Need help getting married in Manila

[Gonzosan 0]

For god heaven sake! Oh btw your the one needs to have medical and security clearance To go to Philippines not her>.> bcoz since we're in military and not base (not deployment business ) in the Philippines. They need to brief you in some places that you can only go and not to go. I guess that's what ur first SGT talking about.

Just be careful there and have fun.

No he's not, he clearly meant her. Trust me I know all about the process that needs to be done, I've been in the military nearly 8 years and I've been overseas for 3 and a half of those years. I think someone I talked to yesterday put him in check because today I just got a quick email saying "Please route this up the chain" and it included a Commander's Approval letter. Basically it was a letter just stating my information and hers and that my commander is aware. I'm pretty sure I know who it was because I saw someone new CC'd in the email that I had talked to yesterday. I sent that person an email thanking them for helping me out on this. Still not out of the woods, I'm sure my 1SGT will throw some stupid ####### at me. Nothing in the paperwork stated that she needed a medical exam, or background check, even though he was 100% convinced of it. So I'm sure someone told him he was wrong. At the end of the email he still said 'make sure you talk to legal to get a POC in PACAF to inform them when you're down there'. Christ this guy is an idiot. Once I get the letter signed I will be done with all this. I'll include a sanitized version of the form here so you all can see what I had to fill out once it's all done and "approved".

http://www.manilavisa.com/resources/getting-married-with-your-filipino-fiancefiancee-in-the-philippines/

I'm not really sure what this was for, I know everything I need. In fact everything in that post was taken directly from the US Embassy in Manila. The part I needed was the military aspect, which just states "Those military members who are not stationed in the Philippines need to produce authorization letter from their officers as well." but my First Sergeant blew it way out of proportion. I was pretty furious today to say the least, but this will hopefully be signed and approved early next week.

[Kevo 69]

At the end of the email he still said 'make sure you talk to legal to get a POC in PACAF to inform them when you're down there'. Christ this guy is an idiot.

Haha...I was a First Sergeant for a few years, this guy seems like a dummy that needs his diamond taken away. PACAF won't give a ###### you're there on leave....you should contact the state dept and inform them, but it's not mandatory (you can register via their website and give them your contact info and travel plans so they can get in touch with you in case something happens there).

What you should do is forward your shirt's email to the PACAF CCM and inform him when you're there and explain you're doing that under the instruction from your shirt. That'll put a big embarrassing spotlight on him.

[hellINTIM 9]

Haha...I was a First Sergeant for a few years, this guy seems like a dummy that needs his diamond taken away. PACAF won't give a ###### you're there on leave....you should contact the state dept and inform them, but it's not mandatory (you can register via their website and give them your contact info and travel plans so they can get in touch with you in case something happens there).

What you should do is forward your shirt's email to the PACAF CCM and inform him when you're there and explain you're doing that under the instruction from your shirt. That'll put a big embarrassing spotlight on him.

Hahahaha.. Got yah.. Well Im just helping you out. But if your good to go..GO for it dont listen to ur pain in the #### first sgt lol. maybe his excited for you lol....

[Gonzosan 0]

Haha...I was a First Sergeant for a few years, this guy seems like a dummy that needs his diamond taken away. PACAF won't give a ###### you're there on leave....you should contact the state dept and inform them, but it's not mandatory (you can register via their website and give them your contact info and travel plans so they can get in touch with you in case something happens there).

What you should do is forward your shirt's email to the PACAF CCM and inform him when you're there and explain you're doing that under the instruction from your shirt. That'll put a big embarrassing spotlight on him.

Honestly he doesn't even wear a diamond (not sure why, he's our official First Sergeant). I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but the guy can't even spell simple words. I sat in his office while he typed up an email (painful to watch) for his contact at Legal to read and CC'd me. He misspelled "requirement" (every single time), asked how to spell "marry" and in the title put "forein marriage". When Tricare called him about this AFI he was always pushing, he didn't even know it. I had to tell them (I knew it off the top of my head) to which he replied "thanks". Just makes me embarrassed to call him my First Sergeant. My acting Superintendent pretty much stepped in for me, and it was the first time I ever spoke with him. Once I get this letter signed by my Commander I'm done talking with the First Sergeant for good. He obviously just makes things way harder than they should be.

As far as the PACAF stuff, apparently one of the Captains I talked to at Legal was trying to get in contact with them. So it's a bit embarrassing to say the least, but something must have happened between yesterday and today that suddenly I have a letter to be routed up without any of the "needed" things he was so adamant I needed.

[AF-Wife 181]

I'm not really sure what this was for, I know everything I need. In fact everything in that post was taken directly from the US Embassy in Manila. The part I needed was the military aspect, which just states "Those military members who are not stationed in the Philippines need to produce authorization letter from their officers as well." but my First Sergeant blew it way out of proportion. I was pretty furious today to say the least, but this will hopefully be signed and approved early next week.

Just tried to help. I'm sorry.

[Gonzosan 0]

Just tried to help. I'm sorry.

Sorry if I came off harsh, wasn't my intention. It's just that you're not the first and probably not the last person to mention these exact things to me that I know like the back of my hand by now. I hope you're not offended, I'm a really nice guy, I promise.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Gonzosan

[Gonzosan 0]

Well finally the letter has been signed! I should be more thrilled but damn it took a while. The commander even noted "please advice if higher authority authorization needed". I really don't get it. Maybe it's just me, but I'm almost positive it doesn't need to be "approved" by anyone. Plenty of people get married without telling anyone about it before hand and they don't have issues. Obviously if you're marrying something that could be a security risk then it's different. Nonetheless I'm happy that it "should" be done now. Hopefully no more issues involving getting married or going overseas will come up.

[Gonzosan 0]

Well due to some issues with the airline I will be starting my journey to the Philippines one day early. Apparently it's considered a "minor change" when they changed my departing airport from Las Vegas (where I live) to Los Angeles with the same time early in the morning. Sadly I only caught this now, and I had to call them to try to change it. Pretty sure the Indian guy on the other end didn't want to do the extra work to try to help me, he just said 'sorry that airline doesn't have any flights leaving Las Vegas to San Francisco up until the 17th of January'. Which is obviously a lie. Rather than continue fighting, I just booked a flight the day prior to Los Angeles and I'll sleep at the airport overnight and continue with my scheduled flight. So I'm getting all my paperwork ready. I have my birth certificate, my signed letter from my commander, passport, social security card, am I missing anything? I'm going to verify with the US Embassy in Manila online to see if anything else is needed, but would I be needing anything else? Obviously I have the money needed for everything we'll pay for, but just don't want to leave anything I can't easily acquire when I'm down there. Thanks

[hellINTIM 9]

ID dont forget ur ID .... btw where in philippines u are going? did they tell u where u can only go?

[Gonzosan 0]

ID dont forget ur ID .... btw where in philippines u are going? did they tell u where u can only go?

Yeah I'll have my military ID and my license as well. Well I talked to OSI, since they called me yesterday asking where in the Philippines I was going. I told them Manila and they said if I was going near Cebu or south of Cebu that I need a special briefing. I'm sure it's because of the Mindanao area with the threat of terrorism. I'm going to Palawan and they said they would look into it and see if I need a special briefing. I looked up any info I could in regards to threat levels in the Philippines but couldn't find anything specific to Palawan. I know this coming month will have a lot of Americans traveling to the Philippines so I need to be careful regardless, but hopefully Palawan isn't a dangerous place to go. I'm going to Puerto Princesa by the way.

[hellINTIM 9]

Yeah I'll have my military ID and my license as well. Well I talked to OSI, since they called me yesterday asking where in the Philippines I was going. I told them Manila and they said if I was going near Cebu or south of Cebu that I need a special briefing. I'm sure it's because of the Mindanao area with the threat of terrorism. I'm going to Palawan and they said they would look into it and see if I need a special briefing. I looked up any info I could in regards to threat levels in the Philippines but couldn't find anything specific to Palawan. I know this coming month will have a lot of Americans traveling to the Philippines so I need to be careful regardless, but hopefully Palawan isn't a dangerous place to go. I'm going to Puerto Princesa by the way.

Palawan is not dangerous but theres few places that you cant go.. i dont want to scare you but your one of us and im from pinas also. im sorry i cant find the list of places that u can go in philippines ( my CO brief me this few months ago coz i planning to visit philippines).. civilian americans has different treated than military bcoz we need to get protected spc if ur active .. yall be fine as long u will not go south and dont tell every one that ur us military .. just pretend ur just normal civilian american less threat. what else, quezon ,aurora, has few town that u cant stay also.

Edited December 18, 2012 by .MythaG-

[Gonzosan 0]

Palawan is not dangerous but theres few places that you cant go.. i dont want to scare you but your one of us and im from pinas also. im sorry i cant find the list of places that u can go in philippines ( my CO brief me this few months ago coz i planning to visit philippines).. civilian americans has different treated than military bcoz we need to get protected spc if ur active .. yall be fine as long u will not go south and dont tell every one that ur us military .. just pretend ur just normal civilian american less threat. what else, quezon ,aurora, has few town that u cant stay also.

Yeah I know I can be a target for others. I don't tell anyone I'm in the military and I never show my military ID. I had a classified briefing from OSI which really didn't tell me much more than what I knew about the threats down there, but she said that she didn't have anything specifically relating Palawan to any threat I should be aware of. So I'm in Los Angeles now and tomorrow I'm waiting yet again in San Francisco. I'm shooting a documentary of all of this with my GoPro camera.

[hellINTIM 9]

Good luck !!!

[Gonzosan 0]

Good luck !!!

Well not even a day here in the Philippines and my first shirt is asking for the signed paperwork. This guy is a huge pain in the ####. I know they're (leadership)grossly misinformed and causing much distress in my life because of it. Nonetheless I think they're under the impression that they must give "approval" for me to get married and more than likely want me to contact someone in PACAF to notify them of my marriage in the Philippines which is just ridiculous. I really hope they give me a POC to contact out here that calls them back and tells them off. It's the weekend here, and with the Christmas holidays coming up I'm hoping they'll just forget all this stuff. On the 26th I will be going to the US Embassy and hopefully they'll be able to give me a definite answer to all this idiocy. I'm sure they're the experts in this field. I'll let you all know what happens.

[Gonzosan 0]

Well not even a day here in the Philippines and my first shirt is asking for the signed paperwork. This guy is a huge pain in the ####. I know they're (leadership)grossly misinformed and causing much distress in my life because of it. Nonetheless I think they're under the impression that they must give "approval" for me to get married and more than likely want me to contact someone in PACAF to notify them of my marriage in the Philippines which is just ridiculous. I really hope they give me a POC to contact out here that calls them back and tells them off. It's the weekend here, and with the Christmas holidays coming up I'm hoping they'll just forget all this stuff. On the 26th I will be going to the US Embassy and hopefully they'll be able to give me a definite answer to all this idiocy. I'm sure they're the experts in this field. I'll let you all know what happens.

With all that being said, could I get paperwork or any backlash for getting married now? I've cleared everything through my security manager, which was my number 1 priority. I also had a classified brief with OSI mostly about the area, but they just told me to talk to my security manager. Seems like my 1st Sgt is just out to get me now. Just worried that he's going to try to reprimand me for all this #######, but if my security manager says I'm good I don't see what they can say.