Hello!

[Starboard 10]

Hi,

My name is Shaun and live in Folkestone, Kent.

I discovered this wonderful forum whilst googling for information about the process of getting married in the Philippines and what an excellent mine of information it is proving to be, thank you to everyone here!

I am planning to marry my Filipina fiancée at Santa Rosa, Laguna in October and everything seems to be nicely on track. During my visit earlier this month we obtained our pre-marriage certificate and we will apply for our CENOMAR and CNI towards the end of July so they will be less than 3 months old at the time of our wedding.

I am planning two trips to make things more manageable, the first will be for two weeks in September to visit the embassy in Manila and to apply for the marriage license at Santa Rosa City Hall, the second visit will be for two weeks in October by which time the bans should be exhausted and we can concentrate entirely on the wedding itself.

I have just come off the phone to my local registry office regarding my CNI and I was informed that I will be responsible for the information that the certificate contains and that I need to be careful about what is put as the venue because the requirement varies from country to country and they can offer no advice on this. I have been told to check exactly what venue information is required by the Philippine authority because too little detail, or indeed too much, can invalidate the document. So I need to find out whether just the town/city or the full address should be used, if anyone here can shed any light on this I would be most grateful.

Regards,

Shaun

[Starboard 10]

Another slight anomaly I have is my fiancée's passport requirement for me to be able to exchange my CNI. Will she need to possess one at that point?

She doesn't currently possess one and our thinking is that we will apply for it after the wedding so that it can be issued in her new name, will this cause a complication at the CNI exchange point?

Many thanks in advance!

Regards,

Shaun

[Terpe]

Hi Shaun, welcome aboard.

Take a look here Take a look here for up-to-date information about marriage and CNI exchange at British Embassy.

Just ask if you have some specific questions. Plenty here have followed the same path you are about to follow.

[grahamw48]

Hi Shaun. Welcome to the forum and good luck with your wedding/visa plans.

Ref. your partner's passport: If it was me, I would ask her to apply for her passport asap, as many of the documents she will need for that will also be needed for her eventual visa application (and official wheels can turn very slowly in the Phils).

Keeping her maiden name on her passport until she is safely in the UK will also help avoid confusion between documents too. Far more important than any other consideration IMO.

Keep things consistent....and simple !

[Starboard 10]

Thanks for the warm welcome Terpe and Graham, we will set the passport wheels in motion without delay, many thanks!

Shaun

[grahamw48]

No probs. Keep us updated.

Most of us have 'been there' already.