Getting a visa to travel to the Phillipines for newly born child

[Trompie 9]

1 minute ago, AlaMike said:

I sent a notarized affidavit of paternity to my fiancé before he was born. (be sure she keeps the mailing envelope)  The hospital then put my name on the Civil application when he was born. She had to send the original civil certificate for me to sign then I sent it back for her to submit for the PSA birth certificate.

I know, it was a lot of jumping thru hoops to get it done. But well worth the effort.

How did you exactly notarize it? Did you go to an ordinary Notary Public? Did you obtain the Affidavit of Paternity form from the PH Consulate website?

 

This is incredibly frustrating process. The civil registrar in the PH is asking me to notarize it at the Consulate, but the Consulate (San Francisco) are saying they not longer do any notarizations due to covid and are directing me to the Secretary of State to have in Apostilled.

[AlaMike 257]

25 minutes ago, Trompie said:

How did you exactly notarize it? Did you go to an ordinary Notary Public? Did you obtain the Affidavit of Paternity form from the PH Consulate website?

 

This is incredibly frustrating process. The civil registrar in the PH is asking me to notarize it at the Consulate, but the Consulate (San Francisco) are saying they not longer do any notarizations due to covid and are directing me to the Secretary of State to have in Apostilled.

It was a generic affidavit (see attached)and had my local notary sign it. We had no issues other than the time it takes to send papers back and forth.

Affidavit of paternity - blank.pdf

[Trompie 9]

1 minute ago, AlaMike said:

It was a generic affidavit (see attached)and had my local notary sign it. We had no issues other than the time it takes to send papers back and forth.

Affidavit of paternity - blank.pdf 16.33 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks

[RO_AH 1,684]

On 11/10/2020 at 6:32 AM, Trompie said:

Update: After signing the back of the live birth certificate (acknowledgement of paternity section) in front of a notary in the USA, I sent this to the Philippines via DHL for my fiance to register with the Civil Registrar.

 

They rejected it, saying that it needs to be notarized by the Consulate.

 

The Consulate is telling me that they do not notarize any civil registration documents. So I'm at a loss of what to do now.

Is this all because you are not married? My wife put my name on both of our sons BC and it was processed no questions asked. I guess maybe it is easier when you are married? The one you signed is the LCR Birth Certificate. The LCR will still need to forward that to the PSA and then it they will need to process it. After that you will be able to request the official PSA Birth Certificate from the PSA. Just wanted to let you know how the process works. When you finally get her LCR to accept and approve the LCR BC, make sure to have her ask them if it is possible to expedite to the PSA. Some LCR will do this and charge a fee.

[Jabelle 1]

Hopefully you have resolved what steps to take. I went through this myself. I wrote an affidavit of Acknowledgement and Use of Surname. I had it notarized, and then sent to my states Superior Court Clerk for Apostille. They basically attach a sheet to your affidavit with a seal. Send this document to your fiancee. The local civil registry ran us in circles when attempting to file this document, so they had no clue what to do with it. They sent my fiancee to the DFA and then said we had to file at Manila City hall. You DO NOT need to file at these locations, the LCR is incorrect. DFA only does Apostille which you already have, and Manila city hall only does legitimization. Tell the local civil registry to contact the Manila City hall legal department. I don't have the link to the PSA web page that explains Apostille, but its on the PSA website for them to refer. The lack of communication on the government level is frustrating. We wasted a month on this alone. Finally filed and awaiting the PSA official copy, so I can file for visa. Praying I can hold my son for the first time by Feb of next year. Still awaiting our K1 interview at the embassy in Manila since April 2020.

[Trompie 9]

On 11/15/2020 at 11:50 PM, RO_AH said:

Is this all because you are not married? My wife put my name on both of our sons BC and it was processed no questions asked. I guess maybe it is easier when you are married? The one you signed is the LCR Birth Certificate. The LCR will still need to forward that to the PSA and then it they will need to process it. After that you will be able to request the official PSA Birth Certificate from the PSA. Just wanted to let you know how the process works. When you finally get her LCR to accept and approve the LCR BC, make sure to have her ask them if it is possible to expedite to the PSA. Some LCR will do this and charge a fee.

Yes, a few headaches if you are unmarried. I ended up having to travel to the nearest consulate here in the US and have it (affidavit of acknowledgement of paternity) notarized in person at the consulate, then send it via DHL back to the Philippines and have my fiance file it with the Civil Registrar.

[RO_AH 1,684]

4 hours ago, Trompie said:

Yes, a few headaches if you are unmarried. I ended up having to travel to the nearest consulate here in the US and have it (affidavit of acknowledgement of paternity) notarized in person at the consulate, then send it via DHL back to the Philippines and have my fiance file it with the Civil Registrar.

Understood, make sure to have her ask them if it is possible to expedite to the PSA like I mentioned above.

[Trompie 9]

8 hours ago, Jabelle said:

Hopefully you have resolved what steps to take. I went through this myself. I wrote an affidavit of Acknowledgement and Use of Surname. I had it notarized, and then sent to my states Superior Court Clerk for Apostille. They basically attach a sheet to your affidavit with a seal. Send this document to your fiancee. The local civil registry ran us in circles when attempting to file this document, so they had no clue what to do with it. They sent my fiancee to the DFA and then said we had to file at Manila City hall. You DO NOT need to file at these locations, the LCR is incorrect. DFA only does Apostille which you already have, and Manila city hall only does legitimization. Tell the local civil registry to contact the Manila City hall legal department. I don't have the link to the PSA web page that explains Apostille, but its on the PSA website for them to refer. The lack of communication on the government level is frustrating. We wasted a month on this alone. Finally filed and awaiting the PSA official copy, so I can file for visa. Praying I can hold my son for the first time by Feb of next year. Still awaiting our K1 interview at the embassy in Manila since April 2020.

Are you planning to file the CRBA once you get the PSA birth certificate? I've seen a couple on Youtube obtain an expedited interview for the K1 on the grounds they have a CRBA application as well, just thought I'd mention that if you were not aware. I'm also wondering what the timeline will be for me - I'm hoping if it's 4-6 weeks for the PSA then once I have that I can basically send all the support to the Consultate and get a visa to travel in a few weeks.

[Jabelle 1]

38 minutes ago, Trompie said:

Are you planning to file the CRBA once you get the PSA birth certificate? I've seen a couple on Youtube obtain an expedited interview for the K1 on the grounds they have a CRBA application as well, just thought I'd mention that if you were not aware. I'm also wondering what the timeline will be for me - I'm hoping if it's 4-6 weeks for the PSA then once I have that I can basically send all the support to the Consultate and get a visa to travel in a few weeks.

I wasn't aware of that, but its good to know. She doesn't want to travel alone to the embassy with our son, so we will attempt to schedule CRBA filing when I am there. I plan on staying for 2 months, so I will see if we can expedite our K1 as well. Thanks for the info.

[seekingthetruth 1,255]

10 minutes ago, Jabelle said:

She doesn't want to travel alone to the embassy with our son, so we will attempt to schedule CRBA filing when I am there.

CRBA is smoother when both parents are there.  Good luck!

[seekingthetruth 1,255]

11 minutes ago, Jabelle said:

I wasn't aware of that, but its good to know. She doesn't want to travel alone to the embassy with our son, so we will attempt to schedule CRBA filing when I am there. I plan on staying for 2 months, so I will see if we can expedite our K1 as well. Thanks for the info.

Also, the best place to do a CRBA is at an Embassy Outreach.  Those are suspended for now but keep it in mind, in case they resume.  I got the CRBAs for both of my daughters at outreaches here in Subic Bay.

[Trompie 9]

Finally got my child's PSA. Can anyone who went through this process confirm you need to sign the FRONT of the passport photo you send to the Consulate for the visa? Seems odd to sign the front, want to make sure to avoid them sending everything back to me.

[RO_AH 1,684]

7 hours ago, Trompie said:

Finally got my child's PSA. Can anyone who went through this process confirm you need to sign the FRONT of the passport photo you send to the Consulate for the visa? Seems odd to sign the front, want to make sure to avoid them sending everything back to me.

Not sure on the visa. You would have to find out from the consulate that you are applying to. Nothing is consistent when it comes to the Philippines, One consulate may say one thing while another says something different. If it were me I would just send 2 pictures and write the name on back of one and on the front of the other. 🙂

 

If you need any advice or help getting the CRBA, just let me know, I would be happy to help.

[flicks1998 1,044]

On 11/16/2020 at 3:50 PM, RO_AH said:

Is this all because you are not married? My wife put my name on both of our sons BC and it was processed no questions asked. I guess maybe it is easier when you are married? The one you signed is the LCR Birth Certificate. The LCR will still need to forward that to the PSA and then it they will need to process it. After that you will be able to request the official PSA Birth Certificate from the PSA. Just wanted to let you know how the process works. When you finally get her LCR to accept and approve the LCR BC, make sure to have her ask them if it is possible to expedite to the PSA. Some LCR will do this and charge a fee.

I dont think it because of not being married but maybe because of the distance.  When my son was born, we were not married but I was living in the PI and we just went to have the birth registered which involved going to about 7 different windows, paying a few different fees and then done.  Quick and easy and all done within 30 minutes.  

[RO_AH 1,684]

1 hour ago, flicks1998 said:

I dont think it because of not being married but maybe because of the distance.  When my son was born, we were not married but I was living in the PI and we just went to have the birth registered which involved going to about 7 different windows, paying a few different fees and then done.  Quick and easy and all done within 30 minutes.  

@Trompie and I were both in the US when our children were born. My wife had no issues putting me as the father. Since you were there and not married it was easier. Since they were not married and he was not there he had to jump through hoops.

 

On 11/15/2020 at 9:50 PM, RO_AH said:

Update: After signing the back of the live birth certificate (acknowledgement of paternity section) in front of a notary in the USA, I sent this to the Philippines via DHL for my fiance to register with the Civil Registrar.