Marrying and Sponsoring a Tunisian Citizen
Listen to this articleMarriage to a Tunisian Citizen
Every country has its own laws that apply to its citizens marrying a person from a different country. Getting married to a Tunisian citizen with the goal of eventually bringing them to Canada to live is a process with many steps.
If you want to bring your Tunisian 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 Tunisian 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.
Tunisian Marriage Basic Requirements
Specially designated Notaries at the City Hall Registry Office “Bureau de l’Etat Civil a la Municipalite” perform marriages in Tunisia. Only marriages celebrated before such an official in compliance with Tunisian Law No. 57 August 1, 1957, as amended are legal. If one or both of the contracting parties are foreigners, Tunisian law requires that the marriage also fulfill the marriage requirements of the foreigner’s country. Neither a fixed period of residence nor publication of bans is required. A religious ceremony may subsequently be performed at the option of the couple.
Marriage may occur between:
- Tunisian men and foreign women without any requirements
- Foreign men and foreign women provided each party obtains from their respective embassies the documents required by the Tunisian authorities prior to marriage
- Foreign non-Muslim men and Tunisian Muslim women provided the man converts. The “Mufti”, the national religious authority, delivers the Certificate of Conversion that must be presented to City Hall before a marriage can take place. The conversion process can take three months or longer.
The prospective husband and wife are each required to submit the documents listed below to the City Hall Registry Office in order to obtain an appointment for the marriage. All documents must be translated into Arabic or French by a sworn translator and all, except the passport, are retained in Tunisian Civil files. The original marriage certificate is in Arabic. Official translations into French may be obtained from the official registrar
Required Documents
All must be originals or certified copies. All documents not in English must be accompanied by certified translations into English.
- Birth Certificate bearing the impression seal of the issuing authority.
- Passport
- Affidavit of Eligibility to marry – Tunisia requires proof of legal capacity to enter into a marriage contract in the form of certification by competent authority that no impediment exists to the marriage
- Prenuptial Marriage Certificate – This is a medical certificate establishing eligibility to contract marriage. This certificate must have a maximum validity of two months at the time of marriage. Each party must be free of any contagious diseases (primarily tuberculosis and syphilis), alcoholism and mental illness. The City Hall in Tunis will supply a printed form for this certificate upon request. All doctors practising in Tunisia are authorized to perform these medical examinations.
- Divorce Decree(s) – Such decrees must be final and valid in the country of the interested party’s nationality. For example a Spaniard who has been divorced by the authority of another country, such divorce not being recognized by Spain, cannot contract marriage in Tunisia because Tunisian law requires compliance with both, Tunisian laws and the national law of the foreigner.
- Prior spouse’s death certificate – bearing the seal of the issuing authorities.
- Written Consent of parent or guardian if either party is under 20 years of age (article 5,6 and 153 of the Tunisian Personal Code)
- Certificate from the Mufti in Tunis – that a non-Muslim man who intends to marry a Muslim woman has been accepted into the Muslim religion. A non-Muslim woman does not have to become Muslim in order to marry a Muslim man.
Family Members
If your Tunisian spouse has dependent children, this does not affect the Tunisian Marriage document application.
If you have dependent children, they have no effect on the application to marry a Tunisian citizen.
Currency
The currency of Tunisia is the Tunisian Dinar.
List of Tunisian Consulates in Canada
Consulate of Canada in Tunisia
Embassy of Canada in TunisLot 24, Rue de la Feuille d’Erable, Telephone: 216-70-010-200
|
View Larger Map |
To call Tunisia from Canada, dial:
011 – 216 – Area Code – TEL #
The format should be as follows dial 011 + 216 + phone number
How to call Canada from Tunisia
00 – 1 – Area Code – TEL #
Follow the dialing format shown above while calling Canada from Tunisia.
- 00- Exit code for Tunisia, and is needed for making any international call from Tunisia
- 1 – ISD Code or Country Code of Canada
- then enter the area code followed by the number. example 001-area code-local number
| 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 with Canada
Tunisia is +1 UCT
| Canadian Time Zone | # of Hours Tunisia is Ahead |
# of Hours during DST |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific (BC, Yukon) | 9 hours | 8 hours |
| Mountain (Alberta, western Nunavut, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan) | 8 hours | 7 hours |
| Saskatchewan | 8 hours | 8 hours |
| Central (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, northwestern Ontario) | 7 hours | 6 hours |
| Eastern (most of Ontario, most of Quebec) | 6 hours | 5 hours |
| Atlantic (Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, eastern Quebec | 5 hours | 4 hours |
| Newfoundland | 4.5 hours | 3.5 hours |
Sponsor Your Tunisian Spouse
Want to know more about marrying in Tunisia? Let us know
Sponsorship Review
Immigroup will review your completed spousal sponsorship application. . Immigroup will make sure you have not made any mistakes on your application or in gathering the documentation of your relationship. We will assess your sponsorship letter and give you peace of mind that you are submitting an application with a very good chance of success. Don’t lose sleep at night worrying about whether you’ve done enough. Call us at 1-866-760-2623 for a review.
