Affidavit of Cohabitation

[pogingolsen 2]

Hi everyone, first of all, thank you very much for the support that this community provides.

Here is my situation. I'm a green card holder already and I want to marry my girlfriend in the Philippines so I can petition her and my son. The problem is that I have a good paying job(still on my first month) but I was able to ask for a 9 day vacation already to my manager and he said yes.

The problem is that I can only be in the Philippines for 5 working days (4 days travel time). Before you can get married, a couple needs to wait for 10 working days from date of marriage application proposal for publication before we can actually get married. So that option will not working for me.

The option that I made is to file an Affidavit of Cohabitation so we could by pass that publication thing. Our only proof that me and my girlfirend are living in together for more than 5 years are sworn statements of people. My question is, if we get married, and I applied for a petition for my girlfriend, will we have problems at the US embassy when it's interview time? That's approximately 2 years from the date that I applied for petition to her. Thank you in advance.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

****** Moving from Bringing Family to Philippines Regional forum as question is country specific *****

[Greenbaum 12,259]

Here is a possible solution.

Have your fiancée go to her local registrar and advise them of your intentions to send a blank marriage application to you here in the states and that you her fiancé will be getting endorsements from a Philippine Consulate in the USA. If the local registrar agrees, she obtains the application and fax or scans as a PDF file and sends to you.

You in turn have to appear in person at one of the Philippine Consulate office here in the States. See website http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/index.php?page=consulate-finder-main forthe nearest Consulate Office. Present the marriage application with just your information filled in on the document. The counselor will endorse the marriage application verifying that this is you who is applying. Bring two ID's, preferable your passport and a pictured driver's license. You as the applicant will need to present the affidavit, death certificate or divorce decree signifying that you are free to marry along with the application and id's. I would call ahead and make an appointment and explain what you are doing and verify my details as to what is required before attending the process in front of a Philippine Consular.

Once you have the endorsements then send to your fiancée by LBC, DHL or other currier to your fiancée in the Philippines. She receives the original document with all endorsements from you and takes the marriage application to her local registrar for filing. She will fill out her part of the application when she is in front of the registrar. Again, she should bring two government ID's with her to validate her identity. She will receive the license either on that day or the next day. Each local registrar is different and she should verify all necessary documents that are required by her local registrar.

Applicants shall apply for the "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage" at the Embassy's American Citizen Services Branch (US Embassy in Manila) by appointment only. There is a fee of $50.00 or its peso equivalent for the affidavit, payable in cash only. For those who do not want to experience the hustle and the bustle of Manila (like me), there is a U.S. Consular Agency in Cebu that you can visit to get this Affidavit.

One more item to add and that is required is the "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage" which will be required. After landing in Manila you can go over to USEM to get your affidavit. Follow the instructions below:

You apply for the "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage" at the Embassy's American Citizen Services Branch (US Embassy in Manila) by appointment only. There is a fee of $50.00 or its peso equivalent for the affidavit, payable in cash only. If you do not want to experience the hustle and the bustle of Manila, there is a U.S. Consular Agency in Cebu that you can visit to get this Affidavit.

If you are marrying in the Catholic Church this will not work in 10 days because you are required to take the marriage class required by the church. If you are going to do a "Justice of the Peace" style wedding you can pull this off in 10 days.

If she is between the age of 18 to 21 she must have parental consent in writing, those age 21 to 25 must have written parental advice (a written indication that the parents are aware of the couple's intent to marry).

These are your first steps and you should begin the process about three weeks before your trip to PI.

Further details are on the embassy website here: http://manila.usembassy.gov/marriage.html or call The Embassy's American Citizen Services Unit at (632) 301-2000, Ext. 2246.

[Tahoma 2,292]

You don't need, and you can't get, an "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage" because you are not a U.S. citizen.

You simply need to get your marriage application authenticated by the Philippines Consulate that has jurisdiction over the state where you live. Your fiancée will take care of the rest with the local civil registrar.