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Ceremonies - Mexican Civil Requirements

Details

The Legal Issue...Is a mexican marriage legal?

Yes!

Getting married here is as good as doing it in your hometown and very easy too. However, there are a few things that may be different. In Mexico the only marriage that is legally valid is the civil one.

It is performed by the justice of the peace of the Registro Civil Office (something like the County Clerk in the U.S.) pertaining to the jurisdiction of the location for your marriage. This justice of the peace will perform the ceremony at the office or at the place you have always dreamed of ..... you only have to ask!

You choose to marry under one of two regimes: legal society or separation of goods.

Legal society: Under this regime, everything both parties enters the marriage with as well as what they bring to it after their union is split 50/50 in the event of divorce.

Separation of goods: Under this regime, what's yours is yours and what is your partners is your partners - up to the point of marriage, after which the 50/50 rule applies upon the dissolution of the marriage.

Civil Ceremony Required Documentation:
Most foreigners can legally get married here if they present the following documentation which is required for getting legally married in Mexico (as supplied by the Registro Civil Office in Puerto Vallarta):

  1. Application for Wedding License. Application must be filled out completely, with witnesses names and all spouse and family information.
  2. Original Birth Certificate (if not available, a certified copy);
  3. Original Birth Certificate (or certified copy, if applicable) to have an attached Apostille; (U.S. Citizens obtain Apostille from the Secretary of State within which you born) (Canadians obtain the Apostille from the Mexican Consulate in Canada) (Europeans obtain the Apostille in your Country)
  4. Copies of valid drivers' license;
  5. Mandatory Prenuptial Video Briefing and Certificate of Attendance/Completion*;
  6. If divorced, original or certified copy of divorce decree to have an attached Apostille;
  7. Blood test with doctors' health certificate (must be done in Mexico at 2-3 days prior to date of wedding ceremony)**;
  8. Copies of Passport;
  9. Copies of Tourist Card (issued upon your arrival in Mexico);
  10. Two witnesses - not to be parents or grandparents of bride and groom (if no one is traveling with you, witnesses will be provided); and
  11. Witnesses must provide two (2) copies of tourist card and either a passport or original and/or certified copy of their birth certificate and driver’s license with photo.

All certificates will remain in the Registro Civil Office files for 25 years during which time you can ask for certified copies.

(*) Mandatory Prenuptial Briefing. Effective March 1, 2002, the briefing shall be mandatory to all Mexican and foreign couples wishing to get married in Mexico and there will be NO EXCEPTIONS as dictated by the Mexican Family Welfare Department or DIF. The presentation video shall be conducted on Wednesday in English and on Friday in Spanish, and couples will have to be physically in Puerto Vallarta 3-4 days prior to their wedding date so that they will be able to attend this briefing. After the video briefing, the couple must complete a questionnaire. They will then receive a Certificate of Attendance of the Prenuptial Briefing. That Certificate must be included in the package of all legal documentation presented to the Registro Civil Office. WITHOUT THE CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE, THE COUPLE SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED TO HAVE THEIR LEGAL MARRIAGE PERFORMED AND THEREFORE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN COMPLETING THE LEGAL PART HERE TO ABIDE BY THIS NEW RULE.

(**) The blood test must be performed in Mexico according to their laws. We will not deviate from this requirement. No exceptions! We hereby refuse, and will not under any circumstances, jeopardize or risk our personal or professional reputation and standing with the Mexican Consulate, the Mexican Government Office of Tourism or the Registro Civil Office in Puerto Vallarta, with which we are registered, or the wedding industry as a whole, by participating in or assisting to arrange a civil wedding ceremony in which the couple refuses to adhere to the rules and regulations maintained by the Registro Civil Office in Puerto Vallarta, State of Jalisco or in the State of Nayarit, Mexico.