CNI question

[the_ONE]

Apologies if these points have been answered many times, but i have become a little confused by the legal situation regarding CNIs, marriage license for marriage in the Philippines.

I intend to obtain a UK CNI from my local registrar. I undertand in takes 21 days to be issued and is valid for 3 months.
Q. Does the 3 months begin on the date of the application or from the date of issue?

Q. When exchanging the UK CNI for the local version at the British Embassy Manila, how long is the local version normally valid for? A further three months or the same period as the UK version?

I ask because there seems to be a 2+ month waiting time for appointments at the embassy at present as well as indeterminate dates for waiting for appointments at my local UK registrar, so advanced planning seems necessary.

Q. Finally, hopefully this isn't a big issue, but how long is the validity of the marriage license in the Philippines before the intended data of marriage?

Thanks

[Terpe]

Warning!!
A Terpe long-winded explanation is ahead.

Why?

Because there's no longer any current definitive 'published' answer to satisfy all your questions as precisely as you probably would like and in line with Philippine law.

There are however a number of different regulations that when 'added together' give a reasonable indication of time periods to follow in order to avoid
delays and challenges in the process of getting wed.

A CNI issued in Scotland is valid for 3 months only and that has always been clearly stated.
A CNI issued in England, Wales or Northern Ireland has no specific limit on validity under British Law.
This then is the sticking point. How does it stand up under Philippine law. Some folks will tell you it's valid for 3 months others will tell you 6 months and others will state the non-expiry (as under British Law) still applies.

Bear in mind that the 'local'/Philippine CNI is the one required under Philippine Law in order to secure a Marriage Licence.
This local Philippine version CNI must be used within 3 months from date of issue. Period. (in practice means 3 months validity)

Here's the thing, the British Embassy make a special point of informing that a CNI issued in Scotland must be presented to the British Embassy Manila within 3 months of it being issued.
There's no special mention of a time limit for a British issued CNI.

However, the British Embassy do insist (under the Philippine regulations) that all formal Philippine certificates (birth, marriage, death and no marriage etc) must be obtained from the National Statistics Office (NSO) and must have been issued (on the latest security paper) within 3 months of your appointment.
This then leads to a reasonable and logical (but not specifically stated) understanding that ALL such documents should be presented to the Embassy in Manila within that 3 month window of issue including a British issued CNI

The staff at the British Embassy are the ones who will decide what date of issue to enter and so far it's been difficult to pin them down.
However, concerning Scottish issued CNI the local Philippine CNI will issued based on Consulate date of issue. Means 'daisy-chained' (date wise).

On occasions the Embassy has been known to take the view that the date of issue of the local CNI in Philippines will be the same as the original date signed by the Registrar in the UK. Logically this does not hold up given the current appointment system and waiting time, and also that in following such a practice, it may severely limit the usefulness of the local Philippine CNI.

Under 'normal' conditions there's been no reported problems since most folks actually secure a marriage licence pretty quickly following the issue of CNI from the Embassy.

Based on all the above I'd suggest you ask the British Embassy to confirm in writing exactly what date of issue they WILL use when they give you the all important Phillippine CNI.
Is it the date they issue you with it? or the date that the Registrar in the UK issued it.
As an aside it might be interesting to ask if the procedure they follow is the same for all countries.

Until such time as you receive current definitive legal validity and issue details of UK CNI, I'd personally suggest you use 3 months from date the issue from Registrar in the UK which has previously been informed to members here as date of application (means the 3 months includes the 21 day wait period)

Hopefully those forum members who have been down that CNI path will report on their own latest personal experience on dates etc.

I can tell you the Philippine CNI is strictly 3 months validity
The marriage licence is valid for 120 days anywhere in the Philippines.

Hope that helps your understand and planning.

If you could post any feedback from the Embassy it would be highly appreciated.

For your added information here's the latest (last updated: 07 Aug 2013) published general advice from the British Embassy in Manila - Marriage and CNI Requirements in the Philippines

[robbie bobby]

Personally I would just take as 3 months.I am sure you can get an appointment within that time(even if it does cut it fine within a few days of expiring).BTW once you get your Philippines marriage licence you do not have to get married straight away if you do not wish to.I just done everything from getting local CNI to getting married in my 21 days stay which was tight but fine(I even had a small honeymoon) but there are some who get all the paperwork done,get the licence then return to marry after a few months.good luck

[Terpe]

You don't actually need to present yourself personally at the Embassy to exchange the CNI
Your Fiancee/Partner can do you provided correct ID's
Just saves a bit more time.
Also lots of stuff from NSO can be ordered online.

There's a significant amount of 'red-tape' to overcome, but as Robbie says, it's quite possible to complete within 21 days stay if you're organised.
Not much you can do about the 10 days wait for marriage licence.....just plan ahead. If your 10 days ends on a Saturday (or holiday) and the office is not open.....you can't get it till it opens.

[robbie bobby]

it is slightly easier now the visa has changed to 30 days.It will give u some more time to play with but find out when the public holidays are and try to work round them.I was stuck with the Easter holidays but I manged to plan it out that I was actually waiting for my licence in holy week so it was all good.Just a little forward planning and everything will be fine.Have all documents to hand and I MEAN EVERY SINGLE ONE.If you are missing one or even if there is a spelling mistake on any document can be a huge problem.Be prepared to pay for this that and everything over and over.Be nice to all the people that do your docs(let your wife do all the speaking)You will need so many copies of your marriage contract for different things and each one costs time and money.Its true its more fun in the Philippines but only if you have plenty money.