Getting Married In the Philippines + More Questions

[luckyhirang]

By first visit, I mean after I had already been texting and vidchatting everyday for the 8 months prior, thousands of texts and I have no idea how many vidchats. Then prior to getting married I spent 3 weeks living with her and her kids, got to know her family, sister, brother in-law, mother and father, as well as other family and some friends, being that I spoke English, most of her friends avoided the house

Ok, what is the best and fastest courier service to the Philippines?

Wasn't sure about the passport, read some info that said that an expired passport could be used for ID, then reading the forms I realized that it requires a valid passport.

Gotcha on the name part, good point.

She was not married to the father, so as sole custody, she can bring the kids without even telling the father. We are talking about adopting them at a later date, after they are here and we are settled.

We are approaching our one year since starting our relationship, and after reading posts here from even a few years ago, time together is important, but supplying proof is more important.

Fastest courier is FedEx and DHL. You may use both!

BTW, congratulations! My apology for not replying I had an accident for couple of months now and I wasnt able to visit my account here.

Good luck on your next step!

 

[scylla]

By first visit, I mean after I had already been texting and vidchatting everyday for the 8 months prior, thousands of texts and I have no idea how many vidchats. Then prior to getting married I spent 3 weeks living with her and her kids, got to know her family, sister, brother in-law, mother and father, as well as other family and some friends, being that I spoke English, most of her friends avoided the house

That's still a first visit. Agreed that's unfortunately a huge red flag. Would have been far far better to make at least one separate trip just to visit first - but what's done is done. Make sure you provide extensive evidence of your communications before meeting. I would be prepared for long application processing times and the possibility that an interview will be required.

 

[luckyhirang]

Hi, Scylla & Canuck_in_uk

For your advise and valuable input on my query:
Both Sponsor (my fiance, soon to be husband) and Principal Applicant (me) should submit the Spousal Application in one envelope which will be sent to Mississauga? I mean all the forms should be submitted all together?

Appreciate your insight.

Regards,
Lucky

 

[luckyhirang]

By first visit, I mean after I had already been texting and vidchatting everyday for the 8 months prior, thousands of texts and I have no idea how many vidchats. Then prior to getting married I spent 3 weeks living with her and her kids, got to know her family, sister, brother in-law, mother and father, as well as other family and some friends, being that I spoke English, most of her friends avoided the house

Ok, what is the best and fastest courier service to the Philippines?

Wasn't sure about the passport, read some info that said that an expired passport could be used for ID, then reading the forms I realized that it requires a valid passport.

Gotcha on the name part, good point.

She was not married to the father, so as sole custody, she can bring the kids without even telling the father. We are talking about adopting them at a later date, after they are here and we are settled.

We are approaching our one year since starting our relationship, and after reading posts here from even a few years ago, time together is important, but supplying proof is more important.

I agree with Scylla & Canuck_in_uk. There's a red flag to it. Ensure to present extensive supporting documents regarding your proof of relationship and other pertinent documents.

Good luck!

 

[scylla]

Hi, Scylla & Canuck_in_uk

For your advise and valuable input on my query:
Both Sponsor (my fiance, soon to be husband) and Principal Applicant (me) should submit the Spousal Application in one envelope which will be sent to Mississauga? I mean all the forms should be submitted all together?

Appreciate your insight.

Regards,
Lucky

Yes - everything has to be submitted as one package (after you are married of course).

 

[Belgiandank]

Ok...long time since I last was here.
Everything went well, we met in person and have found that we really are good together, so much so that we did get married before the month of my vacation was done. Close one tho, we only had one week left of my stay.

She has now gotten our NSO/PSA Marriage Cert, and now we are filling out our forms for sponsorship.
First question that comes to mind, what is the best way to get the forms signed? let her gather all the forms and docs and sign everything she needs to sign, and send it to you via courier.
She is there, I am here...
Second question is toward the passport, she currently has an expired passport, and plans to get a new one in January when the Philippine Gov. plans to implement a new 10 year variant. Does she need a valid passport when we file the application? and she plans on using my last name on the new passport, how does that affect the information when I fill out the app? I am guessing that you are Canadian, which means your wife has to go to CFO to attend GCP. The certificate is needed before she can renew she passport if she'll want to use her married name. Otehrwise, she should be good to go. here's the link:
http://www.cfo.gov.ph/news/cfo-news-and-events/738-cfo-manila-implements-on-line-appointment-system-for-guidance-and-counseling-program-gcp-for-filipino-fiance-es-spouses-partners-of-foreign-nationals-or-former-filipino-citizens.html

For proof of relationship, does her taking my name and using it on her IDs and passport count? can we use photocopies of those to use as proof? There's a list on CIC that you can refer to. Here's the link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5533E.pdf
Open it in IE as it does not open in Google.

Next question is what about the kids, we're going to work and get a house before bringing them here, what do we need to make sure we do on the app to make sure we can bring them later? The kids will be included on the spousal application (above checklist) but they you can opt to leave them here for now and tag them as non-accompanying. later on, when you're ready to get them, it would be easier as they were already declared as dependents to your wife.

Thank you all for all your comments from before I left, sorry I didn't reply before now, was pretty busy

 

[Belgiandank]

also, you dont have to adopt the kids to bring them there @inlalabo88

 

[Belgiandank]

That's still a first visit. Agreed that's unfortunately a huge red flag. Would have been far far better to make at least one separate trip just to visit first - but what's done is done. Make sure you provide extensive evidence of your communications before meeting. I would be prepared for long application processing times and the possibility that an interview will be required.

Agreed! But if you ahve sent sufficient proof of relationship, the visa officer may pass the eligibility anyways.

 

[luckyhirang]

Yes - everything has to be submitted as one package (after you are married of course).

Thanks Scylla for your prompt reply.

God bless!

 

[inlalabo88]

Thanks all of you for your comments and info
We have started the paperwork and she has it now and is going over it.
I have one question currently bothering me, my stepson is illegitimate and currently has his mother's maiden name on his Birthcert, my wife is working with her, his biological father to get it fixed so that my stepson has a surname that doesn't instantly say he's illegitimate.
My question is, if we submit with my stepson's current birthcert and info, and in a couple months his birthcert is fixed to use his biological father's surname, how do we g about updating IRCC?

 

[Survivor27]

Thanks all of you for your comments and info
We have started the paperwork and she has it now and is going over it.
I have one question currently bothering me, my stepson is illegitimate and currently has his mother's maiden name on his Birthcert, my wife is working with her, his biological father to get it fixed so that my stepson has a surname that doesn't instantly say he's illegitimate.
My question is, if we submit with my stepson's current birthcert and info, and in a couple months his birthcert is fixed to use his biological father's surname, how do we g about updating IRCC?

Why would you both want to do that?? If you want your wife and stepson to be approved at the same time and be with you soon, there is NO NEED to get the bio-dad's lastname. That requires a court decision and you are lucky if it gets a decision in a couple of years. Even with the name changed, the kid will still be illegitimate.

I highly recommend that you go ahead and file the spousal application with the current BC of the kid. Btw, although the kid's name is same with the mother, does the bio-dad's name shows on the BC or no mention at all (blank)?

 

[inlalabo88]

Sorry, wasn't to clear I guess. What I meant is that my wife wants this for my stepson, his biodad is willing to do it.
My question remains the same tho, if my wife updates the birthcert, and the sponsorship is in processing, how do we update IRCC.
I should also note that my stepson will not be accompanying my wife to Canada this time, we are going to prepare to bring him here first.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Sorry, wasn't to clear I guess. What I meant is that my wife wants this for my stepson, his biodad is willing to do it.
My question remains the same tho, if my wife updates the birthcert, and the sponsorship is in processing, how do we update IRCC.
I should also note that my stepson will not be accompanying my wife to Canada this time, we are going to prepare to bring him here first.

You just send a copy of the new birth certificate and a letter of explanation.

 

[Miraclejj]

Sorry, wasn't to clear I guess. What I meant is that my wife wants this for my stepson, his biodad is willing to do it.
My question remains the same tho, if my wife updates the birthcert, and the sponsorship is in processing, how do we update IRCC.
I should also note that my stepson will not be accompanying my wife to Canada this time, we are going to prepare to bring him here first.

Man, due all my respect and no offense, the name change for your stepson is quite odd move. I have no prejudice on anybody from Philippines, but you also have to understand that there are a lot people will try everything desperately move to Canada or US. To me, this move is more likely than not is to prepare for future sponsorship, if you got what I meant. Anyway, wish you the best luck on this sponsorship (short courtship, marriage at the first meet, wife's age is older than you, not enough evidences for interdependent) and your marriage, because you do need it.

 

[keesio]

Man, due all my respect and no offense, the name change for your stepson is quite odd move. I have no prejudice on anybody from Philippines, but you also have to understand that there are a lot people will try everything desperately move to Canada or US. To me, this move is more likely than not is to prepare for future sponsorship, if you got what I meant. Anyway, wish you the best luck on this sponsorship (short courtship, marriage at the first meet, wife's age is older than you, not enough evidences for interdependent) and your marriage, because you do need it.

I must be misunderstanding something but why is the name change thing a big deal? Future sponsorship of who? The child's dad?

But agree that the short courtship is a big red flag. Getting married during first face-to-face visit is one of the bigger red flags there is.