My friend(taiwanese woman) married a forienger so he could stay in Taiwan. They are both Canadians but she holds a Taiwan passport.
So they got married but pleaded the household registery not to put his name on the house(that her parents still have here). Her parents don’t know she did this.
Now he is leaving the country…And they are still married.
Can they get a divorce in Canada, or do they have to do it here in Taiwan?
How much will it cost?
How long does it take?
Will her parents find out about this somehow?
To get divorced in Canada, one party must typically reside in the province for the previous twelve months. I am not sure if this is the case across all provinces but it is/was in the majority. (I am getting rusty.)
If married overseas, one may also need to establish the validity of the marriage first so that the divorce may be granted - sounds backwards but basically only a court can recognize a foreign marriage by applying a set of criteria. I think in practice though there is more flexibility and there is a treaty or two covering reciprocal recognition and such (ie., no need to register some/most foreign marraiges in Canada).
Where a party is divorced overseas and then later seeks to remarry, most if not all provinces require the original divorce certificate along with a legal opinion on the validity of the divorce be filed at the time of applying for a marriage certificate. Canada has no-fault divorce but I believe that Taiwan does not. The criteria for divorce in Taiwan are posted somewhere on here.
Every Canadian Family Court / Province should have detailed information and materials available. I am guessing online as well.
EDIT: An uncontested / no-fault divorce in Canada requires that the parties have been living separate and apart for at least one year and that there has been a break down of the marriage (no chance of fixing things).
Costs: an uncontested divorce can still get pricey with filing/court fees and such even if you do it yourself (assistance of Family Court staff). Fees for lawyers will vary if you decide not to try to do it yourself or just to have one review everything before filing. Any Taiwanese documents would need to be translated, authenticated by the Taiwanese court/govt, and then notarized by the trade office here before filing. Add those costs.
