Process For Americans Getting Married In Phiippines

[TexasRangersFan]

Here is an older post by Mason in 2008 that I found to be very informative.

 

Unfortunatly it is locked and I could not post a reply to it so I copied and am pasting it here. The costs have changed a little since then. 50 USD is now around 2200 php or something like that but otherwise its pretty accurate.

 

There is also a Consolute office in Cebu where you can get the Affidavit as well for the same amount as in Manila. In Manila you need to make an appointment either online or by calling them. At the Cebu office you don't need an appointment you can go in the office between 9 and 11 and apply for it. If they are open. Requirements are simple. Any Certified Divorce papers and Certified Birth Certificate, Passport, 50 USD or peso equivalent. At either office your Fiancee Need NOT be present.

 

 

My wife and I were recently married in Baguio City. We had a civil ceremony at the courthouse and did not get the church involved. I am a 41-year-old US citizen and my wife is a 34-year-old Filipina. Here are the steps we needed to go through in order to get married. If you are under 25 or 21, there are additional requirements for parental consent. I'm including time and cost for each step but I'm pretty sure the cost varies based on how rich the various clerks and bureaucrats think you are. For the time estimates, I'm only including how long we spent in each office to complete the specific task. There are some waiting periods and scheduling oddities that will impact how long it takes you to get your marriage license.

• Go to US embassy in Manila and get a certification from the consular officer stating that I was legally able to contract marriage. The entire process took about 2 hours and cost 1800 php. All I had to do was swear that I was not already married and was legally able to marry my wife. Get to the embassy early. There is a special line for citizens but you still have to wait in line for a while to get into the consulate. Time: 2 hours Cost: 1800php
• Go to Health Department in Baguio and receive family planning certificate. Normally, this consists of a 2-4 hour lecture for the couple and you need to schedule it in advance. Ironically, the 'family planning counseling' did not even mention birth control, but that's a separate topic. In our case, I got to attend the special foreigner lecture where the woman told me that since foreigners don't have babies and just leave them where ever they feel like, she just wanted to make sure that I loved my wife and helped raise the extended family out of poverty. She was also concerned that I help my wife adjust to life in the US once we moved. When I told her we were going to live in Baguio, she wrapped up her spiel, told us where to pay the 40 php fee and gave us our certificate stating we completed the family planning counseling. Time: 2hours Cost: 40php
• Submit marriage license and required paperwork at Health Dept. in Baguio and pay the application fee. Paperwork for us consisted of certified copies of our birth certificates, the statement from the US embassy, a CENOMAR for my wife and the family planning certificate mentioned above. Gathering the required paperwork can take weeks, but once you have it, applying for the license was easy. Time: 10 minutes Cost 120 php
• Wait the required 10-day period before your marriage license is approved. Then go back to Health Dept. and pick up your approved license. Time: 10 minutes Cost: 25 php
• Take approved license to the main courthouse and submit it to clerk of the courts. Once you give it to the clerk, you need to have it assigned to a judge. This only happens on Wednesday morning at 10:30am. We got there Wed. morning about 11am and had to wait a week for it to be assigned. Time: 30 minutes Cost: 800php (I think this was graft or a foreigner only fee. My sister in law did not pay this when she was married)
• Once assigned to a judge, go to the clerk's office for your judge and get on the schedule. Marriages are done every Thursday, so plan accordingly. Time: 30 minutes Cost: none
• Show up at the courthouse on the big day with 1 female and 1 male witness for the ceremony. Time: 2 hours Cost: 3000php (I think this fee is substantially higher for foreigners)
• In 30-days, go back to Health Department and pick up your local marriage license. Time: 30 minutes Cost: none
• Wait 30 days for your NSO certified copy to arrive.

When we married, we didn't really understand the process so it took longer then it could have. All told, it took us 7 weeks to complete the legal process and cost about 4000php.

[Call me bubba]

could you provide the "closed" link (topic),

TRF good thread starter, thanks for the info

[TexasRangersFan]

could you provide the "closed" link (topic),

TRF good thread starter, thanks for the info

Is the First Post in this section. Getting Married.

Process for Marriage is the Topic.

Dated October 31, 2008.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

This is now kind of an old thread too... but I have a question.  I can go to Cebu instead of Manila?  That would be much better!

[jon1]

Yes Tuka you can do it in Cebu. They have a consulate there. You will have to schedule an appointment online. The cost for the affidavit is $50. 

[jon1]

On the NSO process. We were first told that we would have the NSO certified copy in 30 days. Not so.. My wife went to the local NSO and they told her 6 months??? But that it could be expedited to 3 weeks, if she went to the NSO office in the town we were married. So she had to go back to Mindanao to request this expedited paperwork. She was given a reference number yesterday (3 week mark after her expedited application request) and a number to text to check the status of the processing. Once it shows as processed, she can go to any NSO branch and get the certified copy. The NSO people are now saying it could take up to another month?? 

 

We need the NSO copy for her name change on her Passport and the Subic bank account (BPI is requiring that and not accepting her DL as proof). She was able to get her DL changed while in Mindanao and her bank account (BPI there didn't require it) there changed.

 

What a PITA!  I know.. It's more fun in the Philippines!

[MikeB]

Unless things have completely changed since I went through there are no appointments at the US Consulate in Cebu. Walk in 9-11am/Mon-Fri. It's usually not busy. Lots of holidays though. 

[Hewy09]

Wow reading this I feel so lucky. I am a Canadian ( or American lite) and back in April 2011 I was able to get married within 3 days of proposing to my wife and I left the Philippines on the day after we were married with a certified nso copy of our marriage certificate.

I can't believe all the things I had to do in them 3 days but I did it and have not been happier.

Now I did get married by the mayor of cantina rizal in a civil ceremony. But hey a marriage is a marriage.

I'm not going to lie I did have to grease a few palms but all total it only cost me about $800 for all fees and paperwork and of course needing to grease the wheels that made it happen.

I sure see now how fast things change in the Philippines but hey ITS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!

Sent from my iPhone. buhay ay mahusay na! magsaya.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Wow reading this I feel so lucky. I am a Canadian ( or American lite) and back in April 2011 I was able to get married within 3 days of proposing to my wife and I left the Philippines on the day after we were married with a certified nso copy of our marriage certificate.

I can't believe all the things I had to do in them 3 days but I did it and have not been happier.

Now I did get married by the mayor of cantina rizal in a civil ceremony. But hey a marriage is a marriage.

I'm not going to lie I did have to grease a few palms but all total it only cost me about $800 for all fees and paperwork and of course needing to grease the wheels that made it happen.

I sure see now how fast things change in the Philippines but hey ITS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!!!

Sent from my iPhone. buhay ay mahusay na! magsaya.

 

And I bet the date on your marriage certificate is not the same as the day you got married? 

[Hewy09]

It is the correct date! I had to go look after you said that but it's CORRECT.

Sent from my iPhone. buhay ay mahusay na! magsaya.