canada) belong to an international agreement called the Hague Convention which allows official documents issued in one country to be accepted in another. However, Cuba does not belong to this agreement, and therefore documents issued in Canada for use in Cuba must legalized by the Cuban embassy or one of its consulates.

Should you decide you would like to use our services, we would be more than happy to provide certified and Notarized translations accepted by both the federal and provincial governments as well as the Cuban consulate in Toronto.

As well, there are other services we provide which may be convenient for you, such as preparing affidavits of the single status, notarized true copies of Canadian documents, and doing the legalization rounds for the Cuban consulate.

Documents to translate to Spanish