We had our civil wedding on April 14, 2011. We never really planned on having it but for the sake of completing the required documents, we had to do so. I remember people asking why the need for it since we were only a few months away from our church wedding. Their first immediate thought was that I was pregnant. Oh well, who are we to blame these people for having such malicious minds? I sadly realized that in this day and age, weddings are most likely synonymous with pregnancy (sigh!).
The real reason though, was as simple as wanting to reduce the growing to-do-list for our wedding. As soon as we had the list of required documents, we sorted those that we can process whilst on vacation. One thing that caught our eye was the ‘marriage license’. We did our share of research and found out that we can secure this from our own local municipalities. We thought that this would be an easy one until our unpleasant experience from my local municipality (Valenzuela) made us realize we were horribly wrong.
Firstly, we were informed that the marriage license is valid only for 120 days upon issuance. Yep, it has an expiration date so to speak. We obviously got overly excited because on that day, we were still a year away from our wedding. So getting it early would be of no use at all. We decided then to just get it as soon as we arrive in Manila the following year. But no, there’s more. They told us that the license will be released after 11 WORKING days. That’s about after 2 weeks! Given that I was graciously allowed a 15-day vacation only, that meant we had to run straight to the municipality after our arrival from the airport. I pictured habibi and me running breathlessly with luggages and all. I felt like screaming. There SHOULD be some way to get this darn thing! I looked at habibi hopelessly when a brilliant idea hit me. He could schedule an earlier arrival to have sufficient time and get us the license. We felt we finally found a way out when we were informed that BOTH of us are required to get it. There’s a seminar that BOTH bride and groom MUST attend before the license can be obtained. It’s the family planning seminar and it is a prerequisite. So poof, there goes my brilliant idea. Oh, the joys of an overseas couple!
But who said we get so easily discouraged? I don’t think so. We didn’t want to give up so we thought of an alternative. Perhaps, one municipality’s rule can vary from the other. We asked a favor from my MIL to inquire in habibi’s hometown (Laguna). Unfortunately, the same rule applies. We even considered asking if we can pay a ‘special processing fee’ (read: BRIBE) to get it ASAP. However, if that trick didn’t work, we’ll be definitely in for a bigger trouble. I certainly didn’t want to become best friends with Mr. Stress so we discarded the idea.
Our last resort is to get it from here. Anyway, there is the Philippine Consulate after all. Surely, there must be some way to get it, eh? True enough, there is (finally!) but the thing is that the license is given after the civil wedding. Now, you bet I was utterly confused. How come we had to get married first to get a license? Shouldn’t the latter come first as a general rule? I really had no clue why and I didn’t bother asking anymore. As long as we can get it, who am I to protest?
Legally Husband & Wife
So the decision was final. We also confirmed from Mt. Carmel that a civil marriage contract is enough to satisfy the requirement (hooray!). The next thing to do is to gather the documents required for the civil wedding (uh huh, requirements AGAIN). Whoever said patience is a virtue must have been somebody getting married too!
The wedding went by in a blur. Waiting for the ceremony to start was in fact longer. There were 5 pairs per batch and we were among the first batch which turned out to be an advantage. When we descended the stairs after the ceremony, there were numerous couples lined up, waiting for their turn! Good thing we arrived early.
It was on that same day when we got the documents: Marriage Contract, Marriage License and Report of Marriage. We were asked to submit a photocopy after a week which we did. They took care of sending the Report of Marriage in Philippines. This ensured that our civil status got updated. So when we took a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) again in July, it already reflected that we are married and our names appearing as spouse in each other’s document.
I was legally off the singles list and therefore a missus by then (◡‿◡✿)
The real reason though, was as simple as wanting to reduce the growing to-do-list for our wedding. As soon as we had the list of required documents, we sorted those that we can process whilst on vacation. One thing that caught our eye was the ‘marriage license’. We did our share of research and found out that we can secure this from our own local municipalities. We thought that this would be an easy one until our unpleasant experience from my local municipality (Valenzuela) made us realize we were horribly wrong.
Firstly, we were informed that the marriage license is valid only for 120 days upon issuance. Yep, it has an expiration date so to speak. We obviously got overly excited because on that day, we were still a year away from our wedding. So getting it early would be of no use at all. We decided then to just get it as soon as we arrive in Manila the following year. But no, there’s more. They told us that the license will be released after 11 WORKING days. That’s about after 2 weeks! Given that I was graciously allowed a 15-day vacation only, that meant we had to run straight to the municipality after our arrival from the airport. I pictured habibi and me running breathlessly with luggages and all. I felt like screaming. There SHOULD be some way to get this darn thing! I looked at habibi hopelessly when a brilliant idea hit me. He could schedule an earlier arrival to have sufficient time and get us the license. We felt we finally found a way out when we were informed that BOTH of us are required to get it. There’s a seminar that BOTH bride and groom MUST attend before the license can be obtained. It’s the family planning seminar and it is a prerequisite. So poof, there goes my brilliant idea. Oh, the joys of an overseas couple!
But who said we get so easily discouraged? I don’t think so. We didn’t want to give up so we thought of an alternative. Perhaps, one municipality’s rule can vary from the other. We asked a favor from my MIL to inquire in habibi’s hometown (Laguna). Unfortunately, the same rule applies. We even considered asking if we can pay a ‘special processing fee’ (read: BRIBE) to get it ASAP. However, if that trick didn’t work, we’ll be definitely in for a bigger trouble. I certainly didn’t want to become best friends with Mr. Stress so we discarded the idea.
Our last resort is to get it from here. Anyway, there is the Philippine Consulate after all. Surely, there must be some way to get it, eh? True enough, there is (finally!) but the thing is that the license is given after the civil wedding. Now, you bet I was utterly confused. How come we had to get married first to get a license? Shouldn’t the latter come first as a general rule? I really had no clue why and I didn’t bother asking anymore. As long as we can get it, who am I to protest?
Legally Husband & Wife
So the decision was final. We also confirmed from Mt. Carmel that a civil marriage contract is enough to satisfy the requirement (hooray!). The next thing to do is to gather the documents required for the civil wedding (uh huh, requirements AGAIN). Whoever said patience is a virtue must have been somebody getting married too!
The wedding went by in a blur. Waiting for the ceremony to start was in fact longer. There were 5 pairs per batch and we were among the first batch which turned out to be an advantage. When we descended the stairs after the ceremony, there were numerous couples lined up, waiting for their turn! Good thing we arrived early.
It was on that same day when we got the documents: Marriage Contract, Marriage License and Report of Marriage. We were asked to submit a photocopy after a week which we did. They took care of sending the Report of Marriage in Philippines. This ensured that our civil status got updated. So when we took a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) again in July, it already reflected that we are married and our names appearing as spouse in each other’s document.
I was legally off the singles list and therefore a missus by then (◡‿◡✿)
No comments:
Post a Comment