Divorce Certificate Authentication and Legalization

Our office regularly assists individuals with the authentication and legalization of their Divorce Certificate or other Court related documents. The authentication and legalization process is also known as an Apostille.

Reach out to our expert staff to see how we can assist with the authentication and legalization of your court documents such as a Divorce Certificate. Our specialists are a simple mouse click or telephone call away.


Excellent service. Prompt, quick and answered my queries with full detail. Also the best price around! I highly recommend using their services.
– Robyn

Common Divorce Certificate Questions

How can I obtain my Divorce Certificate?

If you need to obtain a replacement Ontario divorce certificate you need to consult the court where the divorce action was commenced. There is a small fee charged by the court. In the event that you need assistance with this, our office has the necessary contacts to efficiently and cost effectively obtain replacement court documents such as a Divorce Certificate.

Can I authenticate and legalize my original Divorce Certificate?

It is possible to authenticate and legalize your original divorce certificate. This is possible on the basis that the court issues the Divorce Certificate in accordance with the requirements of Global Affairs Canada. If you have questions about whether your Certificate of Divorce meets the requirements of the authentication section of Global Affairs, reach out to our office as we are very familiar with the requirements.

Can a notarized copy of my Divorce Certificate be used abroad?

In many cases, a notarized copy of the Divorce Certificate can be used abroad. This question however is best answered by the entity in the foreign country who is asking for the divorce certificate or any other documentation. In some cases, only an originally issued Divorce Certificate can be used.

Can your office assist me in obtaining a replacement Divorce Certificate?

Our office can definitely assist with obtaining another Divorce Certificate. We work with agents across Canada who can conveniently access the various courts offices.

How long does it take to issue a replacement Divorce Certificate?

A divorce certificate can be issued in as little as one day. It could also take up to a few weeks. The ability to issue the document quickly will depend upon whether the court clerk has the information necessary to issue a replacement Divorce Certificate. In some cases, the physical court file may have to be recalled from storage.

How Long does it take to authenticate and legalize my Divorce Certificate?

In some cases, the divorce certificate can be authenticated and legalized in as little as one day. In other instances, it can take a week or more. The ability to authenticate and legalize a divorce certificate quickly is dependent upon a few factors. Was the divorce certificate issued by the court in a format that is suitable for authentication? Will notarization be required? How long will the Embassy or Consulate take to complete the legalization. As an expert in this field, we can provide those answers.

Can the Divorce Certificate be sent directly to your office?

Our office regularly receives government issued documents on behalf of our clients. Documents can be sent to us at the following address:

Capital Authentication
251 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 900,
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5J6

We simply ask that you alert us to the fact that a document is being sent to us. We can look out for the document and add it to your dossier.

What is the difference between Capital Authentication and the local competition?

To make it easier to understand, we have grouped our authentication and legalization fees together. Our office offers four different processing options depending upon urgency. More importantly, we employ a system that we refer to as “The Completion Time Method”. When suggesting prices, we balance the total time expected to take to have the document(s) authenticated by Global Affairs and then legalized by a particular Embassy or Consular Office. Employing our method translates into lower fees for our customers.

How can documents be returned to me?

Once the authentication and legalization services have been completed, our clients can provide a prepaid return courier to our office. If however it is more convenient, our office will happily arrange for the return courier either to our client directly or to an authorized third party of their choosing.

Does Capital Authentication use regular lettermail to return documents?

At Capital Authentication we do not like to return documents to a client using regular lettermail. Regular lettermail is not encouraged given the sensitive nature of the documents. However, where a client has specifically requests this method of return, we will comply.

Can I use original or notarized copies of documents?

This is a very good question and it really depends upon where one intends to use the document. As long as the document is a Canadian document, Global Affairs Canada will generally authenticate either an original document or a notarized copy of the document. If using a notarized document, the notary must be a Canadian notary. The more important question to ask is whether the diplomatic mission in question will accept notarized documents instead of original documents. It is always best to consult the diplomatic mission to determine if original documents and/or notarized documents can be used. There are some diplomatic missions that will only accept original documents.

Does your office receive documents from third parties?

There are many instances when it is more convenient for a client to have documents sent directly to our office as opposed to their receiving them first. For example, government issued documents such as birth certificates can be sent directly to us. We can receive them and start compiling a client dossier with the authentication and legalization component to commence once we have all of the documents.