Marriage Certificate (the one that we signed during the wedding) or should be a NSO copy marriage certificate?

[yhang 20]

Hello,

My husband and I got married in the Philippines last October 23,2010. It shows on the IR1/CR1 guidelines that my husband (US Citizen) needs to include our marriage contract in the packet. I just want to know if we need to have the NSO copy of our Marriage Certificate or the original one (the one that we signed during the wedding and was registered to our local municipality) would be enough. We really want to be together as soon as possible and NSO said that it will take 3-4 weeks (expedited/endorsed) before we can get our NSO copy.

Please help...

[pushbrk 13,248]

Hello,

My husband and I got married in the Philippines last October 23,2010. It shows on the IR1/CR1 guidelines that my husband (US Citizen) needs to include our marriage contract in the packet. I just want to know if we need to have the NSO copy of our Marriage Certificate or the original one (the one that we signed during the wedding and was registered to our local municipality) would be enough. We really want to be together as soon as possible and NSO said that it will take 3-4 weeks (expedited/endorsed) before we can get our NSO copy.

Please help...

A government issued certificate that indicates the marriage was registered civilly is required. It can be the local government certificate at the petition stage but the NSO certificate will be needed at NVC. If you have the one from NSO use it but do not try to use a one that fails to indicate the marriage is registered after the ceremony.

[Armenia 18]

Hello,

My husband and I got married in the Philippines last October 23,2010. It shows on the IR1/CR1 guidelines that my husband (US Citizen) needs to include our marriage contract in the packet. I just want to know if we need to have the NSO copy of our Marriage Certificate or the original one (the one that we signed during the wedding and was registered to our local municipality) would be enough. We really want to be together as soon as possible and NSO said that it will take 3-4 weeks (expedited/endorsed) before we can get our NSO copy.

Please help...

You need the marriage certificate printed on NSO security paper (issued by NSO).

Here are the document requirements posted on the US Embassy Manila website. Check item no. 6 - http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3217.html

"For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper."

Here are the document requirements for the Philippines posted on the Dept of State website - http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_4881.html?cid=3650

"Certified copies of originals can be obtained from the local civil registrar of the place where the marriage occurred. These are less preferred than Marriage Certificates issued by the NSO. "

Even though the Dept of State website says that certified copies can be obtained from the local civil registrar, you are going to be interviewed at the USEM-Manila so you will have to go by country (USEM-Manila)-specific rules.

I have no idea if it's possible to submit a copy certified by the local civil registrar during the I-130 application with an attached note saying that you'll submit the NSO-issued copy later with your DS-230 pack. It would be nice if that is possible.

[yhang 20]

thank you for your very prompt and informative replies. Another question though, for the USCIS process (I-130 packet) , do we have to submit certified true copy of documents or photocopies will do? We understand that original copies will be needed during the NVC process. We are in the process of preparing the packet and we need help...

[Armenia 18]

thank you for your very prompt and informative replies. Another question though, for the USCIS process (I-130 packet) , do we have to submit certified true copy of documents or photocopies will do? We understand that original copies will be needed during the NVC process. We are in the process of preparing the packet and we need help...

When you download the I-130 form from the DOS website, there's another pdf file called "Instructions for I-130, petition for alien relative."

It says you should submit copies of so and so documents. That's what my husband and I did - submit photocopies of the documents they asked for.

[yhang 20]

When you download the I-130 form from the DOS website, there's another pdf file called "Instructions for I-130, petition for alien relative."

It says you should submit copies of so and so documents. That's what my husband and I did - submit photocopies of the documents they asked for.

got it! thank you so much! we still need to wait for our NSO marriage certificate so we can photocopy it. Hope everything will go smoothly as planned..

[naypime 8]

we got married too inthe philippines....are u talking about the requirements for I-130 petition?when we sent our I-130 petition we just attached a certified true copy from the cityhall of our marriage certiticate...its only a xerox copy with stamp and signature of the civil registrar in the cityhall...it will took couple of months before you can get a copy of marriage cert.on NSO based on my experienced..i got my marriage cert.after 3 months...uscis finally got our case may 2010 and got our NOa2 for i-130 and i-129f last october 28...just attach you guys certified true copy of marriage certificate and im sure you wont have problem with that it doesnt need to be a copy from nso but on your interview make sure to get one from there....good luck on our visa journey,,,...

Edited November 13, 2010 by jumer12

[yhang 20]

we got married too inthe philippines....are u talking about the requirements for I-130 petition?when we sent our I-130 petition we just attached a certified true copy from the cityhall of our marriage certiticate...its only a xerox copy with stamp and signature of the civil registrar in the cityhall...it will took couple of months before you can get a copy of marriage cert.on NSO based on my experienced..i got my marriage cert.after 3 months...uscis finally got our case may 2010 and got our NOa2 for i-130 and i-129f last october 28...just attach you guys certified true copy of marriage certificate and im sure you wont have problem with that it doesnt need to be a copy from nso but on your interview make sure to get one from there....good luck on our visa journey,,,...

Thank you for the information. Yes, we are about to start the process and we are figuring out the exact documents that we need to send for I-130. So, all we need to do is to follow the requirements listed, right? We wanna do it right the first time..

[naypime 8]

Thank you for the information. Yes, we are about to start the process and we are figuring out the exact documents that we need to send for I-130. So, all we need to do is to follow the requirements listed, right? We wanna do it right the first time..

[naypime 8]

just attach whatever is listed in the instruction and yall be good...feel free to ask...goodluck

[Markieboy 104]

Hello,

My husband and I got married in the Philippines last October 23,2010. It shows on the IR1/CR1 guidelines that my husband (US Citizen) needs to include our marriage contract in the packet. I just want to know if we need to have the NSO copy of our Marriage Certificate or the original one (the one that we signed during the wedding and was registered to our local municipality) would be enough. We really want to be together as soon as possible and NSO said that it will take 3-4 weeks (expedited/endorsed) before we can get our NSO copy.

Please help...

If you are applying for IR-1/CR-1 immigrant visa, I would strongly recommend getting your NSO certified marriage certificate. The original wedding certificate may be accepted in USCIS, but NVC prefers documents issued by NSO. According to DOS's Philippine Reciprocity Schedule:

"Documents issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are preferred...Documents from these sources are centrally registered and are considered more reliable than documents issued by local registrars...Certified copies of originals can be obtained from the local civil registrar of the place where the marriage occurred. These are less preferred than Marriage Certificates issued by the NSO."

So in my opinion, it would be better to attain the NSO copies before sending your packet to the NVC, to avoid any possible RFE.

Good luck with your journey!

[Scott and Mhay 57]

We sent a copy of our NSO certificate. You will need it for the NVC. After we waited for the NSO copy (only a month luckily) I read where people made a photocopy of the one signed and that had the seal from the local registrar. I waited for the NSO one because I was a little unclear. You should be able 2 get your NSO certificate within 2 months of marriage in most cases. We got ours in 30 days because my wife's mom knew some people in municipal hall & they personally took it to manila to get recorded with the NSO.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

Double post

Edited November 15, 2010 by Scott and Mhay

[yhang 20]

Thank you all for your great input. We knew someone from the NSO too and we're hoping to get it as quick as we can so we can start the process. Can't wait to be with my husband.. Goodluck to our Visajourney!