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

Marriage to a Rwandan Citizen

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

If you want to bring your Rwandan 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 Rwandan 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.

 

Rwandan Marriage Basic Requirements

Engaged couple must bring:

• An “Attestation de Celibat” or certification of singleness, to sector officials; (Canadian marrying Rwandans may request this at the Canadian Embassy but the Embassy cannot vouch for individuals’ singleness, the Embassy can only notarize their own sworn statements.)
•  Rwandan officials don’t typically verify individuals’ eligibility to marry; this is more of a formality and deception or fraud would generally be dealt with by the couple themselves;
• Couples also must show their birth certificates;
•  Couples also must publish a “bans of marriage” announcing their intention for 21 days;
• If there are no objections, the couple marries and the sector officials provide a pink “Livret de Marriage” (applies to post-1994 marriages);
•  Couples can request an “Attestation de Marriage” for a small fee, but this only identifies the couple and the issuing authority;
• An “Acte de Marriage” is a more detailed document issued at the sector level which goes back and confirms the original registration.

 

Family Members

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

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

 

List of Rwandan Consulates in Canada

Click here

Calling Rwanda from Canada

011 – 250 – Area, Cell or Satellite code – local number, where

• 011 is the exit code for the North American Numbering Plan
• 250 is the country code for Rwanda

Landlines, Cells and Satellites:

• For landlines the format is 011 – 250 – 25x – local number
• For Cellular phones the format is 011 – 250 – 7xx – local number
• For Satellite phones the form is 011 – 250 – 06 – local number

 

Calling Canada from Rwanda

00 – 1 – Area Code – local number

Follow the dialling format shown above while calling Canada from Rwanda.

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

 

List of Area Codes in Canada

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

Rwanda is on Central African Time (GMT+2). Rwanda does not participate in Daylight Saving Time due to its proximity to the equator.

Canadian Time Zone	# of Hours Rwanda is Ahead	# of Hours during DST
Pacific (BC, Yukon)	10 hours	9 hours
Mountain (Alberta, western Nunavut, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan)	9 hours	8 hours
Saskatchewan	8 hours	8 hours
Central (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, central Nunavut, northwestern Ontario)	8 hours	7 hours
Eastern (most of Ontario, most of Quebec)	7 hours	6 hours
Atlantic (Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, eastern Quebec)	6 hours	5 hours
Newfoundland	5.5 hours	4.5 hours

 

Emergency Information for Canadians in Rwanda

Office of the High Commission for Canada in Kigali 1534 Akagera Street Kigali Rwanda Postal Address: P.O. Box 1177, Kigali, Rwanda Telephone: 250 252 573 210 or 252 573 278 Fax: 250 252 572 719 Email: [email protected] Website: No Website

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Canadian Government’s Travel Alerts for Rwanda

For travel alerts, click here

Sponsoring a Rwandan to come to Canada

The sponsorship process is long and can be difficult. To learn more about it, click the button below:

Learn More