How to Get Married in Peru

Wow, even typing the title of this blog makes my head spin in anticipation of the long and convoluted article I'm about to write. No, this article doesn't have anything to do with the vast and wonderful problems of maintaining a relationship (that's a whole different series of articles which I would only write using the names of fictitious characters to protect the innocent...and also my wife hahahaha!), this article is about the actual PAPERWORK necessary to get married in Peru.

Oh, you thought that all you had to do was sign something and that was it? Excuse me for a minute.

AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!

Whew...gasp...gasp...pant...that was a good one.

Ok, let me start in earnest now that I've recovered.

The thing about Peru is that they take their beaurocracy to an extreme. Sometimes I think they just set forth a random list of things that you have to do just to keep you occupied. The worst thing is, nobody ever tells you in advance what you need to perform any kind of beaurocratic procedure. This is extremely frustrating because, as everyone knows, most beaurocratic procedures involve waiting in line for two or three hours. Let me tell you, if you've been waiting in some hot stinky room with no air-conditioning with a bunch of other people who are (at the best) three hours removed from their last bath, it is unbelievably frustrating to finally get to the window and be told, "I'm sorry sir, but you need a copy of the last entry into Peru page of your passport, you'll have to stand in line again!"



AHHHHHH!



Actually, the people at the Municipalidad de Miraflores (Av. Larco 770 3rd floor) were actually pretty good about telling me what I needed, so at least that little bit of frustration was eliminated from the get go. The first thing they did was hand me the following pamphlet:


The guy even highlighted on there the things that I had to do to "seal the deal," as they say. Now, as a foreigner, my list of requirements was different than my wife's. I'm not even going to go through hers because, likely as not, if you're getting married to a Peruvian, he/she is going to be able to handle her part of the equation without any trouble.

For us foreigners, it's a little bit more difficult.

Anyway, you need:
1. An original birth certificate.
2. A document that certifies that you are single.
3. ID (Passport is probably best, but they also take a Carnet).
4. A medical examination.

Now, the thing that makes this difficult is that there is a note in the pamphlet right under the list of requirements that says, "all documents expedited by a foreign authority should be "visado" by the Peruvian consulate in the place of origin, then legalized by the ministry of exterior relacions in Lima, Peru (cuadra 4 Jr. Lampa con Jr. Ucayali) and finally translated by an official translator in Peru (you'll note that I provided a link to my article about an official translator, so you have that part taken care of at least). The problem in this whole deal is the word "visado" which seems to be an ambiguous piece of legalese (at least in this context) which people can use as a mystical crowbar to pry you into doing whatever they want.

My wife and I were going through all this after our actual wedding ceremony (we wanted the party first and foremost) which was convenient because it allowed us to call up my mom and have her bring down my birth certificate. In order to eliminate items 1. and 2. from the pamphlet, I took my birth certificate to the US embassy in Lima (Avenida La Encalada cdra. 17 s/n Surco).

Usually, going to the embassy isn't all that fun. Generally, the only reason you have for going there is when your passport gets stolen or something, so the people there aren't that happy. Plus, there's a lot of security to get through which I don't really like (people in the security industry always look at you with suspicion, it's their job).

So anyway, I went to the embassy and asked for my Document certifying that I was single. The guy behind the desk pulled out a piece of paper that I had to fill out, and then they charged me a 30$ notary fee (Peruvian notaries are generally about 4 or five Soles AKA 1$). After that, I had to raise my right hand and swear that the contents of the Declaration of Singlehood (or whatever) were true. Essentially I paid 30$ for a piece of paper...but whatever.

Then, I asked about the birth certificate thing still uncertain about what this "visado por el consulado peruano en el lugar de origen" specification meant. Well, the guy behind the window (who I have to admit was very polite and helpful, he's fairly new here I think) said he could make a "notarized copy" or something which would fulfill that requirement. I guess the reason it would fulfill the requirement because it would make my copy of my birth certificate a legal version and then the whole "place of origin" part of the specification just kind of canceled out like left over negative and positive ones (that's a reference to my old physics studying days). Getting this "embassy legalized" copy cost another 30$ (incidentally they only take dollars in the embassy not Soles, I had to make change with some nice guy who was there).

So, I eventually left the embassy 60$ poorer but with my documents in hand. These, my wife took to El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (cuadra 4 Jr. Lampa con Jr. Ucayali) where we paid another 30 or 40 Nuevo Soles per document to get them "legalized."

One good thing about my declaration of solitaryhood that came from the embassy was that the US embassy was smart enough to write it in Spanish, thus saving me the 60 Sol translation fee (thanks Uncle Sam!). But, I had to get my birth certificate translated (once again, you can read about that here).

So, after all that, it was just a matter of getting our pre-nuptual medical examination. That was done at 247 Mariano Melgar. Here's a map (the Ovalo de Gutierrez is just off to the left):

I think the cost was something like 45 Soles a person. Don't be afraid of the exam. You just go in, they prick your finger, then you sit down in front of the doctor who asks you, "how do you feel?"

"Pretty good."

"Ok!"

Then he stamps a few documents and you have to come back the next day (or in a couple days) to pick them up. Incidentally, the security guard at this place was pretty nice. He was all happy to see us both days. I think it would be nice to have a job where you're dealing with newlyweds all the time, they must all come through with positive energy (or at least the great majority of them). I should look into being a security guard at some hospital that does primarily five second pre-nuptual medical examinations.

So, after all that, you go back to the Municipalidad de miraflores, pick out a day to get married, pay the 250 Sole fee (it's 500 if you want a weekend) then you go in and sign the papers.

You know, one thing struck me as odd throughout all of this. If you're here on a tourist visa, you can't make a binding contract with your signature unless you have a 50$ permission to sign contracts which you get at Immigration in Brena. Well, despite all the things that they asked me for, nobody ever mentioned the 50$ permission to sign contracts.

Well, I went ahead and got one anyway just to be safe. You never know about beaurocratic things like that, 99.9% of the time you're OK once you've passed by that annoying, power-mad person who guards the window, but every once in a while, cutting the corners rises up again to bite you in the butt.

Well, I'm legal now at least...no more worries! Now start looking for hotel coupons and plan the honeymoon.

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