Typically, a foreign passport does not require translation, since all the basic data in it is duplicated in English. But for several years now, registry offices and judges have required an official translation of the passport into Spanish when registering a marriage in Cancun, Mexico.
State of Quintana Roo — the only one in Mexico where a birth certificate is not required to register a marriage. In all other states of the country, personal data on the marriage certificate is transferred from the birth certificate, for foreigners — from its official translation. If there was a change of surname after birth, then in addition to the birth certificate, a supporting document is needed, and the data on the marriage certificate will be transferred from the official translation of this document.
Official translation — translation made by a Mexican translator with a special license. In other words, such a transfer can only be made in Mexico.
By requesting an official translation of a passport, judges in Cancun are trying to absolve themselves of responsibility in case of incorrect data being entered on the marriage certificate. Okay, it’s not difficult to translate citizenship from English to Spanish, but place of birth… If they only look at your passport, you have the right to swap your first and last names. Here it is necessary to add that in registry offices, filling out forms is often done not by the judges themselves, but by their assistants, for whom Name and Surname look like one and the same thing. And in the translation everything is clearly stated in Spanish. Whatever data was provided was what was entered.
Passport translation in Quintana Roo is not required everywhere. If you go to register a marriage at the central office of the Registro civil in Cancun on Margaritas Street near Las Palapas Park, you will definitely be asked for a translation. At the registry office in the Hotel zone, translation is also required. But in the registry offices on the outskirts of Cancun they don’t ask for a passport translation, and getting married there is generally much simpler.
Recently, passport translation has been selectively required in Playa del Carmen and other municipalities of the state.
To have an official passport translation done, contact a Mexican official translator. You can find the contacts of such translators in the sectionConsultantson our website.
Usually the translation takes 1 day (you only need to translate the double page of your passport with a photo) and costs from 500 pesos. The translator has the ability to make a translation remotely, using a scanned image of the passport. He will provide you with a certified translation, which you can submit to the registry office when registering your marriage. This way, you will not only fulfill the requirements of the registry office, but you can be sure that the correct data will be entered into the Mexican marriage certificate.