Getting Married in the Philippines

[Kody n Ruth Joy 0]

After searching since March 2008 and meeting 4 or 5 girls in person, I Have met "The One" for me. I purposed to Ruth Joy on November 10th, 2011 in front of her Grandparents who Raised Her. And i have continued supporting her financially through school, and hard times. The Webcam chats are great, Just patiently waiting for the Wedding later this year. We will have a small civil wedding in October this year. My plan is to bring my Grandmother with me also to attend the wedding. It really gives me a headache though. I Have never been Married nor Has my Fiancee, I Will be 27 she will be 21 in by the time of the Wedding. What Documents will i need , My time in the Philippines is October 21-nov 12 . and i was hoping my Grandmother could leave by October 28th and Return back home to the USA..... but from what i have read, It takes 10 days to get The Legal Capacity to Marriage certificate from the Embassy in Manila. ????? is this right? I was really hoping for a small simple wedding, Just arrive in manila, go straight to the embassy, get my Certificate to marry, go setup the Marriage Liscense, get married and have my Certificate by the time my grandmother leaves..... Can this be done . or what exactly must i do once i get there... is there anything i can do while im still here? I've been leaning towards the CR-1 visa .

[Rogelyn 0]

Hi Kody,

You can get the Legal Capacity to Marry at US Embassy here for few minutes. In order for you to marry your fiance, u need to get marriage license and the waiting period is 10 days. Can you not extend your stay here so you could comply on that? If not, I suggest your fiance must seek from a lawyer's advice. e

Hope it helps you. Good Luck!

Rogelyn

[Leatherneck 693]

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

2. Obtain CENOMAR for your fiancee from NSO

3. Obtain barangay clearance for your fiancee from her local barangay hall

4. Get birth certificates for both of you

5. File with Local Civil Registrar

6. Wait 10 days

7. Obtain marriage license from Civil Registrar

8. Get married

9. Once you're married you get your marriage certificate from the local registrar office.

You won't have enough time to get everything done in time and have a wedding before your grandmother departs.

As for as which visa you get - that will be determined by the length of your marriage at the time your future wife applies for the

immigrant visa.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Leatherneck

[Kody n Ruth Joy 0]

excellent responses thank you both ! well,... My Grandmother will still come, we can get some nice family shots together , But i just dont see her staying anything longer then a week there ! .... Luckily i will have enough time to complete my mission,

[L&F 0]

Aside from waiting a bit in line, it's quick to receive the legal capacity to marry/ sworn oath & seal stamped letter. Then we went straight to the Makati city hall for the marriage license. True, it does take 10 days but you can pay for an expedite--depending on who you know.

But above all, you will have to file for the CR-1 once you get married in the Philippines.

It's not gonna work if you try to file any other VISA.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from K3 Process & Procedures to Philippines regional forum.

[ZamboMichigan 2]

After searching since March 2008 and meeting 4 or 5 girls in person, I Have met "The One" for me. I purposed to Ruth Joy on November 10th, 2011 in front of her Grandparents who Raised Her. And i have continued supporting her financially through school, and hard times. The Webcam chats are great, Just patiently waiting for the Wedding later this year. We will have a small civil wedding in October this year. My plan is to bring my Grandmother with me also to attend the wedding. It really gives me a headache though. I Have never been Married nor Has my Fiancee, I Will be 27 she will be 21 in by the time of the Wedding. What Documents will i need , My time in the Philippines is October 21-nov 12 . and i was hoping my Grandmother could leave by October 28th and Return back home to the USA..... but from what i have read, It takes 10 days to get The Legal Capacity to Marriage certificate from the Embassy in Manila. ????? is this right? I was really hoping for a small simple wedding, Just arrive in manila, go straight to the embassy, get my Certificate to marry, go setup the Marriage Liscense, get married and have my Certificate by the time my grandmother leaves..... Can this be done . or what exactly must i do once i get there... is there anything i can do while im still here? I've been leaning towards the CR-1 visa .

Let's see, I just did this two weeks ago...

You need to schedule an appt at the US Embassy in Manila online. They will issue you a certificate of legal cacity the same day. Do this for as soon as you arrive.

Your financee needs to obtain her requirements beforehand.

Once you have the certificate from the embassy - proceed to her local barangay and apply for a marraige licence. Then the 10 day waiting period begins.

After the civil ceremoney, there is an additional wait for the certificate. ( I am still waiting, but Holy Week was practically lost time)

[X Factor 1,110]

After searching since March 2008 and meeting 4 or 5 girls in person, I Have met "The One" for me. I purposed to Ruth Joy on November 10th, 2011 in front of her Grandparents who Raised Her. And i have continued supporting her financially through school, and hard times. The Webcam chats are great,

Kody you have taken the search for a marriage partner very seriously. Actually meeting several girls in person must be expensive but given the life long committment it was a smart investment towards your future. You have received some great advice above. I wish you the best on your marriage and visa journey.

[RickJovi 81]

After searching since March 2008 and meeting 4 or 5 girls in person, I Have met "The One" for me. I purposed to Ruth Joy on November 10th, 2011 in front of her Grandparents who Raised Her. And i have continued supporting her financially through school, and hard times. The Webcam chats are great, Just patiently waiting for the Wedding later this year. We will have a small civil wedding in October this year. My plan is to bring my Grandmother with me also to attend the wedding. It really gives me a headache though. I Have never been Married nor Has my Fiancee, I Will be 27 she will be 21 in by the time of the Wedding. What Documents will i need , My time in the Philippines is October 21-nov 12 . and i was hoping my Grandmother could leave by October 28th and Return back home to the USA..... but from what i have read, It takes 10 days to get The Legal Capacity to Marriage certificate from the Embassy in Manila. ????? is this right? I was really hoping for a small simple wedding, Just arrive in manila, go straight to the embassy, get my Certificate to marry, go setup the Marriage Liscense, get married and have my Certificate by the time my grandmother leaves..... Can this be done . or what exactly must i do once i get there... is there anything i can do while im still here? I've been leaning towards the CR-1 visa .

Why don't you just do a K1 Fiancee VISA and make it easier on yourself. Have your fiancee come to the U.S. to marry you. Less hassle and you will actually know she will come to the U.S.. Depeneding on where you are getting married in the Philippines, you may also have to attend a marriage seminar and you may also have to have a CENOMAR for yourself along with your Certificate of legal capacity. Sorry but Grandma won't make the wedding. Paying the bribe to get things moved faster is not always a good thing and sometimes it is involved in scams. Better to get your Filipina fiancee to the U.S. for marriage. You can always renew your vows at a later date in the Philippines in front of her family. Ask your fiancee how she feels about coming to the U.S. to get married instead and see what her feelings are about it. If she doesn't want to come to the U.S. to marry you, it could be a red flag to let you know she may not come after you are married in the Philippines. Protect yourself. I know people that have been scammed by getting married in the Philippines, the marriage certificate was never sent to the NSO for processing and after they were drained of as much money as they were willing to give to their wive and her family, they were no longer married because the marriage paperwork was ripped up at the Civil Registrar's office, because it was never processed. I am by no way saying that this happens in all marriages where you decide to marry in the Philippines, but I know that scams do happen. Whatever you decide, good luck.

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

....everybody here is giving good and accurate information. I was in Phil for 30 days to marry my wife and luckily my wife had good connections to the City Hall in Antipolo City. We got everything pushed right along quickly. One thing I would like to mention is be sure to check with your fiancee's local municipality. Not all city governments are now accepting the US version of C.E.N.O.M.A.R. (Legal capacity to Marry).

[Kody n Ruth Joy 0]

Rick Jovi, We'll that seems great and all, But too me its meaningless.... I just have my grandmother , not other close family.... my friends, i can care less if they are at my wedding...... now from her point of view, having 11 other brothers and sisters, and numerous aunts and uncles, cousins....... it would be more fun for both of us, to get married in the Philippines..... Already crazy nervous about having the proper documentation to be eligible to be married.. !! Once her school is finished in June, I will put her on the mission to go and research what i will need. the advice here is awesome, thank you everyone.

[djames95 3]

Rick Jovi, We'll that seems great and all, But too me its meaningless.... I just have my grandmother , not other close family.... my friends, i can care less if they are at my wedding...... now from her point of view, having 11 other brothers and sisters, and numerous aunts and uncles, cousins....... it would be more fun for both of us, to get married in the Philippines..... Already crazy nervous about having the proper documentation to be eligible to be married.. !! Once her school is finished in June, I will put her on the mission to go and research what i will need. the advice here is awesome, thank you everyone.

After going through the process myself, I can give you one good piece of advice: bring every and any official paper you can think of!! Birth certificates, baptismal certificates, etc!! they LOVE paperwork in the Philippines!! I had the clerk in my wife's LGU practically drooling over all the papers I brought along!!

If you're having a civil wedding, it will be much simpler. My wife and I had a church wedding (both of us being Catholic), and therefore had TWO layers of beauracracy to go through. But bringing all my papers made everyone happy, and the process went quickly and smoothly. Learning a few words of tagalog will also help, and will make things proceed much more smoothly and quickly.

The only major delay you will probably face, is the mandatory 10 day waiting period. If you are intending to file for a cr1/ir1 spousal visa later on, do NOT allow anyone to "expedite" you through that!! too many have been caught out because dates don't match somewhere, and their visa was denied!!

Best of luck, and happy wishes to both of you!

[A and T 82]

it took me a while over 20 days. i dont know if you can make it in such a short time

[JoBri 545]

I think my wife and I have a speed record for getting married... I arrived in the Philippines on a Saturday night around midnight, January 12, 2008, and we were married by Tuesday afternoon, January 15, 2008. Less than 3 days. You could cut that to 2 days if you timed it right. I only had 10 days I could be there. Here is how we did it.

1. She got the marriage license application at City Hall, filled out her part, then sent it to me via mail.

2. I filled out my part, then had it notarized at the bank.

3. Authenticated at the county clerks office.

4.Sent it off to Tennessee Department of State to get them to sign off on it. They returned it to me.

5. Sent it to the Philippines consulate in Washington D.C. to get them to do their thing with it, and return it.

6. Mailed it back to my wife with appropriate pictures.

7. My wife took it back to City Hall where they displayed it the required 10 days.

8. I arrived Saturday night/Sunday morning in the Philippines.

9. Monday morning we went to the US Embassy Manila and got the legal capacity to marry.

10. We went to City Hall the same day and brought the documents and made arrangements to get married the next day, Tuesday.

11. Tuesday I bought a tie at the mall and a ring for me while my wife went to her school to teach. She met me sometime after 12PM and we road the train together and bus and taxi back to City Hall, where we met with the judge who also was a pastor and we got married.

So, all in all, summarized, I left the USA on January 10th (local time). Arrived in the Philippines late January 12/early January 13th (local time). Married January 15. Now...that is pretty quick, isnt it? hehe... It took a lot of planning. But in the end we still had several days together as newlyweds before I had to fly back to the States.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Brijo

[Loolie 56]

when we got married last 2008, i was 24 years old and my hubby was 49 years old. Bcoz i was 24 years old under 25 we needed to attend the marriage counselling seminar for one day. It is one of the requirement in applying marriage license at that time i dont know about now. My hubby stayed for 21 days and it was stressful but we made it. God bless and good luck.