How To Make My Filipina 'official' And 'travel-Ready'?

[yosho]

Hi everyone,I am have been in a relationship with a lovely Filipina woman for a year and a half now. I have been out of the country and away from her for a few months while I undertake a Master's degree, but am planning to return in May for what is hopefully long-term work and life with her, potentially marriage a little while later.She comes from a very poor family in Mindanao, and has never worked a formal job, nor has she ever had any other form of id other than her birth certificate. Obviously, if I commit to her, I'd like her to travel with me outside of the country one day, and that requires a passport, which itself appears to require a variety of other documents like SSS ID, Voter's ID, NBI Clearance, BIR tax stuff, etc etc.?Thus, have any of you had to help your wives/girlfriends go through this process of getting any/all of these documents? Are they a huge time investment (i.e. constant visits to offices in Manila for forms, etc.)? I'm concerned especially about SSS and BIR (screw the voter's id, and NBI is easy). What do they entail? (She just works in the informal sector and will probably continue to do so unless I send her to school).If I make her "official" in the eyes of the government, how much tax might she have to start paying / social security payments / etc.? The problem for me is that she doesn't know how to handle any of this stuff, as she's never used it before, nor is she capable of going and applying for them all on her own, as she probably wouldn't understand the complex forms and procedures. Thus, I'm wondering, from your experience, how much of a time investment I would be facing if I had to do all this stuff for her, and then, how much of it requires monthly/yearly renewals or further trips to further offices for further payments?Also, how many documents are really needed for a passport? Can we get by with just an NSO and one of the above? My worry is that once she's "official" in any sense, then the gov't might expect her to be 'official' in every sense, and, 5 years down the line, she might pop up on someone's screen for tax evasion since she's in a gov't computer for the passport. Thus, any of your experiences about this stuff would be valuable to me! It's one thing for me to look this stuff up on the government websites, but that often doesn't reflect the reality on the ground!Thanks in advance and Best Regards,J

[Ashanti]

I think your jumping the gun ………………. Your post sounds to be all over the place. I think you should take it one at a time.From what I undertstand from your post – your gf for want of a better word, illiterate. Don’t worry, she is not alone and plenty others are in the same boat but they manage it fine. The important thing is – is she the shy type??????????? Or does she have self confidence in herself????? Being uneducated doesn’t mean one doesn’t have self-confidence or shy at all. If needs must, one must!!!Start it first on how easy for her to handle getting a passport. That in itself is not easy for people in PI who just has a basic education. There are many people in PI, if your gf is willing to enquire, who would willing to enlighten her. Perhaps, not all would be telling her what is correct but at least she would gain some sort of working knowledge, then she can sift the BS from the nuggets with your help.Even my sister, who is educated was rattled when she was preparing her travel documents, and have to sift very carefully from the stories her friends are telling her of what should be done or not done. The main thing to remember, it is nearly impossible for Filipinos to travel outside the country if they have no money to their names. Just because someone is willing to sponsor them doesn’t mean they will get the visa as most western countries are aware of the filipino problem and therefore wouldn’t want to lumbered with illegal aliens.Second, when you say official – do you mean your official companion as in work capacity or your wife.If it is as your wife, it would be lot easier but doesn’t mean it is easy as there are a lot of hurdles. Most embassies want proof that the marriage is sincere and the onus lies in both of you to prove it based on their guidelines. If the travel is in the capacity as a worker – then I think your mind is in the clouds and is very naïve about Philippines. I don’t want to be rude but you can forget that idea. You will be just wasting time and money (based on your information so far).

[yosho]

Hi,Thanks for the response. Actually, when I use the term 'official', I meant it to mean that she would become a tax-paying citizen in the government's books, which she currently isn't. And, of course, I have no intention of taking her out of the country until we've been married for a couple years and have all the necessary proof that could possibly be desired by an embassy. My main concern at the moment is the tax business. I assume any Filipina who wants to get a passport probably needs to be listed as a tax-paying citizen with the government? For you guys out there that have married Filipinas and gotten them a passport - did they need to first get a 'Taxpayer Identification Number' and pay taxes yearly to the BIR, even if they only work in the informal sector (i.e. where there are no pay slips or receipts that could be submitted)? Any ideas how much tax you might have to pay on the average poor Filipino wage? Or, is just getting the SSS sufficient?I know lots of men have taken their Filipina wives abroad, and I'm sure some of those wives came from similar poor, asset-less situations. I just want to know what's required to get from 'poor Filipina from the village' to 'Filipina with passport', so that I can start planning early and thinking in the long term!Thanks again,J

[i am bob]

Hey J!I think yours and your girlfriends situation - though not truly uique - might be one best answered by sitting down with someone who does this sort of thing for a living. If they don't have the answers, I'm sure they can find the correct one for you! The reason I am suggesting a professional is that a lot of the rules have changed recently... It might be good to make sure you get the right answers if you are looking at doing this right away. Now as you say you have a few years before you are thinking of taking her out of the country, you may be able to figure it all out ahead of time by researching online the government sites... Once you have sufficient information gathered, you should have no problems approaching the government offices to confirm the prerequisites and requirements. And if you want to hire a professional even at this point, sometimes it's not such a bad idea... Not saying we won't help with the answers here but I don't know of anyone who has had a similar situation recently... And with things changing everyday and in every locale, you do want to make sure you get the best and correct info on something as important as your wife-to-be!

[MikeB]

Your best source of information is the government web site. The documentary requirements are listed, the main one is the NSO Birth Certificate.

[Ashanti]

I assume any Filipina who wants to get a passport probably needs to be listed as a tax-paying citizen with the government?

You assumed wrong. The tax declaration is only a supporting document which you or may not use. If you look at the gov site kindly provided by MikeB you can see other supporting documents. If you put it in perspective, the passport is just a kind of ID of who you are.You’re best serve to have a copy of her school records, baptismal, etc or any supporting docs she can produce. However, in her case it would be a lot easier for both of you to have to a travel agency to apply a passport for her. Regardless, you need original documents and there are a lot of reported problems with birth certificates. Like, the spelling of names doesn’t tally or some simple typographical error in original BC that doesn’t tally with other supporting documents. I think that is the first thing you should concentrate first, a good clean BC. You would be surprised how many mistakes can happen in BC. Some need to spend P10-25K just to correct their BC.Better still, apply for a passport when youre married – at least she doesn’t have to apply for a change of passport and therefore just one expense. Edited March 25, 2012 by Ashanti

[Bil Brock]

My wife was from a poor family & getting a visa wasn't any harder than if she had been from a middle class one.

[daisy]

Hello Yosho,In order to apply her passport, she needs her birth certificate authenticated from NSO and one valid ID. If she is somewhere in CDO or Misamis Oriental, have her contact me and I will help her FREE of charge!!!! No worries, I've been doing it so many times for free!daisy