Registering our daughter for a birth certificate - any expats had to do this?

[Mykul]

Hi everyone,
We went today to register our daughter for a birth certificate and have run into the usual sort or run around when attempting to accomplish this type of task here.

We have all the needed paperwork but were told my birth certificate needs to be legalized (?) and then taken to a Mexican consulate for a stamp. When asked how to go about this I was told I had to return to Canada to do it. This seems a little extreme to me. I have a business to run so a trip back north for an unspecified period of time is not really an option.

Ideas?

[mr bill]

We have tri-national children born in Leon. We have run into most every imaginable or contrived paperwork hassle. To start with - where was your daughter born? If in Canada then the info given to you may be correct. Do you have to appear in person? or can you DHL documents to the Consul? Is there any pressing time frame? If you have x months/years to register the birth then do so on your next trip to Canada.

[pianoheat]

Yes it is possible you need to have the document apostilled which is certified by the State department of the state she was born in. I had my marriage certificate apostilled in Colorado but i did not have to be there a friend took it in for me.

[mr bill]

We have all the needed paperwork but were told my birth certificate needs to be legalized (?) and then taken to a Mexican consulate for a stamp. Just re-read your question. I can't speak for Canada but in the US this is something you can do by phone or mail to the appropriate Secretary of State. Hope some knowledgeable Canadian can give further advice.. Good luck - it took us 6 months to resolve all complications and overcome whatever roadblocks were put in our way to get the official Mexican Birth Certificate. Getting US and Thai after that was a snap.

[Lisa Andrews]

I would contact Canadaian office, for my apostile in Australia I just had to send it there by mail and then returned it by regular mail so second try I got it sent to my Mum's address and she FedExed it here, if it had a return envelope included that is what they send it in.

[Mykul]

Our daughter was born here.

Lisa, when you sent it to Australia was it to the Mexican consulate there?

[MarionP]

We are heading to Toronto on Tuesday to complete our visas. If you get in touch with the Toronto Mexican Embassy and you do not have to be present, we could drop it off on the 12th at our appointment. We are returning on the 18th. So if it will work out for you we are more than happy to do it.

[pianoheat]

Mykul yes no doubt your document (birth certificate) needs to be Apostiled which means the Secretary of state from the State the document came from is verifying the signature on the document. I'm not familiar with Canada maybe there is a different name for what we call the secretary of state. You should be able to find all the info you need via internet. And yes what a pain in the ass.

[laconstance]

Mykul, the business that makes a document "official" is an apostille that recognizes that the person who certified the original document (usually a notary) had the authority to do so. This document would then be recognized in any of the more than 100 countries which are signatories to the Hague Convention of 1961. México is a signatory, as is the USA; it was pretty easy to obtain apostilles of both my birth certificate and of my marriage certificate before I became a resident of México -- "just in case" something of that level of officiality was ever needed. Unfortunately, Canada is not a signatory, so your procedure will be more complicated. You'll need your original birth certificate, which then has to be certified by The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then further certified by the Mexican Consulate. Sorry, I know you don't need this hassle in your life!

[Lisa Andrews]

I sent mine to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Western Australia. I sent them my original birth certificate one and had to send them money (credit card details), then they essentially sent it back with a stamp on the back that says:
Apostille: Country/signed by/ bears the seal of these people/location etc. Then there is a big red sticker stuck to it that says there name and Perth.
The apostille bit has nothing to do with Mexico (except that they want it on your documents) from what I know, at least with the relations to Australia, they have never marked my certificate but I was just using it to register for work.