Thursday, July 28, 2011

Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage Paper part2

Your German Partner finally receive your Philippine Documents for his Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage  Paper (yey!). If its already translated to German, then he can already visit his Standesamt with all your documents along with his Passport & his Birth Certificate.

The processing for this paper varies from each Standesamt, so do not panic incase you have a different experience. They are really case-to-case basis. Here are the 2 common experiences that I was able to gather:

1. There are some whose Standesamt requests for document checking first (of the Philippine partner) and ask them to pay around 12,000php equivalent. It took them 2-3 months to get their papers. The good thing about this is that they are no longer subjected to document checking when they process their visa.

2. There are some whose Standesamt did not ask for document checking anymore but they will be ask to pay an equivalent of 5,000php for processing the documents. Your partner can get this paper less than a month. Those who are done with their visa process mentioned that this document checking was ask from them after the interview at German Embassy Manila. It is safe to assume that most of the applicants will be ask of this.

On our experience, we were not ask to do the document checking yet. My partner must be extremely lucky and he got his paper on the same day when he filed. Cool huh?

After getting his 'Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage' paper, you still have one more step to go: Give it to the German Embassy in the Philippines and have them issue a "Consular Certificate". In this document, they will certify that your partner is free to marry you: they will put both of your names there. They will also put the validity period of the said Certificate. The Good Consul will have the certificate stamp and sign for. Your partner's paper will become its attachment. Then there you have it: you are done!

To have this step done, you have the following choices:

1. Have your German partner hand carry it and personally drop by the German Embassy either in Manila or Cebu.
-- Allot 2-3 extra days for the pick up just incase.

2. Have your German partner send it to-and-fro the Embassy via courier.
-- He can do this while he is still in Germany. Or if he chooses, he can bring it with him in the Philippines and send it via courier (maybe you are living outside Manila or Cebu). Again, allot extra weeks for this.

3. Have your German partner send it to you and you will be the one to visit the German Embassy.
-- It will be best that your partner includes an authorization letter allowing you to process it for him and that the purpose of the document is for your marriage.
-- bring your passport with you for identification purposes.

On our case, we did the third option at German Embassy Cebu. I also have his Birth Certificate translated. Like other documents, the rates are in Euro but you need to pay them in pesos based on the current market rate. Both the Birth Certificate translation and the issuance of the Consular Certificate of the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage costs 2,000php. The certificate was ready to pick up after a day.

Hope it helps! Good luck!

32 comments:

  1. I would like to ask if all documents of my fiance should be translated into English language?

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    1. Hi Anonymous,
      Yes, any legal document(s) that our Philippine Government, Court or Organizations (such as Church) that are being requested should have an english translation with it. Good luck with your paperwork battles. :)

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  2. Good day! I am now processing my fiance visa and prepared all necessary documents which the German embassy Manila required. May I ask a question and advice? Should I have all this 3 documents from my fiance in Germany before I could ask for an appointment? like 1.Written confirmation of the German Standesamt (Registry Office) that the application for marriage
    has been successful with intended date of marriage **);
    2.Formal Obligation (original and a Xerox copy) according to §§ 66-68 of the German Residence Law,
    given by your fiancé at the aliens authority (“Ausländerbehörde”) in Germany that is responsible for
    his / her area of residence, **)
    3. valid travel health insurance valid until the marriage takes place, with a minimum coverage sum of
    30,000 Euros.**)

    I am grateful that I found your blog, It really help me a lot for my guidance! Hope to hear from you, God Bless!

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    1. Thank you so much tattybear for taking your time answering my concerned, It is really my pleasure!.I was just a little bit confused because my fiance told me that all off this 3 documents must send directly to German Embassy Manila. I think now it is much better that he will send it to me and I will bring it by myself to German Embassy together with the rest of my requirements. Do you think Ms. Tattybear it is a good idea?

      Thank you so much and God Bless!

      Delete
    2. Hi again Anonymous,
      I can only advise you as much, but the best individuals to answer all your specific questions is the Embassy itself. I strongly advise that you call the callcenter of German Embassy Manila. Be sure to ready your other documents (the one you already have) & maybe you get to make an appointment after all. Good luck! :)

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  3. hi, my fiance got already his legal capacity what should be the next steps he will do,, plsss, tell me,, more power and GOD BLESS..

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    1. Hello Anonymous,
      Did you mean your fiancee already got his 'Consular Certificate' of his Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage? (This is the part where they translate it to English by the German Embassy Manila or Cebu). If Yes, Congrats & it's time to marry! If not yet, the 3 possible options are stated at this particular topic-page.
      Please do send me another reply incase I misunderstood your question. :)
      Congrats & Good Luck!!! :)

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  4. hi, tattybear, good day,, what i mean, my german fiance got already his legal capacity to contract marriage from standesamt on his hometown 3days ago,after i sent already all my documents to his standesamt and translated to german already last june,and after 2months processing, luckily, HE GOT ALREADY HIS LEGAL CAPACITY TO CONTRACT MARRIAGE LAST MONDAY.,,AND. i;m asking was after he got his legal capacity to contract marriage, what should be the next step he gonna do? should he bring it directly to german embassy here in manila upon his arrival? for our wedding, or anything else he will do of his legal capacity to contract marriage in german embassy in germany? he is confused too,and wanted to make it sure that before he will go here to marry me everything are all fine and finish with his legal capacity to contract marriage after waiting for a long time,, thank you for the time reading my message,and do waiting again for your reply,, GOD BLESS,,

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    1. Hi again Anonymous,
      Thank you for dropping by and yes, I understood you right the first time then. As I mention before, the answers to your question are all in this topic-page itself. The 3 steps or options to choose from (on what to do after your partner receives his Legal Capacity paper from the Standesamt) are all stated there -- including the one we did ourselves. Kindly reread it.

      Both of you can choose & decide between the 3 choices on which is more convenient or best for your situation. The bottom line is that your partner's paper should be translated to English either by the German Embassy Manila or Cebu (whichever is more convenient in your situation). This translated document is called the 'Consular Certificate of the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage'.

      Incase you need certain content of the blog in Tagalog, kindly email me at: chinayjourneytogermany@yahoo.com I can understand Bisaya as well but it's a different story if I speak it -- though I can try if you request it. :)

      If you want to know more about our wedding papers experience in PH, you can browse thru the 'Blog Archive' then look for 2011-November. The blog topic is: Marriage License Application Requirements.

      Anyway, hope everything is clear & good luck to your wedding! :)

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  5. hi, tatty bear.have a nice day ahead...once again,, thank you so much for your great time and effort reading then answering my questions again,.., infact, its all cleared to me already the first time i read your blog,, but i wanted to make it sure over and over again,,because eventhough my fiance himself doesn't know what;s the next step to do,because he was mentioned earlier to me that he needs to send it to the german embassy in germany to notarized his legal capacity to contract marriage which it;s not allowed anymore,right?yet because it was our firts time so we dont know yet the next procedure and we're just dependent to all wHAT we read on the internet. but fortunately,while i;m looking for my answers and a little bit exhausted also thanks GOD i saw your blog, at first i;m hesitant to ask, then i tried,then here you go answering it,,and i;m so grateful for it,, finally, its all cleared to me and all my worries were vanished,,again, i;m so thankful for your blog its absolutely a great help on me, and for those people who needs your help by sharing your wonderful experienced,AND I;M ONE OF THEM..,keep blessed.. and yah, my wedding is fast approaching,after all the hard works we;ve been through WITH MY FIANCE :)GOD IS GOOD all the time, wishing all the best in your life too,GOD BLESS..,

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    1. Hello again Anonymous & thank you for your kind words.

      Yes, once the Legal Capacity is translated to English by either the German Embassy Manila or Cebu (the Consular Certificate) -- there is no other steps for it except to submit it to the Cityhall where you will be applying for your Marriage License along with the other documents being ask from you.

      As you can see, we choose option 3: where my partner send the documents to me with an authorization letter - as I also need to have his Birth Certificate translated. (Don't forget to bring your valid ID). But I heard there are certain Birth Certificate who already have in tiny prints written in English. If your partner have the same thing, then there is no need to have his Birth Certificate translated.

      Option 3 was best for us as we also have vacation prior to the wedding itself. Thus, it was simply convenient for us to do it this way esp. I was not living in Cebu or Manila area.

      I know how you guys feel: the stress, the excitement, the happiness. Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. Good luck to your wedding! :)

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  6. hello tatty bear,,here i go again to bother you a little bit,hehehe,, can i ask some few questions again and again that made me annoyed too, yah, ofcourse my fiance got already his LEGAL CAPACITY TO CONTRACT MARRIAGE.and were planning to submit it to german embassy here in manila upon his arrival or the day after,, aside from his legal capacity to contract marriage,his bithcertificate which is translated to english,(as what you;ve mentioned also that there are certain birth certificate who already have in tiny prints written in english,and that;s how his birthcertificate looks like,,,,,definitely, we dont need to translate it to english, right? and with his passport,..then,should i submit some of my documents also attach or included to his documents which i endorsed a months ago to his standesamt or nothing else???because on my case all my documents i submitted to his standesamt were given back to my fiance the day he got his legal capacity to contract marriage,,.do you think, the german embassy here in manila needs it or not anymore? again, sorry to bother your time,,i hope this will be the last question couldt i ask for,,hehe,, AGAIN, thank you sooooooooooo much,, GOD BLESS..

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    1. Hello again anonymous and sorry for my slightly delayed answer.
      It is abit a hectic week for me. But yes, don't be silly and you are not bothering me at all. Promise! :)

      Regarding the Birth Cert, yes, a friend of mine have something like that. Cityhall initially ask them for a translation, but they (Cityhall) accepted as it is after she pointed out the tiny print on the Birth Cert. If you guys wanna make it sure, you can have it translated too, although I think it should be fine if not. The BC of my hubby literally do not have any english translation on it that is why it was needed for translation. :)

      Yes, you are correct and once your partner receives his Legal Capacity, the Standesamt returns all your submitted documents as well. But be assured that the Standesamt have a scan copy of all your documents. I also realize that most of the original signed documents they return to you (for your filings at home) and only keep scan or photocopy. Unlike in the Ph, most will get the original copy. ;)

      If your CENOMAR and BC is not older than 6 months, you can use it again in applying for your marriage license. :) I believe the German Embassy will no longer need to double check your submitted documents as they assumed everything is already done before releasing the Legal Capacity to your partner. :)

      I never tried myself to have a translation done in German Embassy Manila, so I can only remind you to double check other info at the website. To have at least a week extra allotment just incase they are having alot of work to do (I actually assume the main branch to be more busy). I had mine done in Cebu & I literally just walk-in. Then just got it back after 2 days.

      You are almost there! I can almost hear wedding bells na! Best wishes! :)

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  7. Hello and good day! I would like to ask where and how to acquire a Formal obligation from auslanderbehoerde in Germany and how many days we should wait? Hoping for your response. Have a nice day and God Bless!

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    1. Hello Anonymous,
      Thank you for dropping by. My apology and I have no experience with Marriage Visa. I can only strongly suggest that the German partner to contact either Ausländerbehörde or Standesamt to get the list of requirements needed.

      However, if you wish to meet other Filipinos who are either married to a German Citizen or have a partner working in Germany: I can only suggest that you look for group pages in Facebook such as 'Filipinos in Germany' or 'Pinay in Deutschland' for example. There are couple of people who are willing to help our fellow Kababayans. :)

      Hope it helps & wishing you a nice day as well. :)

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  8. Hi! do you know where in germany will i send the requirements of my fiance? i have never been to germany since birth but i am holding a german passport stating that i am a german citizen..

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    1. Hi Anonymous,
      My apologies for such a late reply.

      First of all, your situation is much different from mine. So my only advice for you is to seek advice from the German Embassy Manila (or of the country you are in right now). Everything you are reading from this blog only handles the documents from my side (non-German). My husband, in turn, also have certain documents being asked from him both from the Standesamt where he currently resides & the Ausländerbehörde with a limited time. The documents being asked are usually case-to-case basis.

      I know it looks complicated but I hope at the end, everything works well for you. Good luck!!!

      Delete
  9. Hallo! It's been 3 months since I passed the documents thats required for Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage. And my mom told me that last year ( December), a PI went to the place where I grow up and had an invertigation. But until now we didn't receive any news from the registry. Do yoi think it's possible that to make it faster we follow it up in the registry office in the city where my fiance live?

    Danke!

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    1. Hello Anonymous,

      Sorry for the delayed reply. Since it is on the 3rd month already then your Fiance can give them a call to ask the status of the documents. The call itself does not necessarily mean it will make things faster, but it will give you both a peace of mind that there is no lacking documents or the sort.

      Good luck and hope its a good update. :)

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  10. Hi TattyBear! Documents are back from the registry office in the city where my fiance live. Although it's back we still have to wait for 3 weeks cause it needs to be sent at the responsible court for them to decide if they gonna approve it or not. I hope it doesn't take more than 3 weeks then cause the processing already takes more than 6 months than what my fiance and i expected.

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    1. Hope everything go smoothly from there. Good luck and thank you for the update! :)

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    3. Hi I would like to know kung gano katagal nyo po na process ung legal capacity ninyo? And can i ask more info regarding investigation sa inyo? Kasi un din po ang nangyayari samin ng boyfriend ko today. We are planning to get married this oct. but sad to say we need to move it next yr. bec of the delay. I hope u can give me more info about ur experience becyit sounds na parehas po tyo. Tnx

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  11. Hi good evening. I just saw your page and maybe I can also seek advice from you if possible. I already done my interview to the German embassy for my fiancée 's visa then the embassy told me with regard to my lacking documents to submit it afterwards once available. three lacking documents formal obligation, insurance and written approval from Standesamt about wedding. when I asked my fiance to gather all these lacking documents he said that we will just wait the feedback from the embassy to their court in Germany that there are no problems on my documents and that we can proceed to get the lacking documents. do you think our perception is correct? not that the embassy is waiting on the lacking documents and us too waiting on the approval of the embassy that there are no problems on my documents and the ending we are just waiting each other which lead to no visa release. btw, I'm done with my investigation.

    thank you.

    jb

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    1. Hi JB,
      Thank you for dropping by!

      For clarification, I applied for Family Reunion Visa -- so, I have no direct experience on how it works for Fiancee Visa. But usually in terms of paper works: German Embassy Manila will notify the office in Germany re: lacking of documents. The German office in turn will send your Fiance the lists of lacking documents via mail. I guess this is what your Fiance meant by waiting for feedback.

      But since you guys already know which are the documents needed: at least for the insurance (which is just a phone call away) & Formal Obligation, he can go ahead and do them (but they are easily done, so no need to pressure him -- like both can be done in a day). The Formal Obligation (verpflichtngserklärung) can be taken from the alien office (ausländerbehörde). If he is coming from a big city, he might need to set an appointment for this. He will need to bring his valid passport or ID card, proof of income (eg. salary payslips), be able to provide your infos & pay the fee of 25€. But for the 'written approval' from the Standesamt, this you guys needed to wait. He can try his luck by following up about this, but I personally do not believe that this would make much difference.

      Hope this helps. Good luck!!!

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  12. Hi Po,
    I just wann ask, my sister is here already with her baby Girl but sad 2 say 2 months na sila dito sa Germany pero until now hinde pa din dumating yung mga papers para makasal sila dito nang boyfriend niya , may kakilala po ba kayong ganyan din ang sitwasyon????

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    1. Hello Anonymous,
      My apology for the late reply. And sorry po pero wala po akong kakilala na who have same situation as your sister's situation. Good luck sa kanya and sana nga maging maayos ang lahat. Ingats.

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  13. Thanks for the info! By the way, for further legal info about the issue, you can visit: ndvlaw.com.

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  14. Hello Tatty Bear,

    My German boyfriend and I are planning to have a wedding both here in PH and in DE. We are deciding now if either we get married in PH first and apply for a Family Reunion visa later, or apply for Fiance Visa now and get married in Germany after. Do you have an idea which is more advantageous in terms of ease of processing required visa and marriage documents? -ai

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    1. hi Ai,
      sorry and I wasnt able to reply on time.
      what did you guys choose at the end?

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  15. Hi tattybear, ang legal capacitypag sa cebu just 1 day lang and after ana i release na sa German consul? thanks

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    1. sorry for late reply and no, it takes time before picking it up. contact the German Embassy Cebu directly about this.

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