Interview at the German Embassy Manila

There are 2 German Embassy in the Philippines: One in Cebu while the other one in Manila specifically in Makati City. And from time to time, the good Consul have appointment trips to Davao. However, all visa transactions are redirected to the main office which is in Manila.

So, after your Visa Appointment experience, the other things you need to do are:
-- plan/schedule your trip to the Embassy carefully.
-- book your plane ticket (if applicable)
-- book your accommodation (if applicable)
-- photocopy your documents as instructed from the website.

Here are some pointers that you might find useful:

1. Appointment time
-- Do not underestimate the traffic of Manila.
-- Do not be late or they will forfeit your appointment and will advise you to call the call center to set for another appointment.
-- They will only allow you to enter the German Embassy if you are there before 30 minutes but not more than your appointment time. If you are too early, they will ask you to come back later as no loitering allowed in that floor. But hey, better already in that building than stuck somewhere else in traffic.

2. Complete documents please
-- You read it on their website, heard it from your friends and they are all true: they will only accept/process your documents if they are complete. I did not see any photocopier during my trip there, so please, have them photocopied before hand as specified in their website.
-- Organize your documents in a plastic envelope or folder as they will ask to leave your other stuffs behind.
-- If you have questions, you can write it down and ask the representative about it after the interview.

3. You represent yourself
-- You cannot bring your friends or family with you inside the 25th floor of the RCBC building. There is a smoking area which doubled as a waiting area which they can go to at the ground floor. Unfortunately, there was no other option that I saw during my trip there.
-- Their representatives are fluent in German, English and Tagalog. So, be yourself and choose the language where you are most comfortable with.

4. Items beware
-- They do not allow cellphone into the Embassy. They do have a locker where you can leave it behind.
-- Do bring a pen with you for additional things you might need to sign.

You have nothing to worry about regarding questions to be ask as they are basic questions about you and your partner. They will inform you what is the next step, what to expect and what to do. So, breath easy!

Hope it helps! Good luck!!!

Visa Appointment

After getting your NSO certificates, your passport and other documents as required from the German Embassy, you are now ready to make an appointment. The procedure is actually listed in the website but allow me to impart my own experience.

The website wrote that they starts at 8am. I tried dialing at 7:30am and a voice mail answered me saying that no operator is available and gave their working time. I called back 3 minutes before 8am and was thrilled that the phone rang normal and no more voice mail. I was most relief that the lady behind the call can speaks Filipino. She ask me basic information similar to the application form that the Embassy will be requiring us to answer. Over all, the total bills that I needed to foot for this transaction cost me around 850php. 

My tips to save up time (and money) are:

1. Have all the documents being requested from you nearby.

-- These are your completely filled up application form, passport and the likes.

2. Have a calendar or your planner near by. 

-- This is so you can quickly check which day would your appointment land on. In case you have preferred dates for your appointment, they can check on this too but is subjected to availability.

3. Have an International phonetic alphabet list near by.

-- Just in case you have a mental block that A for Alpha, Q for Quebec or Y for Yankee ... this will save you time. Sometimes, to make sure that your name or address (or other information) are correctly spelled, you will be ask to spell it in this manner.

4. Call the Call center few minutes before starting time of work but never too early.
-- Remember what happen to me and a voice mail answered my first call? Yes, you guess it: I got charged for that. 

5. If your line got cut, do not panic!
-- Yes, this happen to me too. Mid way of our conversation, my line got cut!!! I was using a post paid cellphone sim when calling them up and can only guess that something went wrong with the signal. I simply dial again. This time I was on waiting line. I waited on until someone answered. I quickly explain that my line was cut, she just ask what's my name and went to search on their computer. Then, we continue where we left off. So, its not back to zero. 

6. Have a pen and a paper near by.

-- For your reference, they will give your unique code of your profile. You will be ask to list this down.

7. List down your questions.

-- If you have questions that is not answered by the Embassy's website, you can ask the call center representative. They will answer as much as they can and will tell you if its beyond their knowledge.

Hope it helps! A belated Happy New Year!!!

NSO Marriage License Waiting Time

As promised, here is my update:

It is only today that I got the chance to go to our NSO to check if my marriage license is already online or not. And indeed, it is already available! Yippeeee! Today is the 31st day since we went to file/register our marriage license. I truly feel relived!

The fee I paid are:
NSO Marriage Certificate -- 140php/each
NSO CEMAR -- 195php/each

The NSO Marriage Certificate is a scanned copy of your Marriage Certificate which you have submitted for registration. This is printed on a security paper (SECPA) colored yellow. On the other hand, CEMAR (also a Certificate of Marriage) is a certification letter by the NSO stating that your records are found in their system. This is also printed in SECPA colored yellow. To get the CEMAR, I filled up a form for a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) and submitted this. Once they see in their system that you are married, they automatically print you a CEMAR.

This is all for now. Good luck with yours and hope its not a long wait too!

Registering Your Marriage License

Congratulation on your wedding!

Your big day is now over and its time to file your Marriage License!

It is true that when you get your Marriage License that you can marry anywhere in the Philippines. But what most people do not know that when you have your wedding ceremony elsewhere that you need to have your Marriage License register at the nearest Registrar office from where it was held.

On my case, I had a destination wedding. While it is true that if you hired a Reverent to solemnize your wedding that he will be the one who should be filing at the Registrar office, I took the responsibility off him as the location is far from our city of origin. With this, my husband and I travel long hours to go to the Municipality Office nearest to our wedding location.

Along with the signed Marriage License and other supporting documents, we passed all these to the officer-in-charge who took her time in checking all the documents (spellings and so on). She will have the copies printed and signed. In total, we paid 175php for the process of documents and another 100php for the mailing of document to the nearest Regional NSO for the "electronic endorsement". You will be given a courier receipt with their transmittal which will serve as attachment along with your original Marriage License copy. This is for the purpose in following up NSO whether your copy is ready for SECPA printing.

Since I personally filed it, I was given another copy for the Reverent which will serve as his file copy.

I was told that the waiting period is 2 months. This is contradictory to what most say that 1 month waiting time is possible. But just the same, I think I wanted to try my luck on the 1 month. I will just post an update regarding the waiting time.

Good luck with yours!

Destination Wedding

After the posting period is done, you can claim your Marriage License Application Form and all its attachment from the City Civil Registrar on where you filed your application. This is the time where you can submit it to the person who will solemnize your wedding.

On our case, my fiancee is Christian while I am Roman Catholic in religion. We planned for a beach wedding and have a Christian reverent to bless our wedding. We gave him all the papers from the Registrar Office along with an invitation card (for the spelling of your Godparents or the Ninong-Ninang as we locally call them) and a letter requesting to have the wedding on our choice of venue.

They will copy the contents of your Marriage License Application Form and will print them on a Marriage License which you will use on your wedding day. Your Godparents will be listed as your 'Witness'. In the Philippine Law, you just needed 2 witness that is of legal age. However, there is no citation on the maximum number of witnesses. Irregardless of number of pairs, they will  all symbolize as your second parents and maybe the people whom you will go to when seeking wisdom. Anyway, it is important that you proofread the said document as this is the one which you will submit to the Registrar Office.

You're done! Have a happy wedding!

Cheers!

Marriage License Application Requirements

I would recommend that you go to your Cityhall to get the requirements in applying for the Marriage License. It is case-to-case basis and may have slight differences on which paper is needed to be submitted. On my case: both me and my German fiance are single, above 26 years old, and the wedding will be solemnize by a Christian Pastor. The following are the requirement ask from us:

--PH Partner--
1. NSO Birth Certificate
2. NSO CENOMAR
3. Barangay Certificate
4. Cedula
--German Partner--
1. Passport
-- Photocopy of the first page (containing his information) and the arrival date page (most recent)
2. Consular Certificate of the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage
-- His Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage will serve as an attachment
3. Birth Certificate
-- with a translation of it
4. NSO CENOMAR
--Others--
1. Pre-Marriage Counseling Seminar's Certificate of Attendance
2. Pre-Marriage Counseling Certificate from the solemnizing church


Bring all your documents both original and photocopies with you to the Registrar Office. So sorry and I was not able to list down the number of photocopies needed. Some documents needed 2 photocopies while some only 1. Have the person-in-charge double check your documents. They will type all your information to a Marriage License Application form and will ask you to proofread it. This is the time to correct them incase there is something misspelled. If its complete: They will stamp this and will ask the City Government Department Head of the City Civil Registrar office to interview you and sign it. Then you are done!

They will put up a notice about you marrying and this will be posted for 10 - 12 days including  Saturdays and Sundays. You just need to go back to get the Marriage License which will be used for your wedding ceremony.

The fee that we paid to have everything processed is 2,400php.

Hope it helps! Good luck and Congratulation!

Pre-Marriage Counseling

One of the requirement for the application of the Marriage License is to obtain a Certificate of Attendance from a Pre-Marriage Seminar. This will be conducted by authorized counselor/s accredited by the Commission on Population and City Government of where your PH counterpart lives in.

Like others, I did try to wiggle out of this. I rationalize that the seminar will not be in English dialect ( in other words: my foreign partner will not understand much of the seminar anyway). I was more than willing to pay than spend my time at the seminar. I did got some offer and it was outrageous! It was only later that I realize that the seminar was not so bad after all, and was relief to know I save tons of money on it. You see, I only paid 100php which is good for you and your partner already.

The said seminar only took half a day and the topics discussed range from responsible parenthood to psychological readiness in facing problems as a couple. If you ask me, save your money and go attend that seminar with your partner. Anyway, you can cuddle all you want in there and no one will mind you. *wink*