Marriage to a Sierra Leonean citizen and spousal sponsorship to Canada under the marriage immigration initiative is a complex process.
This page is designed to guide you through your marriage to a Sierra Leonean citizen and the spousal sponsorship process.

Marriage to a Sierra Leone Citizen

Every country has its own laws that apply to its citizens marrying a person from a different country. Getting married to aSierra Leonean citizen with the goal of eventually bringing them to Canada to live is a process with many steps.

If you want to bring your Sierra Leonean spouse or partner to live in Canada, you must then file a sponsorship application for them to become a permanent resident. If they would like to visit you in Canada while their application is in process, they must also apply for a visitor visa. For more information, please see our family sponsorship page and our visitor visa page.

 

Processing Time

If you file a Canadian sponsorship application for your Sierra Leonean spouse or partner, this application takes an average of 10-12 months.

A visitor visa application for your spouse or partner to visit you in Canada while the sponsorship applications are processing takes an average of 3 –14 days.

Please see our pages on family sponsorship and Canadian visitor visa for more information on the processing times of these applications.

 

Sierra Leonean Marriage Basic Requirements

Civil Marriage shall be conducted in the Registrar’s office.

Requirements:

• Original Birth certificate

• If either parent was previously married, evidence of the termination of previous marriage.
• Death certificate where one partner former spouse’s died
• Couple must be free to marry by producing certificate of No Impediment to a marriage
• Passport of a foreign partner

• At least two witnesses must be present at the time of the union
• Notice of marriage must be duly given
• Couple must obtain marriage license
• All documents required must be translated in English(If they are not in English) and duly authenticated

 

Family Members

If your Sierra Leonean spouse has dependent children, this does not affect the Sierra Leonean Marriage document application.

If you have dependent children, they have no effect on the application to marry a Sierra Leonean citizen.

 

List of Sierra Leonean Consulates in Canada

Click here

Calling Sierra Leone from Canada

011 – 232- Area Code – local number

 

Area Codes (landlines only)

Bo	32	Kenema	32	Makeni	52
Freetown	22	Koidu	52

 

Cell Codes (by provider)

Aricell	77 or 88	Intergroup	44
Ambitel	55	Siearratel	25
Atlas	33	Tigo	30
Comium	44	Zain	76 or 78

 

Calling Canada from Sierra Leone

00- 1 – Area Code – local number

• 00- Exit code for Sierra Leone, and is needed for making any international call from Sierra Leone
• 1 – ISD Code or Country Code of Canada

Area Codes (by region)

Province	Code	Province	Code
Alberta	403 / 587 (southern Alberta) 587 / 780 (central and northern Alberta)	Nunavut	867
BC	236 / 250 / 778 (majority of BC) 236 / 604 / 778 (Metro Vancouver)	Ontario	226 / 519 (southwestern Ontario) 249 / 705 (northeastern Ontario) 289 / 365 / 905 (Greater Toronto Area) 343 / 613 (eastern Ontario) 416 / 647 (Toronto) 807 (northwestern Ontario)
Manitoba	204 / 431	PEI	782 / 902
New  Brunswick	506	Quebec	418 / 581 (eastern Quebec) 438 / 514 (Montreal) 450 / 579 (Greater Montreal) 819 / 873 (remainder of Quebec)
Newfoundland and Labrador	709	Saskatchewan	306 / 639
Northwest Territories	867	Yukon	867
Nova Scotia	782 / 902

 

Time Difference

Sierra Leone is on Western European Time (GMT+0). Sierra Leone does not observe Daylight Saving Time.

Canadian Time Zone	# of Hours Sierra Leone is Ahead	# of Hours during DST
Pacific (BC, Yukon)	8 hours	7 hours
Mountain (Alberta, western Nunvaut, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan)	7 hours	6 hours
Saskatchewan	6 hours	6 hours
Central (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, northwestern Ontario)	6 hours	5 hours
Eastern (most of Ontario, most of Quebec)	5 hours	4 hours
Atlantic (Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, eastern Quebec)	4 hours	3 hours
Newfoundland	3.5 hours	2.5 hours

 

Emergency Information for Canadians in Sierra Leone

There is no Canadian diplomatic mission in Sierra Leone. For assistance, contact the High Commision in Ghana, which is about a 30 hour drive away.

High Commission of Canada in Accra 42 Independence Avenue Accra Ghana Postal Address: P.O. Box 1639, Accra, Ghana Telephone: 233 (302) 21 15 21 or 22 85 55 Fax: 233 (302) 21 15 23 or 77 37 92 Email: [email protected] Website: canadainternational.gc.ca/ghana/

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The Government of Canada’s Travel Alerts for Sierra Leone

For travel alerts, click here

Sponsoring Your Sierra Leonean Spouse to Canada

The sponsorship application process takes a long time and can be frustrating. To learn more about it, click on the button below:

Learn More