hi all,soon to be married in davao.

[whiteraven]

hi all, im very new to this forum but i joined as i think it maybe very helpful.
a few things about myself.
my name is ian, im 48 and live with my two sons paul and brian. i have an elder son who lives in a nearby town.
i have currently been unemployed since feb 2007 when i had to give up work to care fulltime for my american wife of only one year who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. after her death in august i became a single parent to an eleven year old son who is mildly epileptic. now my fifteen year old has moved in with me i am in a position to look for work fulltime.
back in may i joined a dating site and soon got into daily correspondence with a filipino lady from davao. it quickly became apparent that we got on very well and i was keen to meet her in person,so in july i flew out to davao to stay for three weeks in a hotel appartment she had found for me.
we stayed together all that time sharing the same living room, kitchen etc but seperate bedrooms. we spent a lot of time meeting family and friends and joining in with their favourite pastime the shopping malls

[Frances]

Hi whiteraven!
I am sorry about your loss.
Good luck to you and welcome to the forum.
Stick around you will surely learn a lot.

[gemini63]

Hello whiteraven! welcome hr in forum. where in davao is your girl?

[Ana_may365]

hiya!welcome here to the forum

[Arthur Little]

Hi Whiteraven,

May I extend a very hearty welcome to the site. My name is Arthur from Perth in Scotland. I'm a recent "recruit" myself and perhaps a wee bittie older (though not necessarly wiser) than most of the members on here. Having found myself in similar circumstances when I was your age, I would first wish to offer my sincere condolences on your sad loss.

Like you, I began corresponding with a Filipina from Davao del Norte (Tagum City, in her case) and have been fortunate in discovering renewed happiness. Likewise, I flew out to Davao (in September) after keeping in touch by email on a daily basis for almost a year, and will be returning there on November 24 for a further 3 weeks, during which time she and I will travel to Manila in order to lodge her visa application along with my CNI.

All the very best with your own arrangements. When do you plan to marry?

Whatever the date you both decide upon, I'm sure you'll find the Forum is always at hand - ready, willing and definitely able to provide lots of really helpful advice whenever it's needed.

Cheers,

Arthur

[PeterB]

... she and I will travel to Manila in order to lodge her visa application along with my CNI.

I'm a little puzzled, Arthur. The CNI is needed before you are able to marry in Phils. The spouse visa application cannot be submitted until the wedding has taken place (you will need to submit your marriage certificate). I fear that you will have to make two visits to Davao, and since it usually takes the best part of four weeks for the 'official' NSO copy of the marriage certificate to be available, you will not be able to accomplish both tasks within one three week visit.

[Arthur Little]

I'm a little puzzled, Arthur. The CNI is needed before you are able to marry in Phils. The spouse visa application cannot be submitted until the wedding has taken place (you will need to submit your marriage certificate). I fear that you will have to make two visits to Davao, and since it usually takes the best part of four weeks for the 'official' NSO copy of the marriage certificate to be available, you will not be able to accomplish both tasks within one three week visit.

I may be wrong here, but I THINK in cases where a 'Civil Ceremony' is performed, the information is directly at hand, and consequently, the ensuing certificate is possibly available far more quickly than is the case with Church Ceremonies - or so I'm given to understand, anyway - as I believe there's a tendency for the latter bodies to "drag their feet" in lodging marriage notifications with the NSO ... by submitting those on a bulk basis ... say once a month or so.

Perhaps you could clarify if Myrna and I will be given an 'initial interview' when we go to the Embassy to deposit my CNI ... ?

[jbt]

hello...welcome to the forum.

[PeterB]

I may be wrong here, but I THINK in cases where a 'Civil Ceremony' is performed, the information is directly at hand, and consequently, the ensuing certificate is possibly available far more quickly than is the case with Church Ceremonies - or so I'm given to understand, anyway - as I believe there's a tendency for the latter bodies to "drag their feet" in lodging marriage notifications with the NSO ... by submitting those on a bulk basis ... say once a month or so.

I'm not convinced about that. Our marriage registration was at the Tagum NSO within a couple of days - however, it was they who had to request the 'electronic endorsement' at the Davao NSO in order for us to obtain our certificate in about a month.

I would think that the local registrar in Pantukan will also have to pass the registrations through the Tagum office.

Yes, you receive the original of your marriage certificate, issued by the registrar, very quickly but, for most official purposes you will need the 'NSO' copy. This you will have to obtain from the Davao NSO, in the same way that we did.

Perhaps you could clarify if Myrna and I will be given an 'initial interview' when we go to the Embassy to deposit my CNI ... ?

No, you won't. The interface between the visa applicant and the Embassy is handled by a service company (VFS) - their offices are in a different parts of Manila. The only 'initial' interview is that at the time of submitting the application and supporting documents. If the application is incomplete, it will not be accepted. Also be aware that you will have no part in that interview - you will have to stay outside, in the waiting area, while Myrna takes the application in.

However, I think that you can take comfort from the posting made by Ady in another thread, where it has been stated that :

The legal test according to caselaw is that your income should cover the equivalent of income support levels (for a couple and a child which is at present £150 per week approximately) after accommodation has been paid for.

I think that your pension, small as it is, should meet income support levels for a couple.

[PeterB]

Hi whiteraven! Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your loss, but pleased to know of your new-found love.

So you've experienced the pleasures of SM, NCC, and Gaisano malls and Victoria Plaza? We seem to end up traveling to Davao about once a week and visiting at least one of the malls.

Regarding your marriage in Davao, you will find that a wedding here is very different to what we're used to in UK. Oh, and don't forget my invitation! All the best to you and your intended.

[alicat]

welcome to the forum.

[gracia_006]

Welcome aboard! I am here in Davao now, attended the wedding of a friend i met at the embassy 5 months ago, and like the typical filipino wedding it was so nice :-)

Enjoy your time and stay happy always with your lady :-)

[mavid]

Welcome!

[reginacarlson]

Hello and welcome to the forum whiteraven. My condolences on your lost but happy for you on finding new love.

[Les_lady888]

Welcome to the forum whiteraven....where will the wedding be and when? Im in Davao too. Dont forget my invitation also Best wishes to both of you and congratulations!!

[menchkin]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[DaveyWallis]

Having recently married in Davao (it will be 3 months tomorrow) I hope the experience of my wife and I can help.

Firstly, Ian I am sorry to read of your loss and wish you every success with your new lady - you are certainly due some good fortune.

Now to answer Arthur's points; when you land in Manila get to the British Embassy ASAP with your CNI, there they will convert it to one acceptable to the PI authorities. There will not be any initial interview at this stage but PLEASE do get your documentation correct first of all. While we were waiting our turn we saw 2 seemingly intelligent people distraught because there was some error in their paperwork and therefore they were refused the CNI. You need the correct fee too as they are reluctant to give change.

Once we were married (civil ceremony) it took several days just to get the basic marriage cert from the Courts of Justice to City Hall. Once my wife had this (by now I was back in England) she got the staff at CH to electronically send the info to the NSO. She was advised that it would take about 1 month to come through. This is the 'quick' method. So much for the electronic age!!

After about a few days she went to the NSO in Davao and asked if they could really speed up the process. They gave her a date when they thought it would be available (about 3 and a half weeks after it was submitted). On the date specified she went to collect it and fortunately it was there.

She had already pre-booked the meeting at the VFS (assuming the NSO cert would be ready) and had her meeting 1 month and 1 day after our marriage had taken place. We are now waiting for the Spouse Visa to arrive.

Two more points to consider. You will need luck (and possibly more) on your side if you are going to get everything processed from CNI at the Embassy through to getting married in the 3 weeks. Once you have your CNI you need to go to City Hall in Davao (it closes at 5pm and allow up to 1 hour for them to process the paperwork). They will then display your marriage application for 10 clear days (including weekends) before you can collect your license to marry.

Now here's the second point which you will not find this on any of the official sites. For a civil ceremony you need to get a Judge to marry you (simple enough) but in Davao, and possibly every other city, the way they allocate a Judge is a lottery.

On Thursdays at noon they put the names of everyone who has applied to get married by civil ceremony into a raffle. The names are then drawn and allocated to the Judges. You then have to make a representation to the Judge for a date and time for your wedding at his convenience.

This can add days to the length of your stay. It is also a nightmare to plan for your wedding celebrations as you cannot arrange anything until you know that date.

My wife and I had good fortune (and friends in the right places) that enabled us to know in advance which Judge would marry us and what date and time (welcome to the Philippines!!!). Had we not been in that position the 3 weeks that I had planned on staying would not have been long enough and I would have returned to the UK a VERY disappointed man. As it was we had a few hours as husband and wife before I flew back to Manila.

I really hope that this helps anyone in the position that my wife and I found ourselves in. I certainly wish we'd known in advance as we could have worked the flights slightly better to suit the 'Thursday Raffle’.

Andy

[IainBusby]

Hi Ian,
Welcome to the forum.
Louella & Iain.

[aug06_2006]

Hello Ian, welcome to the forum.

[PeterB]

Perhaps I can answer on Arthur's behalf: His plan is to marry in Pantukan, not Davao City, and they already have a good relationship with the local registrar. I don't believe that there will be a problem with completing the wedding in a three week stay.

[missmiles]

hi all, im very new to this forum but i joined as i think it maybe very helpful.
a few things about myself.
my name is ian, im 48 and live with my two sons paul and brian. i have an elder son who lives in a nearby town.
i have currently been unemployed since feb 2007 when i had to give up work to care fulltime for my american wife of only one year who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. after her death in august i became a single parent to an eleven year old son who is mildly epileptic. now my fifteen year old has moved in with me i am in a position to look for work fulltime.
back in may i joined a dating site and soon got into daily correspondence with a filipino lady from davao. it quickly became apparent that we got on very well and i was keen to meet her in person,so in july i flew out to davao to stay for three weeks in a hotel appartment she had found for me.
we stayed together all that time sharing the same living room, kitchen etc but seperate bedrooms. we spent a lot of time meeting family and friends and joining in with their favourite pastime the shopping malls

GOOD LUCK to the new CHAPTER of your LIFE^^, Be happy

[whiteraven]

hi all and thank you for the warm welcome. i will be flying back to davao on tuesday the 18th november.firstly to manila to get my local cni then off to davao the next day. this time im taking my eldest son andrew to be my ring bearer.
i failed to mention as i ran out of room that my good ladys name is maria bella and she lives in matina pandi in davao city. we plan to marry by civil ceremony and now andy has me worried as the arrangements have all been made!!! we are planning to marry on dec 4th with a small reception at her home as money is a bit tight. the registrar told her that only sundays didnt count towards the ten days!!!

[whiteraven]

ps yes peter i know sm and ncc malls well lol