Getting Married In the Philippines + More Questions

[inlalabo88]

To start off, me and my Girlfriend are in a long distance relationship and have not met in person yet, but i intend to marry her this coming september when i go to the philippines to meet her in person.
We have been chatting and Vidchatting everyday and all day sometimes ever since we met via friend, she is a single mom with two kids. We both want to marry, and i want to adopt the kids...

My first question is, being a single mom, with two kids, does that change any of the processes for getting married in the Philippines?

Second Question...is 30 days enough time for all the processes for getting married in the Philippines complete? besides the Marriage Cert of course, or is there a way to speed up getting the Cert?

if anyone is wondering, yes, we have talked about everything and know eachother quite well, the only things left to know are in person things, and we are not worried about those things, more accepting and forgiving...

Third Question...Adopting the kids, how long a process is that and what are the requirements? paperwork and a lawyer i know about, as well as both of us having to adopt due to her having not been married to the kids father

Fourth Question...Financially, her ex is supporting her and the kids, because she has no one to look after the kids, she is a stay at home mom, unable to work without basically abandoning her kids...so what options are available for me to support her financially, I am thinking along the lines of getting a debit card or prepaid reloadable card for us both to be able to keep an eye on. I know that getting a joint account in the Philippines isn't easy and because i will not be staying and intend to bring her and the kids here to Canada, i would prefer something that i can easily reload or put funds into for her to use, without worries...

Fifth Question....its will only have been 9 months since we started talking when we meet and potentially marry, well Immigration look closer or refuse a sponsorship with such a short time in the relationship? what kind of proof besides tens of thousands of texts and a few hundred vidchats/phone calls records?

I was the one to initiate our talks of marriage, she is the right one as people say, and i dont want to lose her, that is why i intend to marry her and adopt her kids as my own, i have fallen in love with them as much as her. She is older than I am, 32 to my 28, could that affect the sponsorship, in a good or bad way?

May have more questions as the time approaches to go, but for now this is it...

Hope you guys and gals on the forums here can give me some answers and suggestions, help.

Thanks in advance

 

[luckyhirang]

Hi, wow! Actually for sponsoring your wife, there are two processes, you can sponsor your spouse via outland and you can sponsor her via inland. Outlan meaning, process the sponsorship in the Philippines after you got married. Inland, when you process the sponsorship in Canada.

Actually, most advise that I got is that processing for outland application is faster than inland. How long have you been in a relationship? Adoption is also a different discussion so to speak. You may need a lawyer for this one and it will be the lawyer who will give you a time frame for this.

When are you coming to the Philippines to get Married?

We are in the same boat. I am a Filipina and have 6 years and 4 mos relationship with my Canadian boyfriend and we are planning every documents we need for the marriage aside from that I am researching also for the documents that he will bring here in the Philippines.My boyfriend have visited me thrice already and now we are already want to be together that's why we are preparing all the requirements. Anyways, let's talk about your questions first.

Well for the marriage certificate once you get married, as long as you have forwarded the marriage certificate to NSO (National Statistics Office) they will give you a date when it will be processed. But I will let you know once I have a feedback from a friend.

One way to send her money is to apply for a BDO savings account. In Canada I believe there's a BDO Kabayan savings account. That's kinda savings account wherein you can remit money to send it to the Philippines. I will ask my cousin about this, she is in Canada and she have the said account.

Will keep in touch actually recently I am gathering all the needed documents as fast as I could. Will share whatever I will be able to research.

Will make this happen!!! By the way here is my email add if you want and your girlfriend to communicate with me via email: luckyhirang@yahoo.com

I have a background of law, recently working in telecoms industry here in Manila.

Regards,
Lucky
Maria Lucky Hirang

 

[Survivor27]

="inlalabo88, post: 6138675, member: 681030"]To start off, me and my Girlfriend are in a long distance relationship and have not met in person yet, but i intend to marry her this coming september when i go to the philippines to meet her in person.

We have been chatting and Vidchatting everyday and all day sometimes ever since we met via friend, she is a single mom with two kids. We both want to marry, and i want to adopt the kids...

My first question is, being a single mom, with two kids, does that change any of the processes for getting married in the Philippines? - No.

Second Question...is 30 days enough time for all the processes for getting married in the Philippines complete? besides the Marriage Cert of course, or is there a way to speed up getting the Cert? - If your plan is to have a Civil wedding, 30 days should be more than enough. If you are a Canadian citizen, I would suggest that as soon as you arrive (on your 2nd day here), go to the embassy to obtain the Legal Capacity to Marry certificate. This is a requirement for foreigners marrying in Philippines.

As for your girlfriend and while she awaits for your arrival, have her prepare and gather all the requirements needed to apply for Marriage License (ML) so that when you get here, you both could already file for the ML. It takes at least 10 days to get the ML from filing. Once you have the ML on hand, you can then have the wedding anytime, anywhere in the Philippines.

What she must do now:

1. Have her go to the Local Civil Registry (LCR) and inquire about the requirements/fees needed to file for ML. Usually these are:

• 
  
  • CENOMAR or Certificate of No Marriage from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA or former NSO). If you are a former Filipino citizen, have her also obtain your own CENOMAR.
  • Her Barangay Certificate.

2. Have her look for a Solemnizing Officer (SO) for your wedding. Make sure that the SO is available around Sept/Oct. I am sure that you can best estimate as to when the wedding date would be from the day you arrive, file and obtaining the ML.

3. Discuss with her now how/where you want to have the wedding, i.e. if you want the ceremony at the same location where you will have the reception.
​

After the wedding and if you want to have the Marriage Certificate (MC) in a month or less, I would suggest that she (or both of you) files it in-person. Upon filing, mention that you want it expedited. In a few days, she should be getting an endorsement letter that she will personally take to PSA office. You probably won't be here anymore by the time she gets the PSA MC and that is fine. Least she already have it as you both will prepare all the forms and documents needed to file with CIC.

if anyone is wondering, yes, we have talked about everything and know each other quite well, the only things left to know are in person things, and we are not worried about those things, more accepting and forgiving...

Third Question...Adopting the kids, how long a process is that and what are the requirements? paperwork and a lawyer i know about, as well as both of us having to adopt due to her having not been married to the kids father. - This could take a minimum of 3 years. You might just put this plan behind for now and maybe discuss it again when everyone (her and the kids) are already in Canada. Yes, you can do the process there.

Fourth Question...Financially, her ex is supporting her and the kids, because she has no one to look after the kids, she is a stay at home mom, unable to work without basically abandoning her kids...so what options are available for me to support her financially, I am thinking along the lines of getting a debit card or prepaid reloadable card for us both to be able to keep an eye on. I know that getting a joint account in the Philippines isn't easy and because i will not be staying and intend to bring her and the kids here to Canada, i would prefer something that i can easily reload or put funds into for her to use, without worries... - There's really no need to get a debit card or opening an account. You could send funds to her via any remittance group i.e. Western Union (WU). My ex-BF now hubby used to send me funds via WU, then switched as he tried PNB. Then later switched using Remitly as the funds is transferred directly to my local bank account and the fee to send the funds is way cheaper

Fifth Question....its will only have been 9 months since we started talking when we meet and potentially marry, well Immigration look closer or refuse a sponsorship with such a short time in the relationship? what kind of proof besides tens of thousands of texts and a few hundred vidchats/phone calls records? - Just provide everything that both of you can do to prove that your relationship is indeed genuine.

I was the one to initiate our talks of marriage, she is the right one as people say, and i dont want to lose her, that is why i intend to marry her and adopt her kids as my own, i have fallen in love with them as much as her. She is older than I am, 32 to my 28, could that affect the sponsorship, in a good or bad way? - My comment would be the same as above.

May have more questions as the time approaches to go, but for now this is it...

Hope you guys and gals on the forums here can give me some answers and suggestions, help.

Thanks in advance

Fyi and maybe will help enlighten you, I met my husband online 7 years ago. We didn't really become Sweethearts until after 4.5 years. We started as friends and our communication was on and off. Our first meeting was almost 5 years from our online meeting. We got married in about 10 months from our first face-to-face meeting. Because of his job, he had to go back to Canada barely a week after our wedding last year, hu hu hu It took us another 10 months from our wedding to file for Sponsorship application. We filed in December 2016. My situation was kind of complicated as I have 2 kids from previous relationship. I was also a single mom and was never married. Using the old kit was quite tedious but it's all worth it. I made sure that we have everything CIC needs and might look for. Going fast forward, it took us 6 months to get "decision made" and the kids and I officially got our visas and COPR just yesterday I got the PPR or passport request last June 19, 2017.

If you were to browse through this forum or maybe talk to some people, some would say it takes longer to get "decision made" when the person being sponsored have kids. I find the 6 months processing for us quite fast, really! I guess we all have different cases. Also, immigration officers have their own moods and perception My personal opinion is that - the initial review from CPC-M matters a lot.

 

[inlalabo88]

Salamat to you both for your replies.
I will look into the BDO account and see what I need to do there. Documents wise, I've got most of what I need already for going there to get married, all I need is the Legal Capacity to Marry certificate from the embassy.
luckyhirang...I am actually coming to Manila in exactly 2 months, I leave Canada for the Philippines on Sept1st. Salamat, please let me know what your sister says about the account here in Canada, the more info I have the better. She lives in Caloocan, and this is my first trip out of Canada, First time flying too. but they are worth it, and I am slightly crazy.
Survivor27, I know that timing will suck for both my gf, her kids and me, I will marry her and be there as her husband for maybe a week, then have to leave to come back to Canada to work. it's going to suck and be sad, but I am more of the positive thoughts, once I am back here and while we wait for the MC, we get all our other info and docs ready for CIC, then add the MC to the file and start the sponsorship process. I actually read something on these forums already about someone getting married and having the sponsorship go thru in really fast time, with kids and a short time in the relationship, so it really does depend on the Immigration officers. I have hope and am ready to do whatever I have to do. Salamat again for the info.

One question. for the ML, I have read various things and seen yes and no answers, but is the seminar for getting ML a general requirement or just something that some districts require?

 

[inlalabo88]

Ok, so after doing some research on the BDO account, and this might help others here in Canada. BDO and RBC are partner banks, so international money transfers are very easy, all you need is the account # and send the money. The cost to do so is low and how much you can send is a lot, and within 2-5 days who ever you sent the money to, will have it deposited directly into their bank account. Hope this helps others looking into providing for those they love in the Philippines

 

[vgmstudios]

Like inlalabo88 I too plan to get married to my sweetheart this Sept! I might see you there man! haha
I am from Ottawa and will arrive on the 17th. So I am in the same boat as you are.

One thing though. To sponser her to come to Canada, how will you go about it? Will you hire a lawyer to do all the paper work or chance it and do it yourself?
If you do it yourself its like $1000 something and if she gets rejected youll have to spend another $1000.
or go with a laywer which is usually $5000 and have peace of mind knowing that all paper work is done properly.

 

[Survivor27]

Like inlalabo88 I too plan to get married to my sweetheart this Sept! I might see you there man! haha
I am from Ottawa and will arrive on the 17th. So I am in the same boat as you are.

One thing though. To sponser her to come to Canada, how will you go about it? Will you hire a lawyer to do all the paper work or chance it and do it yourself?
If you do it yourself its like $1000 something and if she gets rejected youll have to spend another $1000.
or go with a laywer which is usually $5000 and have peace of mind knowing that all paper work is done properly.

Unless each one of you have several red flags, it would be best that you just do the sponsorship yourselves. Everything is on the CIC website plus a lot of members from this forum will sure help you for anything that you may find not so clear to any of the forms or Guides/Checklist on CIC website.

 

[Enna24]

To start off, me and my Girlfriend are in a long distance relationship and have not met in person yet, but i intend to marry her this coming september when i go to the philippines to meet her in person.
We have been chatting and Vidchatting everyday and all day sometimes ever since we met via friend, she is a single mom with two kids. We both want to marry, and i want to adopt the kids...

My first question is, being a single mom, with two kids, does that change any of the processes for getting married in the Philippines?

Second Question...is 30 days enough time for all the processes for getting married in the Philippines complete? besides the Marriage Cert of course, or is there a way to speed up getting the Cert?

if anyone is wondering, yes, we have talked about everything and know eachother quite well, the only things left to know are in person things, and we are not worried about those things, more accepting and forgiving...

Third Question...Adopting the kids, how long a process is that and what are the requirements? paperwork and a lawyer i know about, as well as both of us having to adopt due to her having not been married to the kids father

Fourth Question...Financially, her ex is supporting her and the kids, because she has no one to look after the kids, she is a stay at home mom, unable to work without basically abandoning her kids...so what options are available for me to support her financially, I am thinking along the lines of getting a debit card or prepaid reloadable card for us both to be able to keep an eye on. I know that getting a joint account in the Philippines isn't easy and because i will not be staying and intend to bring her and the kids here to Canada, i would prefer something that i can easily reload or put funds into for her to use, without worries...

Fifth Question....its will only have been 9 months since we started talking when we meet and potentially marry, well Immigration look closer or refuse a sponsorship with such a short time in the relationship? what kind of proof besides tens of thousands of texts and a few hundred vidchats/phone calls records?

I was the one to initiate our talks of marriage, she is the right one as people say, and i dont want to lose her, that is why i intend to marry her and adopt her kids as my own, i have fallen in love with them as much as her. She is older than I am, 32 to my 28, could that affect the sponsorship, in a good or bad way?

May have more questions as the time approaches to go, but for now this is it...

Hope you guys and gals on the forums here can give me some answers and suggestions, help.

Thanks in advance

We have the same situation..You can pricess your girlfriend in the philippines but first marry her in the philippines and after that you can process her a wife and together with her children as your step children

 

[vgmstudios]

Unless each one of you have several red flags, it would be best that you just do the sponsorship yourselves. Everything is on the CIC website plus a lot of members from this forum will sure help you for anything that you may find not so clear to any of the forms or Guides/Checklist on CIC website.

Thanks for the information and the support. I will definitly take you up on your offer when the time comes

 

[inlalabo88]

Ok...long time since I last was here.
Everything went well, we met in person and have found that we really are good together, so much so that we did get married before the month of my vacation was done. Close one tho, we only had one week left of my stay.

She has now gotten our NSO/PSA Marriage Cert, and now we are filling out our forms for sponsorship.
First question that comes to mind, what is the best way to get the forms signed?
She is there, I am here...
Second question is toward the passport, she currently has an expired passport, and plans to get a new one in January when the Philippine Gov. plans to implement a new 10 year variant. Does she need a valid passport when we file the application? and she plans on using my last name on the new passport, how does that affect the information when I fill out the app?

For proof of relationship, does her taking my name and using it on her IDs and passport count? can we use photocopies of those to use as proof?

Next question is what about the kids, we're going to work and get a house before bringing them here, what do we need to make sure we do on the app to make sure we can bring them later?

Thank you all for all your comments from before I left, sorry I didn't reply before now, was pretty busy

 

[scylla]

I'll help with a few questions. Best way to get the forms signed is to courier them to her once they've been completed for her to sign - and then courier them back to you for submission.

She needs to have a valid passport at the time the application is submitted.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Ok...long time since I last was here.
Everything went well, we met in person and have found that we really are good together, so much so that we did get married before the month of my vacation was done. Close one tho, we only had one week left of my stay.

She has now gotten our NSO/PSA Marriage Cert, and now we are filling out our forms for sponsorship.
First question that comes to mind, what is the best way to get the forms signed?
She is there, I am here...
Second question is toward the passport, she currently has an expired passport, and plans to get a new one in January when the Philippine Gov. plans to implement a new 10 year variant. Does she need a valid passport when we file the application? and she plans on using my last name on the new passport, how does that affect the information when I fill out the app?

For proof of relationship, does her taking my name and using it on her IDs and passport count? can we use photocopies of those to use as proof?

Next question is what about the kids, we're going to work and get a house before bringing them here, what do we need to make sure we do on the app to make sure we can bring them later?

Thank you all for all your comments from before I left, sorry I didn't reply before now, was pretty busy

Marriage on the first visit is a huge red flag, especially given that she is from a less-developed country known for Marriages of Convenience. You should consider holding off on applying until after more visits and more time in person in order to have a stronger app.

Forms have to be mailed back and forth.

She needs a valid passport to apply. The name in the app needs to match the name in the passport.

No, her taking your name doesn't count as proof of relationship. People in Marriages of Convenience take their spouse's name too.

The easiest option is to include them as accompanying and have them land with their mother. If they are included as non-accompanying, she will later need to sponsor them. She will need permission from the father for them to immigrate to Canada.

 

[inlalabo88]

By first visit, I mean after I had already been texting and vidchatting everyday for the 8 months prior, thousands of texts and I have no idea how many vidchats. Then prior to getting married I spent 3 weeks living with her and her kids, got to know her family, sister, brother in-law, mother and father, as well as other family and some friends, being that I spoke English, most of her friends avoided the house

Ok, what is the best and fastest courier service to the Philippines?

Wasn't sure about the passport, read some info that said that an expired passport could be used for ID, then reading the forms I realized that it requires a valid passport.

Gotcha on the name part, good point.

She was not married to the father, so as sole custody, she can bring the kids without even telling the father. We are talking about adopting them at a later date, after they are here and we are settled.

We are approaching our one year since starting our relationship, and after reading posts here from even a few years ago, time together is important, but supplying proof is more important.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

By first visit, I mean after I had already been texting and vidchatting everyday for the 8 months prior, thousands of texts and I have no idea how many vidchats. Then prior to getting married I spent 3 weeks living with her and her kids, got to know her family, sister, brother in-law, mother and father, as well as other family and some friends, being that I spoke English, most of her friends avoided the house

Ok, what is the best and fastest courier service to the Philippines?

She was not married to the father, so as sole custody, she can bring the kids without even telling the father. We are talking about adopting them at a later date, after they are here and we are settled.

We are approaching our one year since starting our relationship, and after reading posts here from even a few years ago, time together is important, but supplying proof is more important.

That is still a first visit, regardless of how long you were in contact online. Big red flag.

No idea about couriers.

It would be far easier to get the father's permission; many similar cases are delayed because IRCC will still request the father's permission. I'm not familiar with all of the laws about adoption but pretty sure you will need his permission to adopt the children as well.

Not really sure what you mean. Proof of online contact only counts for so much. Actual time together in person counts more than anything.

 

[luckyhirang]

Like inlalabo88 I too plan to get married to my sweetheart this Sept! I might see you there man! haha
I am from Ottawa and will arrive on the 17th. So I am in the same boat as you are.

One thing though. To sponser her to come to Canada, how will you go about it? Will you hire a lawyer to do all the paper work or chance it and do it yourself?
If you do it yourself its like $1000 something and if she gets rejected youll have to spend another $1000.
or go with a laywer which is usually $5000 and have peace of mind knowing that all paper work is done properly.

Kindly see the post of Leon here. The requirements are all there. Also scyllia have extensive knowledge when it comes to Family Class Sponsorship. Kindly send a message to them.

Good Luck!