US Citizen getting Married in Philippines

[Luckyrice 0]

Hello, I am going to the Philippines this February to get married to my fiance as soon as possible so that we can get our paperwork filed for her to be with me in the states.

I could use anyone's help and advice. Has anyone has gotten married in the Philippines?

specifically what did you have to do step by step to get married and then get ready to file the I-130?

So far I know that I have to get an Affidavit in lieu of marriage, my fiance has her CENOMAR, we both have passports, and we both have been together in person while I was there. We have an apartment right now in Masbate. I know we can get a civil marriage in her hometown no problem. If I stay there, would that count as residency for me to file an I-130 in Manila?

Do I have to go home right after getting married in order to file the papers asap (I'd really rather stay a little while to be with her) or can I live in the Philippines with her and file the paper at the USCIS in Manila?

I was wondering, she has a passport in her original last name and after we get married, will she have to change her passport name to my last name before being able to qualify for the interview?

Also, how do I properly file for the I-864 and/or I-864a? I do not qualify for the income requirements, but my parents do and are willing to co-sponsor for me. How do I properly file these for me, my dad, and my mom?

Thank you! Any advice on any of these questions would be great! Hopefully I can get all my questions answered through all the helpful posts you provide.

Appreciate it sincerely,

Allan

Edited January 16, 2012 by Luckyrice

[Ryan H 3,892]

Do I have to go home right after getting married in order to file the papers asap (I'd really rather stay a little while to be with her) or can I live in the Philippines with her and file the paper at the USCIS in Manila?

You do not have to return home right away, you can send your paperwork from overseas to the US if you have it all together and you wish to do that. In order to file at the USCIS field office in Manila, you will have to live in the Philippines on a long-term stay visa or residence permit for 6 or more months. Tourist visa extensions will not count.

I was wondering, she has a passport in her original last name and after we get married, will she have to change her passport name to my last name before being able to qualify for the interview?

No, she is not required to change her name at all.

Also, how do I properly file for the I-864 and/or I-864a? I do not qualify for the income requirements, but my parents do and are willing to co-sponsor for me. How do I properly file these for me, my dad, and my mom?

You complete an I-864, one of your parents as a joint sponsor completes an I-864, the other parent completes the I-864A.

[DouglasFiel 53]

Been almost 3 years since I got married in the Philippines,,, so, please keep that in mind.

But, it will tke a couple of weeks to get married in the Philippines... From what I recall we

had to post our intention to marry for 10 days at the locl register before we could actually

get married. In addition, as far as filing for a CR1 visa (DCF) in the Philippines. I recall there

being a significant amont of presense in the Philippines before you can file that route. Maybe,

6 months or more.

regards,

[sunshinearizona 21]

do not do it in the philippines do a k-1 visa faster

[KevLiez 1]

My wife and just got married on January 5 in Cebu. Here are the steps we needed in order to get married

1. obtain Affidavit in Lieu of legal capacity to marry from the US Consulate

2. obtain CENOMAR for my wife as well as myself (USC)from NSO

3. obtain barangay clearance for my wife from her local barangay hall

4. obtain birth certificate for both my wife and myself

5. file with Local Civil Registrar

6. Wait 10 days

7. Obtain marriage license from Civil Registrar

8. get married

9. obtain marriage certificate from person performing ceremony

These are requirements for the civil registrar in Mandaue City. They may be different depending on your spouses local civil registrar. My wife went to the civil registrar and asked all the requirements for her to marry a foreigner.

my wife will file with civil registrar to expedite the processing of our marriage certificate so that they can forward it to NSO. Once with NSO she will pick up the NSO authenticated marriage certificate with which she will change her name of on all her documents to her married name. I am currently filing I-130.

Congratulations!

[easyriders2011 14]

You do not have to return home right away, you can send your paperwork from overseas to the US if you have it all together and you wish to do that. In order to file at the USCIS field office in Manila, you will have to live in the Philippines on a long-term stay visa or residence permit for 6 or more months. Tourist visa extensions will not count.

No, she is not required to change her name at all.

You complete an I-864, one of your parents as a joint sponsor completes an I-864, the other parent completes the I-864A.

I was advised by a person who handles many many immigration issues for another board, that we should get my wife's passport changed to her married name. Especially since we had filed every document using her married name. The concern was the embassy would require the change and cause unnecessary delays since it can be handled while waiting for the USCIS to complete their tasks.

OP - You wife will need to take her passport, completed CFO form, marriage certificate and all documents you have about your relationship with her to the CFO seminar where she will get her certificate of attendance for attending the CFO counseling session. She will then need to take that to the local CFO office where they will give her a [GCC]ertificate which she can use at the DFA to get her passport in her married name.

[easyriders2011 14]

My wife and just got married on January 5 in Cebu. Here are the steps we needed in order to get married

1. obtain Affidavit in Lieu of legal capacity to marry from the US Consulate

2. obtain CENOMAR for my wife as well as myself (USC)from NSO

3. obtain barangay clearance for my wife from her local barangay hall

4. obtain birth certificate for both my wife and myself

5. file with Local Civil Registrar

6. Wait 10 days

7. Obtain marriage license from Civil Registrar

8. get married

9. obtain marriage certificate from person performing ceremony

These are requirements for the civil registrar in Mandaue City. They may be different depending on your spouses local civil registrar. My wife went to the civil registrar and asked all the requirements for her to marry a foreigner.

my wife will file with civil registrar to expedite the processing of our marriage certificate so that they can forward it to NSO. Once with NSO she will pick up the NSO authenticated marriage certificate with which she will change her name of on all her documents to her married name. I am currently filing I-130.

Congratulations!

Once you get married and you get your marriage certificate from the local registrar office. REQUEST an electronic endorsement for the docs because if they don't get it right and they send your marriage certificate to manila it will take over 6 months to get it resolved. This was the advise I was given by the supervisor at the NSO office in Butuan when our marriage certificate still hadn't showed up yet. I then took the electronic endorsement to our local NSO office (that she also told me about) in Surigao and we were able to get our marriage certificate within 15 minutes.

[easyriders2011 14]

do not do it in the philippines do a k-1 visa faster

Might be faster by a month or two, and if you have an extra $1000 for the Adjustment of Status filing and that time wasted waiting versus getting married first, applying for CIR-1 and once she gets in the US she gets her green card within a week or two. No more filing needed until ROC in two years time.

I researched this a lot before I made the marriage leap there. At the time the wait was about equal but now it has slipped a bit to 6-8 months. (fingersXd).

[Ryan H 3,892]

I was advised by a person who handles many many immigration issues for another board, that we should get my wife's passport changed to her married name. Especially since we had filed every document using her married name. The concern was the embassy would require the change and cause unnecessary delays since it can be handled while waiting for the USCIS to complete their tasks.

Perhaps I should have been more specific to the OP, the OP's wife is not required to change her name after getting married. However, if she wishes to do so, then she and the OP should follow what you wrote in that regard.