We started our communication with the consular for Ecuador in Vancouver back in late November. It's probably a good thing that we started the process back then as we found that each time we submitted anything to him, it was not good enough.
We started by sending our birth certificates and found out that they were not sufficient. What was required were birth certificates that also included our parents names etc. My wife had to get hers from Scotland and I had to get mine from Alberta Vital Statistics. The first one that I received back was a 3 x 5 plastic one like one of our bills and when I scanned and sent it to the consular he called back and told me that it was no good as he would not be able to stamp it. So then I ordered another one, more like the original typed up one that had my Mother's signature on it from 1962. It was exciting to receive it and open the envelope to see the hand writing on the bottom of the page. There was my mother's signature, something I hadn't seen in over 40 years as she died in a car accident in 1981. I then scanned it and sent it to the consular and he called back to tell me that it was also no good as the stamp on it did not say "Alberta" anywhere in the stamp and the signature inside the stamp did not have any name associated with it. He said that he would only accept it if it was notarized and then certified by the Alberta Law Society.
I asked him then about the marriage certificate that I had sent him a couple of weeks earlier and he also told me that it was no good. I asked him "So you mean to tell me, that for the last 26 years I have not been legally married?" He was not impressed. "Don't you understand that I am trying to help you" Yes. yes yes, I replied. "What is wrong with the one I sent you?". "For starters, it is not large enough for a stamp" "And it needs to show your parents" "Okay" I said. So in the next couple of days I went off and ordered another one. The new one arrived 2 weeks later.
A couple of days later we decided to go to the RCMP to get our background checks done. Once we arrived we found out that they no longer do the finger printing and referred us to Legal-Ease in Calgary. We went straight there and submitted our information along with finger prints and they were sent digitally to Ottawa and we received the final documents in the mail within 10 days. A few days later we had everything notarized by an attorney who even scanned his card showing he was in good standing with the Alberta Law Society. I scanned everything and sent it off to the consular and asked if we still needed to send them all to Edmonton to be approved by the Alberta Law Society and have not heard back after 3 days. So on Monday, it's off to Edmonton.
It only took about 30 minutes to get all of our documents signed, sealed with pretty ribbons and hand delivered to us while we waited. We submitted our birth certificates, marriage certificate and police reports. Then it was off to Vancouver. We chose to drive as it was much cheaper than flying so it's off to Jasper and then Kamloops for the night. The Best Western king size bed was welcome as I had been driving well into the night on snowy slushy roads.
We then drove to Burnaby the next day and met with the Consular General. He was very friendly and helpful. We had to have passport photos so we had to skip out and get them along with a money order to pay for the visas. Money Orders have to be in US dollars. It only took about an hour or less once we got back with the photos and money. He would only start on everything once he had the money and photos. He was kind and explained everything once it was complete, Claudette made sure to thank him and let him know how much his services were appreciated. We were out of there by 6:00 pm.
Then it was off to Carl and Christine's in rush hour traffic. They live on Sumas Prairie near Abbotsford. I tried calling them a couple of times and when we arrived, the home was dark and quiet so we decided to head to Kamloops for the night. We arrived in the city just after 10:00 pm. The next day, Claudette took over the driving. My neck and shoulders were tense and this was a treat. She got us back into Calgary by dinner time.
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