Manila, Philippines: Day 9 Part 1

With the decision to get married here we have started the ball rolling for a very busy time. We awoke at 5:00am this morning so we could be at the US Embassy early in order to get a 'certificate of capacity'.That is a document issued by the foreigners Embassy that insures they are legally able to marry and is the only document the Philippine government will accept from a foreigner to marry in the Philippines.

WOW! What a crowd at the Embassy so early in the morning. So many people trying to get visa's of all sorts. I understand this is a daily thing here. We waited in line, got admitted, filled out the forms, paid the usd$30.00 fee, waited some more, did my interview where I swore i was legally divorced and able to marry, got my certificate and we were on our way to the Manila City Hall to apply for the license.

City hall didn't go so easy:( We hunted and searched to find the right place get the license and after much searching, waiting and asking for help we found our way to the right desk. Obtaining the correct forms and filling them out we found out there is a 10 day waiting period from the day the license is issued before you can actually marry:((:(( The purpose of that is to hang the license in the city hall public notice area and give time for anyone to contest the legal ability of either one of us to marry. Also we found out that Ivy's birth certificate was not "valid" as it was not new enough=)) Just a money making scheme for the government.

So we had to be off to Quezon City in the morning to get a "new updated certified copy" of her birth certificate. We also found out we had to attend a short marriage counselling seminar. This gets more involved all the time!