going to the philippines.a few questions

[nathanp 6]

I was speaking of post marriage @ the embassy!

sorry but i dont understand what u mean

[john & jean 37]

they are not very good at accepting cosponsors. also, are famous for denying people who do not follow cultural beliefs. you need to take many pictures, and have many proofs. would also plan a second trip!!

I am not saying it can't be done, I am saying, when you get to the consulate stage, you will encounter problems.

[nathanp 6]

they are not very good at accepting cosponsors. also, are famous for denying people who do not follow cultural beliefs. you need to take many pictures, and have many proofs. would also plan a second trip!!

I am not saying it can't be done, I am saying, when you get to the consulate stage, you will encounter problems.

oh yeah i have a lot of proof.i got it covered and im bringing my digital camera with me plus i bought her 1 a long time ago so we both have digital camera and everything.plus letters and packages,emails,chats,text messages.and more

[Darnell 8,478]

*** moving to Philippines forum, had nothing to do with K-3 forum, and is Philippines specific. ***

Edited May 3, 2010 by Darnell

[nathanp 6]

*** moving to Philippines forum, had nothing to do with K-3 forum, and is Philippines specific. ***

it does have something to do with k3 visa.hince getting married in the phils.isnt that k3 visa?

[Atencio 43]

Hey just came back to Los Angeles two hours ago from my marriage in Butuan City.

Three weeks is barely enough time for civil marriage.

You will kill two days in Manila. I came in on PAL arriving in Manila at 6 a.m. You will have to get through customs and drive over to Embassy. Traffic can be bad. The flights to Butuan are around 12 noon if I remember right. Trying to get to the embassy for affidavit and get back to airport may be cutting it close. You have to be there two hours in advance. Terminal fees to Butuan are 200 pesos. Terminal fee from Butuan is 20 pesos. Terminal fee out of Manila is 750 pesos.

Butuan is cheaper than major cities. You will need to carry small change for taxi's, tricycles, and multi-cabs. I don't care for multi-cabs. Always bump my head. Taxi's are best though they are hard to catch except at airport and Guisano Mall. I stayed at the Almont Inland Resort, probably nicest hotel in Butuan. Great service. They worked deal with me and gave me room for 2500 pesos a night. Cheaper can be had though, easily.

Food is cheap. I dont think I ever paid more than 1000 peso's for meal for two, and that was eating good. Go to Jollibees and you can spend under 100 pesos.

Marriage. You need to wait 12 days before you can marry in Butuan. They require that you take family planning class before applying but we were able to get them to start the 12 day process before class. They will not under any circumstances start the 12 day waiting period without the affidavit from the Embassy. They will also want a Cenomar for you plus passport, birth certificate/baptismal, and divorce decree if applicable. Take five copies of everything for them. If the forms are not official copies they will charge you for them to "notarize" them. I think it cost me about 1000-1500 pesos at city hall. Then you have to pay court. They charged us 500 pesos to do civil marriage. We had judge perform ours at Almont. Normally judges charge about 7000 pesos to perform outside of court. Cousin of wife works at court, got judge to do it for 2000 pesos.

Reception. We did ours at Almont. Room and food for 30 was 7500 pesos. Cake was 650 pesos. Photographer for 4 hours of time, 100 pictures, and CD was 3000 pesos though I don't think she was great. Wifes bouquet of flowers was about 600 pesos.

We spend out last week in Bohol at Amorita. It was very expensive, about 10,000 pesos a night for three nights. Marriott in Cebu was 5400 pesos.

I would take a credit/debit card with you just in case. Use it to pay hotel room at end if you are running low on cash. Banks are very picky about condition on US currency. Make sure you take pristine bills. Money changers at the malls in Cebu and Bohol took anything.

Did your girlfriend go to school in Butuan? My wife is a teacher at Agustan National. It is funny. Everywhere we went we saw former students. I always teased her how boys probably had crush on her.

Edited May 3, 2010 by Atencio

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

My input on a few things:

1. Your gf will know how much money you should need as she is already living there.

2. Civil Marriage in the Philippines is very straight forward but the cost varies from city to city, your gf can get the cost. Here is the "for Dummies" cliff notes:

a) Get Legal Capacity to Marry from the US Embassy, Cost is $30.

b) To get marriage license you can go to any civil registry, pay a small fee (varies) and apply for the marriage license. You will need:

. i) Your birth certificate, passport and legal capacity to marry.

. ii) Her birth certificate, other ID and either Parental Consent to Marry (18 - 21 yrs of age) or Parental Advice on Marriage (22 - 24 yrs of age).

c) A Notice of your application for the license is publicly posted at the civil registry for 10 days to allow for objections to be presented.

d) After 10 days you can get the Marriage License after paying another fee.

e) Now you can get married by a judge or mayor.

3) The Manila Embassy is very easy of your documentation is good and the relationship is real.

. i) They do seem to appreciate it when Kanos respect the cultural norms in the PH so trying to exclude her parents will be a big red flag for you.

. ii) If filing for a CR-1 then the NVC will determine the fitness of your Affidavit of Support not the USEM so co-sponsors aren't a problem.

Now here's a reality check for you...

Without her parent's signatures on the Consent/Advice form you won't get a marriage license unless you do some "back room dealing".

If you can barely afford to visit her now then you aren't ready for this Visa Journey. Spend a year working on getting a better job or something. The expenses are more than you can imagine. Since my wife arrived last November we've burned through several thousand dollars just getting everything needed for her to be here and all of the doctors visits (not that she was in bad health but you'll want her to be looked at here).

Money is one of the biggest causes of marital strife and can lead to divorce quicker than you can get a crisp $20 from your local ATM. If it is tight now it will be impossible when she arrives. Don't count on her getting a job quickly in the US, look at the current unemployment rates and the backlash against immigrants.

You need to either win her parents over OR wait until she's 25 and marry without them. If you pay a fixxor (back room dealing) and the USEM gets wind of anything sketchy in your papers it will cause you more trouble than the shortcut was worth.

[Darnell 8,478]

it does have something to do with k3 visa.hince getting married in the phils.isnt that k3 visa?

K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures forum 'explanation'

This forum discusses the US immigration procedure used to obtain a K3 Spouse Visa for a non US Citizen (living overseas) married to a US Citizen. K4 Visas for children of the foreign spouse (if applicable) are also discussed. Note: People who file for a K-3 have automatically also filed for a IR1/CR1 Visa (I-130) and can pursue that visa if it is approved faster than the K-3.

I did not read anything in your topic and its replies, that covered any US immigration procedure.

IMO, it was specific to 'The Philippines' and did not cover anything about the K-3 visa process, issues on the I-130, questions about the K-3 visa and why it's been outdated at NVC,

Sorry. If there was ANYTHING in this topic specific to USCIS, the I-130, the I-129F, a K-3, it would have 'stayed' in the K-3 forum, or even moved to the CR-1 forum. Dinna see that, I read the whole topic twice (yer original post, plus all the replies).

If I seem 'heavy-handed', sorry, this is basic stuff, nothing heavy-handed about it at all.

OTOH - this 'scans' as PI specific, the words that were written.

Good Luck, however 'it' turns out for you !

[Atencio 43]

d) After 10 days you can get the Marriage License after paying another fee.

In Butuan City which he is asking about you have to wait 12 days. Boy did that irritate me.

[nathanp 6]

Hey just came back to Los Angeles two hours ago from my marriage in Butuan City.

Three weeks is barely enough time for civil marriage.

You will kill two days in Manila. I came in on PAL arriving in Manila at 6 a.m. You will have to get through customs and drive over to Embassy. Traffic can be bad. The flights to Butuan are around 12 noon if I remember right. Trying to get to the embassy for affidavit and get back to airport may be cutting it close. You have to be there two hours in advance. Terminal fees to Butuan are 200 pesos. Terminal fee from Butuan is 20 pesos. Terminal fee out of Manila is 750 pesos.

Butuan is cheaper than major cities. You will need to carry small change for taxi's, tricycles, and multi-cabs. I don't care for multi-cabs. Always bump my head. Taxi's are best though they are hard to catch except at airport and Guisano Mall. I stayed at the Almont Inland Resort, probably nicest hotel in Butuan. Great service. They worked deal with me and gave me room for 2500 pesos a night. Cheaper can be had though, easily.

Food is cheap. I dont think I ever paid more than 1000 peso's for meal for two, and that was eating good. Go to Jollibees and you can spend under 100 pesos.

Marriage. You need to wait 12 days before you can marry in Butuan. They require that you take family planning class before applying but we were able to get them to start the 12 day process before class. They will not under any circumstances start the 12 day waiting period without the affidavit from the Embassy. They will also want a Cenomar for you plus passport, birth certificate/baptismal, and divorce decree if applicable. Take five copies of everything for them. If the forms are not official copies they will charge you for them to "notarize" them. I think it cost me about 1000-1500 pesos at city hall. Then you have to pay court. They charged us 500 pesos to do civil marriage. We had judge perform ours at Almont. Normally judges charge about 7000 pesos to perform outside of court. Cousin of wife works at court, got judge to do it for 2000 pesos.

Reception. We did ours at Almont. Room and food for 30 was 7500 pesos. Cake was 650 pesos. Photographer for 4 hours of time, 100 pictures, and CD was 3000 pesos though I don't think she was great. Wifes bouquet of flowers was about 600 pesos.

We spend out last week in Bohol at Amorita. It was very expensive, about 10,000 pesos a night for three nights. Marriott in Cebu was 5400 pesos.

I would take a credit/debit card with you just in case. Use it to pay hotel room at end if you are running low on cash. Banks are very picky about condition on US currency. Make sure you take pristine bills. Money changers at the malls in Cebu and Bohol took anything.

Did your girlfriend go to school in Butuan? My wife is a teacher at Agustan National. It is funny. Everywhere we went we saw former students. I always teased her how boys probably had crush on her.

im talking to jenes cousin and their granpa does marriages and can work on a good deal to do it b4 all paper work and evertything.plus jenes cousin is letting me use her house that no1 lives in so jenes and i have privacy there and she will also talk to her mom about doing the decorations for the wedding....

jenes is from bayugan.she went to school there.she is only in butuan bcuz of family problems and to look for work.she went to agusan del sur college.

i have no way of getting a bank account.i owe a lot of money to banks.my credit is shot.its impossible for me to get it.even at my current bank.bcuz i owe them money.they said all they can do rite now is allow me to access my savings account.which i think is now shut off.and if i wanted to get a visa or debit card.i have to pay the money i owe and wait 1 year b4 im issued a bank card.my dad is in the same situation/we have no friends here and no family.basically its impossible for me to get a bank account.but jenes sister has 1 and i can open jenes a bank account and send her the money to put in there or just bring cash and only carry what i need and leave the rest hidden.but im not worried about thatjust wanna get there and meet her and get married.

but i know i land in butuan.and will travel 2 hours to bayugan.jenes and her family always go and it doesnt cost much.plus they own their own transportation.a truck and a few other things.what about just a wedding at the church?what all paper work would we need b4 we can actually do that?bcuz im limited on time and everything and i know ill have to start asap.to get all the paper work ready so we can get married in time and enjoy it.

[nathanp 6]

My input on a few things:

1. Your gf will know how much money you should need as she is already living there.

2. Civil Marriage in the Philippines is very straight forward but the cost varies from city to city, your gf can get the cost. Here is the "for Dummies" cliff notes:

a) Get Legal Capacity to Marry from the US Embassy, Cost is $30.

b) To get marriage license you can go to any civil registry, pay a small fee (varies) and apply for the marriage license. You will need:

. i) Your birth certificate, passport and legal capacity to marry.

. ii) Her birth certificate, other ID and either Parental Consent to Marry (18 - 21 yrs of age) or Parental Advice on Marriage (22 - 24 yrs of age).

c) A Notice of your application for the license is publicly posted at the civil registry for 10 days to allow for objections to be presented.

d) After 10 days you can get the Marriage License after paying another fee.

e) Now you can get married by a judge or mayor.

3) The Manila Embassy is very easy of your documentation is good and the relationship is real.

. i) They do seem to appreciate it when Kanos respect the cultural norms in the PH so trying to exclude her parents will be a big red flag for you.

. ii) If filing for a CR-1 then the NVC will determine the fitness of your Affidavit of Support not the USEM so co-sponsors aren't a problem.

Now here's a reality check for you...

Without her parent's signatures on the Consent/Advice form you won't get a marriage license unless you do some "back room dealing".

If you can barely afford to visit her now then you aren't ready for this Visa Journey. Spend a year working on getting a better job or something. The expenses are more than you can imagine. Since my wife arrived last November we've burned through several thousand dollars just getting everything needed for her to be here and all of the doctors visits (not that she was in bad health but you'll want her to be looked at here).

Money is one of the biggest causes of marital strife and can lead to divorce quicker than you can get a crisp $20 from your local ATM. If it is tight now it will be impossible when she arrives. Don't count on her getting a job quickly in the US, look at the current unemployment rates and the backlash against immigrants.

You need to either win her parents over OR wait until she's 25 and marry without them. If you pay a fixxor (back room dealing) and the USEM gets wind of anything sketchy in your papers it will cause you more trouble than the shortcut was worth.

in other words jenes and i can still get married just not be able to get the license?rite now we just wanna get married.license and all that isnt our issue.her grandpa will perform the ceremony and her parents will allow us to get married.i already know that for a fact.i can afford it.sorry but i just want to know if we can get married without having to do all that paper work ahead of time or if its impossible to get married but just not have the license and everyting yet?

[nathanp 6]

as what jenes and many of my friends and family have told me.im not worried about the future.im worried about today.rite now i cant get her here unless i go there and get married.so i just want the info about that and to worry about going there.not rather or not ill have the money to support her when i get here,i have that taken care of.im not worried about it.once i get back ill be getting more money.lets just say im a millionaire rite now.my focus is the wedding stuff and getting married while im there in the 3 weeks of my stay.sorry if i sound rude.but i see many of the same messages and it doesnt seem as if some people read the previous post or skim thru them bcuz i say the samethings but i just wanna make sure i get the correct info.again sorry.hope i dont sound rude.im not trying to.just want to worry about now and not the future.jenes always told me about that and not to plan for the future.when i did it only caused problems.i learned from it.hehe.but thank you every1 for ur replies.they will come in use even in the future and i can look at them again instead of reposting things.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

in other words jenes and i can still get married just not be able to get the license?rite now we just wanna get married.license and all that isnt our issue.her grandpa will perform the ceremony and her parents will allow us to get married.i already know that for a fact.i can afford it.sorry but i just want to know if we can get married without having to do all that paper work ahead of time or if its impossible to get married but just not have the license and everyting yet?

No license means no legal marriage...

No legal marriage means no Visa...

[Tahoma 2,291]

No license means no legal marriage...

No legal marriage means no Visa...

Bob...that is a good simple way to put it...no license = no visa.

By the way, good previous post on this thread. I enjoyed it.

[Atencio 43]

Nathanp. It was already suggested but are you sure a K1 visa might not be a better alternative for you?

If you have to go to Bayugan that is like a two hour bus ride from Butuan. I was not brave enough to venture to far from Butuan.