Getting married in Mexico as a foreigner: documents from the U.S. and Canada

Which documents Mexican civil registries ask from U.S. or Canadian couples, why the birth certificate needs an apostille and a perito translation, what changes from state to state and how to plan the timing.

The civil marriage is the one that counts

In Mexico, the only marriage with legal effect is the one performed by a judge or officer of the Civil Registry (Registro Civil). A religious or symbolic ceremony can be lovely, but on its own it does not produce a marriage certificate. If you want your beach or hacienda wedding to be legally valid, you need the civil procedure, either at the office or with the judge travelling to the venue where the municipality allows it.

Each state has its own civil code and each municipality runs its Civil Registry in its own way. There is no single national checklist: what follows is what is asked for most often, and what you should confirm with the office where you will marry.

Documents foreigners are usually asked for

Apostilled and translated birth certificate

This is the key document. For a Mexican authority to accept it, it needs two things:

Some offices want a recently issued certified copy (from the last few months). If yours is old, consider ordering a new one before having it apostilled.

If you were married before

Some states also apply waiting periods or extra requirements after a divorce, especially a recent one. Ask about them when you request the checklist.

Proof of single status

The United States has no national marriage register, so there is no federal "certificate of no impediment". When the Civil Registry asks for proof that you are free to marry, the usual answer is a single status affidavit signed before a notary public in your state and apostilled there; see the single status affidavit. In Canada, each province has its own documents for this. Not every office asks for it.

Other frequent requirements

What varies most between states and municipalities

In practice, the most common differences between offices are:

Our advice is simple: ask the Civil Registry office for its checklist in writing (an email, a printed sheet or a screenshot of its official page) and keep it. Requirements given over the phone tend to change from one person to the next.

How to plan the timing

A reasonable timeline, counting back from the wedding date:

If you are flying in just for the wedding, carry the originals in your hand luggage, not in checked bags, and keep a digital copy of everything.

After the wedding

The Civil Registry will give you a Mexican marriage certificate. If you need to use it in the United States or Canada (for example, to change your surname or update your status), it must be apostilled by the government of the Mexican state where you married and, back home, possibly translated into English or French.

How we can help

We handle the apostille of your documents in the state or province of origin and the perito translation that civil registries accept. If your wedding is in San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta or Cancún, we go over the local office's checklist with you before starting. Contact us for a quote.