Marrying and Sponsoring a Malian Citizen

Marriage to a Malian Citizen

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

If you want to bring your Malian 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.

 

Malian Marriage Basic Requirements

Please note that marriage requirements in Mali keeps changing and therefore couple are advised to contact relevant marriage authorities in Mali for actual requirements and legal procedures that must be observed.

• Man under eighteen or a woman not having completed fifteen years cannot contract a marriage.
• Nevertheless, the minister of Justice can grant dispensation of age for serious reasons, decision not susceptible to appeal.
• A copy of this decision will be attached to the marriage certificate.
• Any civil officer of the state who precedes with a union of person not having the required age, save in the case of a dispensation accorded in the conditions sited above, will be sanctioned with a fine which shall not exceed 120,000 francs and a penalty of imprisonment of six months to one year.
• Any religious minister who conducts a religious marriage ceremony without having been given a document recording the civil marriage ceremony issued by the registrar of civil status will be punished by a fine of 5000 to 30,000 francs.
• Foreigners must produce their passports
• Foreigners must produce their original Birth Certificates
• Couple must prove that there is no any impediment to their said marriage
• At least there must be two witnesses present at the time of the wedding

 

Family Members

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

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

 

List of Malian Consulates in Canada

Embassy of Mali in Canada

 

Calling Mali from Canada

011 – 223 – local number, where

• 011 is the exit code for the North American Numbering Plan
• 223 is the country code for Mali

Mali does not use area codes. Cell numbers start with 6 or 7.

 

Calling Canada from Mali

00- 1 – Area Code – local number, where

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

 

List of Canadian Area Codes

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

Mali is on Western European Time (GMT-0). Mali does not participate in Daylight Saving Time due to its proximity to the equator.

Canadian Time Zone	# of Hours Mali 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 Mali

Embassy of Canada in Bamako Immeuble Séméga, Route de Koulikoro Commune II, Bamako Mali Postal Address: P.O. Box 198, Bamako, Mali Telephone: 223 20-21-22-36 Fax: 223 20-21-43-62 Email: [email protected] Website: mali.gc.ca

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Canadian Government’s Travel Alerts for Mali

For travel alerts, click here

Sponsoring Your Malian to Canada

The sponsorship process is lengthy and complicated. To learn more click the button below:

Learn More

Want to know more about marrying Mali? Let us know!