Why is it so important to a Filipina to get married in the Philippines? It is mostly to do with
the culture, their culture they have been raised from a child to believe that you must be married before living with someone. So most Filipinas will insist on getting married in the Philippines before they will move to another country with anyone.
Some Filipinas will go to the United States or other countries before their marriage but when they get there they insist on getting married immediately. Why is this? Is mostly to do with the culture. If they’re living with a man not married it shows disrespect to their family this is one thing that a Filipina would not allow.
So to show respect to her family and friends most Filipinas will insist on getting married in the Philippines before they go to another country with you. In the Filipino culture they had been taught very severely it is very important that they stay a virgin until after they are married.
In most cases if they do not stay a virgin it will put severe stress on that Filipina. She’ll be treated as an outcast from her family and friends either be treated as a war. In some cases even has gone as far as not let them live in the same household. This makes it very hard for the Filipina to survive in the Philippines.
There are cases there in the Philippines that a Filipina gets involved with the Filipino and have sex with them and some time get pregnant. In these cases the Filipino men would not marry a Filipina because they think if she will have sex with him before they are married she will have sex with someone else.
Anyone can make a mistake in this way the men sometimes will say things to manipulate them to get their way. Then they are stuck by their self with a child and in a lot of cases the family will not allow her to live in their household. So now she has to find her own place to live and means to support this child that makes it very hard for her.
In some cases the family is forgiving enough to allow her to live there in the house with them and help her out. But that is not always the case.
So if you meet a Filipina and she insists on getting married in the Philippines you may have to do so before bringing her to the US. It is not all bad having a wedding in the Philippines is much less expensive than what it would be here in the US. If they wanted fairly big wedding you can get by for about $1500-$2000 American money. This is pretty reasonable and includes buying the wedding dress, the cake, the meal afterwards, and even have a dance.
Getting her over to the United States after your married is not hard it will take a little longer than a fiancée visa. I’ll be talking about the K-3 Marriage visa in articles to come.
Get all the paperwork that you will need to marry in the Philippines is not hard. If you have been divorced or widowed you need to bring a divorce degree showing when divorce was finalized or death certificate.
Then while you are flying into Manila Philippines where you enter the country you can get a taxi through the airport there is a separate office that you can get a taxi is very safe because they have to be certified to the airport to pick up passengers. Do not get in a taxi if the driver comes up to you at the airport and wants you in his taxi. Get a taxi through the airport only.
Then take a taxi ride to the United States Embassy and then you need to go inside and asked the people at the desk for a Clarence to get married in the Philippines. They will ask you some questions and for your divorced agrees. And then they will give you a Clarence. Clarence may take a few days to get so if you leave them an address of your fiancé you can have them send the papers there for you. You will need this Clarence before you can get a marriage license to be married in the Philippines. You can also call the United States Embassy in Manila Philippines and ask them what you need to do to get a Clarence for marriage in the Philippines. They will have you send the documents that you will need to get this. Then you can either pick it up at the embassy or have them send it to you.
You’ll also have the go to some classes through the Filipino government about marriage this is mandatory. These classes would take about two days to complete. Then they will submit you a marriage license.
Whole time this process takes you may plan on staying in the Philippines for about 30 days. This is not hard when you come into the Philippines you will get automatically a 21 day visa stamped into your passport. You can also get any added 59 day visa allowing you to stay longer for about $60 American money. You go up to the immigration booth to process everything and when you come into the country you can ask them their for the extension on your visa. I have had immigration officers asked me how long I would like to stay and sell me the extra visa right there. Or there might be immigration officer walk around the airport that you can buy this through also.
Or you can apply for a longer visa from the Filipino consulates here in the US. You can find them on the Internet and also the applications for the visa. Doing it this way does not take too long it may get your visa in about two weeks. They will have the form on their website and all the instructions you will need before sending it off. When the visa is ready they will send it back to you. And you are free to go to the Philippines but remember you do not need to get this ahead of time if you do not want to you will get one automatically for 21 days when you enter the Philippines. Too extended just find an immigration office in one of the larger cities and go in and asked them for a 59 day extension on your visa. It will cost you about $60 and you should get it within two hours.
Just remember you have to have your passport from the US or what other country you are from before you can go to the Philippines
Have fun take a lot of pictures and enjoy yourself.
Comments and questions are welcome
The visa guy