Birth Certificate Error

[tampamike 1]

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[vsmtghdy 2]

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

She needs to go to the Local Civil Registrar where her Birth was registered and apply for Correction of entry (Typo errors). It will only cost p1,000 plus p500.00 for processing. She will need a copy of her BC (birth certificate) and other documents to prove her claim (Baptismal, school records, GSIS/SSS records, others she can present). If the Civil Registrar will not give her too much hassles, she can do it in less than a month. There's an obligatory 3 consecutive weeks of printing in the newspaper and the LCR will take care of that (included in the payment), then she will receive a copy of her corrected BC.

Next step: Ask for an endorsement letter from the LCR addressed to NSO. You will be paying for this and the courier service (thru LBC). She will also receive a copy of the endorsement letter.

Next step: Go to NSO - Vibal Building, Q.C. Present the endorsement letter with the new LCR-BC. A payment of p60.00 for the unconverted copy and about p120.00 for the converted copy. While there, tell her to request for more than 1 copy (make it 3 or 5) for future use. If NSO already received the copy from LCR, she will receive it on that dayor if not, she will be asked to come back. She will then receive an Annotated BC.

Good Luck. Its a long process, so she better starts it now. If the LCR will agree that it is really a typo error then hopefully no need for a Court order. I had to file in Court for my BC name problem and it took a year before I received the court's decision. That was then, they had the new Republic Act for typo errors that can be processed at LCR and NSO.

[tampamike 1]

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

She needs to go to the Local Civil Registrar where her Birth was registered and apply for Correction of entry (Typo errors). It will only cost p1,000 plus p500.00 for processing. She will need a copy of her BC (birth certificate) and other documents to prove her claim (Baptismal, school records, GSIS/SSS records, others she can present). If the Civil Registrar will not give her too much hassles, she can do it in less than a month. There's an obligatory 3 consecutive weeks of printing in the newspaper and the LCR will take care of that (included in the payment), then she will receive a copy of her corrected BC.

Next step: Ask for an endorsement letter from the LCR addressed to NSO. You will be paying for this and the courier service (thru LBC). She will also receive a copy of the endorsement letter.

Next step: Go to NSO - Vibal Building, Q.C. Present the endorsement letter with the new LCR-BC. A payment of p60.00 for the unconverted copy and about p120.00 for the converted copy. While there, tell her to request for more than 1 copy (make it 3 or 5) for future use. If NSO already received the copy from LCR, she will receive it on that dayor if not, she will be asked to come back. She will then receive an Annotated BC.

Good Luck. Its a long process, so she better starts it now. If the LCR will agree that it is really a typo error then hopefully no need for a Court order. I had to file in Court for my BC name problem and it took a year before I received the court's decision. That was then, they had the new Republic Act for typo errors that can be processed at LCR and NSO.

Unless I am mistaken, the new Act only allows the correction of spelling errors. They cannot change the gender without the court order. I will pass your post on to her. It will not hurt to try. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[TinTin and Samby 11]

Unless I am mistaken, the new Act only allows the correction of spelling errors. They cannot change the gender without the court order. I will pass your post on to her. It will not hurt to try. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I'm sorry to hear of your problem. Unfortunately, this is an all too common problem in the Philippines - and there is no fast, straight forward solution. I have helped many different Philippinos through the steps involved, and unfortunately, I can tell you that it will be an ugly, frustrating and long journey.

The Republic Act 9048, also called the "Guinigundo Law", of the Philippines, suppossedly makes the correction of simple clerical errors a "straight forward" thing. In practice, this is far from the case. Although, technically, the Republic Act 9048 does NOT provide for the correction of gender and, in fact, states specifically that gender corrections must go through the regional judicial venue, I have personally been successful in getting Gender corrections fixed following the process outlined by the Republic Act (which vsmtghdy nicely highlighted in the above post). However, I also know of people who have been unsuccessful in utilzing The Republic Act to do this same correction and were forced to go through the judical processes.

In either regard - I hope you have some time, because you can expect that this process will take a minimum of 4-6 months, even using the suppossedly "new , easy, Republic Act 9048 for correction of clerical errors". You can also expect that it will take on the order of 8-12 in-person visits to various offices. That becomes even more of a dilema if your finance is from the province and not the National Capital Region (Manila). It will involve trips back and forth between her province and Manila.

So...start now! You will be collecting many documents (Local Birth Certificate, Baptismal record, School record from Elementary school, High School, affidavits, NSO Authenticated Birth Certificates, Judical orders, Public Notice documents, etc, etc) along the journey which will be required. My advise is to always order and pay for 3 official copies of each. Believe me, you will need them again and the additional cost while there to get the first copy is nothing compared to the time, travel and stress that you(she) will endure to get that first copy.

I'm sorry this sounds so negative. It's just that you need to understand it is a long, frustrating road to get things like gender (and even mispelled first names!) corrected in the Philippines. It can be accomplished!! I've done it - several times!! Start Now! Have patience! Try to keep a smile on your face!

Warm Regards,

Samby

[tampamike 1]

Unless I am mistaken, the new Act only allows the correction of spelling errors. They cannot change the gender without the court order. I will pass your post on to her. It will not hurt to try. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I'm sorry to hear of your problem. Unfortunately, this is an all too common problem in the Philippines - and there is no fast, straight forward solution. I have helped many different Philippinos through the steps involved, and unfortunately, I can tell you that it will be an ugly, frustrating and long journey.

The Republic Act 9048, also called the "Guinigundo Law", of the Philippines, suppossedly makes the correction of simple clerical errors a "straight forward" thing. In practice, this is far from the case. Although, technically, the Republic Act 9048 does NOT provide for the correction of gender and, in fact, states specifically that gender corrections must go through the regional judicial venue, I have personally been successful in getting Gender corrections fixed following the process outlined by the Republic Act (which vsmtghdy nicely highlighted in the above post). However, I also know of people who have been unsuccessful in utilzing The Republic Act to do this same correction and were forced to go through the judical processes.

In either regard - I hope you have some time, because you can expect that this process will take a minimum of 4-6 months, even using the suppossedly "new , easy, Republic Act 9048 for correction of clerical errors". You can also expect that it will take on the order of 8-12 in-person visits to various offices. That becomes even more of a dilema if your finance is from the province and not the National Capital Region (Manila). It will involve trips back and forth between her province and Manila.

So...start now! You will be collecting many documents (Local Birth Certificate, Baptismal record, School record from Elementary school, High School, affidavits, NSO Authenticated Birth Certificates, Judical orders, Public Notice documents, etc, etc) along the journey which will be required. My advise is to always order and pay for 3 official copies of each. Believe me, you will need them again and the additional cost while there to get the first copy is nothing compared to the time, travel and stress that you(she) will endure to get that first copy.

I'm sorry this sounds so negative. It's just that you need to understand it is a long, frustrating road to get things like gender (and even mispelled first names!) corrected in the Philippines. It can be accomplished!! I've done it - several times!! Start Now! Have patience! Try to keep a smile on your face!

Warm Regards,

Samby

Thanks for the advice. 4-6 months does not seem to bad. Fiance is from Surigao, but lives in Cavite now. It will be hard on her to make all those trips to Manila, but I am sure that she is willing to do it. I was just over there a few months ago. I wish we would have started the process then instead of waiting until now. What do you recommend about filing K1 papers. Should I wait until I know this mess is cleaned up or try to work on both at the same time. Thanks again!

[TinTin and Samby 11]

Thanks for the advice. 4-6 months does not seem to bad. Fiance is from Surigao, but lives in Cavite now. It will be hard on her to make all those trips to Manila, but I am sure that she is willing to do it. I was just over there a few months ago. I wish we would have started the process then instead of waiting until now. What do you recommend about filing K1 papers. Should I wait until I know this mess is cleaned up or try to work on both at the same time. Thanks again!

If you are ready to file K1 - by all means go ahead. That will take 6 months more or less anyway, just get going on the Gender Correction asap. as you will need that to send in with the Package 3/4 information to the Embassy before her interview there.

If she is living in Cavite now, then, that's basically Manila. Yeah Queszon City is on the other side of Manila from where she is so she will have traffic and stuff, but that wont be the hard part. The hard travel will be the trips back to Mindinao that she will have to do. Since you say she is from Surigao, I am assuming she was born there. So that is the place she will have to go to start the process with the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO). If her Mom is still living there in Surigao and that is where she (your fiance) was born, then the first thing you should do is have her call her mother and have her Mom go down to the LCRO in the town where she was born and had her Live Birth recorded (might be an office in the barangay or if her barangay is small, it could be an office in the main town/city of which her barangay is a part). Have her mom talk to the Registry Officer at the LCRO there and explain what needs to occur. That is the person/office where everything will flow from. So, you will want to make sure your gal and her mom are on good terms with him - you will be needing and relying on him and his 'goodwill' many many times during this long, circuitous process. Good Luck!

Warm Regards,

Samby

[tampamike 1]

Thanks for the advice. 4-6 months does not seem to bad. Fiance is from Surigao, but lives in Cavite now. It will be hard on her to make all those trips to Manila, but I am sure that she is willing to do it. I was just over there a few months ago. I wish we would have started the process then instead of waiting until now. What do you recommend about filing K1 papers. Should I wait until I know this mess is cleaned up or try to work on both at the same time. Thanks again!

If you are ready to file K1 - by all means go ahead. That will take 6 months more or less anyway, just get going on the Gender Correction asap. as you will need that to send in with the Package 3/4 information to the Embassy before her interview there.

If she is living in Cavite now, then, that's basically Manila. Yeah Queszon City is on the other side of Manila from where she is so she will have traffic and stuff, but that wont be the hard part. The hard travel will be the trips back to Mindinao that she will have to do. Since you say she is from Surigao, I am assuming she was born there. So that is the place she will have to go to start the process with the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO). If her Mom is still living there in Surigao and that is where she (your fiance) was born, then the first thing you should do is have her call her mother and have her Mom go down to the LCRO in the town where she was born and had her Live Birth recorded (might be an office in the barangay or if her barangay is small, it could be an office in the main town/city of which her barangay is a part). Have her mom talk to the Registry Officer at the LCRO there and explain what needs to occur. That is the person/office where everything will flow from. So, you will want to make sure your gal and her mom are on good terms with him - you will be needing and relying on him and his 'goodwill' many many times during this long, circuitous process. Good Luck!

Warm Regards,

Samby

Samby:

I believe that they have already been in contact with the LCR. They were told court order was the only way. Everyone seems to have a different story. I once talked to another man that had the same problem. His wife just obtained a sworn affadavit from two people who have known her since birth attesting to the fact that she was a woman. It was notarized and attached to the birth certificate along with a baptismal certificate. She was issued a passport with no problems and it did not even come up at her interview. You ever hear of anything like that. I am not looking to get this done for free. I just want to know that whatever plan we go forth with, will work. If we obtain the documents that you requested, who do we present them to. As I mentioned earlier, I am pretty sure that the LCR where she was born has already said court order is the only way. I will talk to her this weekend and make sure that she already contacted LCR in Surigao. Anyway Samby, thanks for the advice.

[TinTin and Samby 11]

Mike,

Just checking some facts on your situation:

1. Your gal has ner NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate. Yes?

2. It is THIS NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate (not her local Certificate of Live Birth issued in the province when she was born) which states that her gender is MALE. Yes?

3. If #1 and #2 are YES, then does her Origianl local Certificate of Live Birth show her gender as MALE also or does it correctly show as FEMALE?

4. Was your gal's birth documented as a "Delayed Late Registration" - this is when the orginal live birth for a host of reasons did not get recorded in the weeks/months following her birth, and therefore a process know as Late Registration had to be followed (typically many years or even decades after her birth) to officially register her.

The staps i would recommend you try first depend on the answers to these questions. For example:

If the NSO does not have a record of her birth and the error is in the Local Live Birth Certificate, then I would follow the LATE REGISTRATION process and submit proofwith the Late Registration application that the local Live Birth Certificate was 'obviously' in error. This avenue would start with NSO, not the LCRO. So your gal would go to NSO in Quezon City to get the process details. The result would be that the NSO's Authenticated BC could be correct and the original Local Live Brith Certificate would still be wrong. But that doesnt realy matter much, becuase it is the NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate that is the important one and is used for virtually everything in the Philippines.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was no Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - but you will have to get agreement from someone in the Local Civil Registry office, becuase in this scenario, that is where the correction process will have to begin.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - in this scenario, the clerical error was in the application/execution of the late registration by NSO. so the place to start would be the NSO office in Quezon City (manila).

If the NOS Authenticated BC is wrong AND the Local Live Birth Certificate are wrong, then you are back to the LCRO to begin the process and most likely, will have to go the judicial route. Since your gal is in Manila, you could get an attorney involved to handle it - BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!! There seem to be 3 kind of attorneys in the philippines: 1) Incompentent ones 2) competent, but uninterested/unresponsive and 3) competent and responsive. You need #3, which are a distinct minority. There are many stories of filipinos who hired an attorney and trusted them to do their job and a year later, their paperwork was still sitting on the attorney's desk - untouched.

Also, regarding the diversity of recommendations you have received or heard about for getting this correted. Yeah...that's one of the most frustrating thigs about the Philippines. Every interation of a given process in the Philippines will take on a defination of its own, depending on which person at which office on which day you inquire. And, especially in the province, even the relationship between the person requesting and the person giving advice. Very frustrating to know that there are many ways to solve the problem, yet the person in front of you sits there and insists that there is only one way - his way. Acknowledging ignorance and flexability are not strong suits in the pilipinas culture. Going around is much easier than going through a blockade there.

Good luck!!! Keep remembering how much you love your gal.. That will help you get through the nightmare.

[tampamike 1]

Samby:

I really want you to know how much I appreciate your help with this. I have to assume that any and all birth certificates that she has are marked male. I have only seen one of them. I would not be able to say whether it came from NSO or LCR. I will be talking with her tomorrow. I will ask her your questions and post the answers here. Mostly, I am just trying to decide how long this process is going to take. I don't want to file the K1 to early and then miss our window because we are still waiting on a passport. I have researched over 200 pages of this forum looking for someone with the same problem. Looks like it is only me. Once again, I will post the answers to your questions tomorrow. Thanks again!

Mike

Mike,

Just checking some facts on your situation:

1. Your gal has ner NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate. Yes?

2. It is THIS NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate (not her local Certificate of Live Birth issued in the province when she was born) which states that her gender is MALE. Yes?

3. If #1 and #2 are YES, then does her Origianl local Certificate of Live Birth show her gender as MALE also or does it correctly show as FEMALE?

4. Was your gal's birth documented as a "Delayed Late Registration" - this is when the orginal live birth for a host of reasons did not get recorded in the weeks/months following her birth, and therefore a process know as Late Registration had to be followed (typically many years or even decades after her birth) to officially register her.

The staps i would recommend you try first depend on the answers to these questions. For example:

If the NSO does not have a record of her birth and the error is in the Local Live Birth Certificate, then I would follow the LATE REGISTRATION process and submit proofwith the Late Registration application that the local Live Birth Certificate was 'obviously' in error. This avenue would start with NSO, not the LCRO. So your gal would go to NSO in Quezon City to get the process details. The result would be that the NSO's Authenticated BC could be correct and the original Local Live Brith Certificate would still be wrong. But that doesnt realy matter much, becuase it is the NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate that is the important one and is used for virtually everything in the Philippines.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was no Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - but you will have to get agreement from someone in the Local Civil Registry office, becuase in this scenario, that is where the correction process will have to begin.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - in this scenario, the clerical error was in the application/execution of the late registration by NSO. so the place to start would be the NSO office in Quezon City (manila).

If the NOS Authenticated BC is wrong AND the Local Live Birth Certificate are wrong, then you are back to the LCRO to begin the process and most likely, will have to go the judicial route. Since your gal is in Manila, you could get an attorney involved to handle it - BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!! There seem to be 3 kind of attorneys in the philippines: 1) Incompentent ones 2) competent, but uninterested/unresponsive and 3) competent and responsive. You need #3, which are a distinct minority. There are many stories of filipinos who hired an attorney and trusted them to do their job and a year later, their paperwork was still sitting on the attorney's desk - untouched.

Also, regarding the diversity of recommendations you have received or heard about for getting this correted. Yeah...that's one of the most frustrating thigs about the Philippines. Every interation of a given process in the Philippines will take on a defination of its own, depending on which person at which office on which day you inquire. And, especially in the province, even the relationship between the person requesting and the person giving advice. Very frustrating to know that there are many ways to solve the problem, yet the person in front of you sits there and insists that there is only one way - his way. Acknowledging ignorance and flexability are not strong suits in the pilipinas culture. Going around is much easier than going through a blockade there.

Good luck!!! Keep remembering how much you love your gal.. That will help you get through the nightmare.

[krisahmiah 0]

Samby:

I really want you to know how much I appreciate your help with this. I have to assume that any and all birth certificates that she has are marked male. I have only seen one of them. I would not be able to say whether it came from NSO or LCR. I will be talking with her tomorrow. I will ask her your questions and post the answers here. Mostly, I am just trying to decide how long this process is going to take. I don't want to file the K1 to early and then miss our window because we are still waiting on a passport. I have researched over 200 pages of this forum looking for someone with the same problem. Looks like it is only me. Once again, I will post the answers to your questions tomorrow. Thanks again!

Mike

Mike,

Just checking some facts on your situation:

1. Your gal has ner NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate. Yes?

2. It is THIS NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate (not her local Certificate of Live Birth issued in the province when she was born) which states that her gender is MALE. Yes?

3. If #1 and #2 are YES, then does her Origianl local Certificate of Live Birth show her gender as MALE also or does it correctly show as FEMALE?

4. Was your gal's birth documented as a "Delayed Late Registration" - this is when the orginal live birth for a host of reasons did not get recorded in the weeks/months following her birth, and therefore a process know as Late Registration had to be followed (typically many years or even decades after her birth) to officially register her.

The staps i would recommend you try first depend on the answers to these questions. For example:

If the NSO does not have a record of her birth and the error is in the Local Live Birth Certificate, then I would follow the LATE REGISTRATION process and submit proofwith the Late Registration application that the local Live Birth Certificate was 'obviously' in error. This avenue would start with NSO, not the LCRO. So your gal would go to NSO in Quezon City to get the process details. The result would be that the NSO's Authenticated BC could be correct and the original Local Live Brith Certificate would still be wrong. But that doesnt realy matter much, becuase it is the NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate that is the important one and is used for virtually everything in the Philippines.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was no Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - but you will have to get agreement from someone in the Local Civil Registry office, becuase in this scenario, that is where the correction process will have to begin.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - in this scenario, the clerical error was in the application/execution of the late registration by NSO. so the place to start would be the NSO office in Quezon City (manila).

If the NOS Authenticated BC is wrong AND the Local Live Birth Certificate are wrong, then you are back to the LCRO to begin the process and most likely, will have to go the judicial route. Since your gal is in Manila, you could get an attorney involved to handle it - BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!! There seem to be 3 kind of attorneys in the philippines: 1) Incompentent ones 2) competent, but uninterested/unresponsive and 3) competent and responsive. You need #3, which are a distinct minority. There are many stories of filipinos who hired an attorney and trusted them to do their job and a year later, their paperwork was still sitting on the attorney's desk - untouched.

Also, regarding the diversity of recommendations you have received or heard about for getting this correted. Yeah...that's one of the most frustrating thigs about the Philippines. Every interation of a given process in the Philippines will take on a defination of its own, depending on which person at which office on which day you inquire. And, especially in the province, even the relationship between the person requesting and the person giving advice. Very frustrating to know that there are many ways to solve the problem, yet the person in front of you sits there and insists that there is only one way - his way. Acknowledging ignorance and flexability are not strong suits in the pilipinas culture. Going around is much easier than going through a blockade there.

Good luck!!! Keep remembering how much you love your gal.. That will help you get through the nightmare.

Hi tampamike,

My friend has the same situation as yours, vsmtghdy is CORRECT . follow her advice.

do not worry, it will only takes 1-2 months.Just make sure to gather all the requirements and follow up her case

[tampamike 1]

It looks like it depends on which office you go to. The wrong gender is not considered a clerical error and is supposed to take a court order to change. That is a fact. If your friend has found an office that allows him to do it differently, he is very lucky. My fiance has talked to several people at NSO and LCR. Everyone says court order. We will keep trying. Thanks!

MIke

Samby:

I really want you to know how much I appreciate your help with this. I have to assume that any and all birth certificates that she has are marked male. I have only seen one of them. I would not be able to say whether it came from NSO or LCR. I will be talking with her tomorrow. I will ask her your questions and post the answers here. Mostly, I am just trying to decide how long this process is going to take. I don't want to file the K1 to early and then miss our window because we are still waiting on a passport. I have researched over 200 pages of this forum looking for someone with the same problem. Looks like it is only me. Once again, I will post the answers to your questions tomorrow. Thanks again!

Mike

Mike,

Just checking some facts on your situation:

1. Your gal has ner NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate. Yes?

2. It is THIS NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate (not her local Certificate of Live Birth issued in the province when she was born) which states that her gender is MALE. Yes?

3. If #1 and #2 are YES, then does her Origianl local Certificate of Live Birth show her gender as MALE also or does it correctly show as FEMALE?

4. Was your gal's birth documented as a "Delayed Late Registration" - this is when the orginal live birth for a host of reasons did not get recorded in the weeks/months following her birth, and therefore a process know as Late Registration had to be followed (typically many years or even decades after her birth) to officially register her.

The staps i would recommend you try first depend on the answers to these questions. For example:

If the NSO does not have a record of her birth and the error is in the Local Live Birth Certificate, then I would follow the LATE REGISTRATION process and submit proofwith the Late Registration application that the local Live Birth Certificate was 'obviously' in error. This avenue would start with NSO, not the LCRO. So your gal would go to NSO in Quezon City to get the process details. The result would be that the NSO's Authenticated BC could be correct and the original Local Live Brith Certificate would still be wrong. But that doesnt realy matter much, becuase it is the NSO Authenticated Birth Certificate that is the important one and is used for virtually everything in the Philippines.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was no Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - but you will have to get agreement from someone in the Local Civil Registry office, becuase in this scenario, that is where the correction process will have to begin.

If the NSO Authenticated BC is wrong but the local Live BC is correct and there was Late registration involved, then there is a chance to use the Administration Clerical Error correction process - in this scenario, the clerical error was in the application/execution of the late registration by NSO. so the place to start would be the NSO office in Quezon City (manila).

If the NOS Authenticated BC is wrong AND the Local Live Birth Certificate are wrong, then you are back to the LCRO to begin the process and most likely, will have to go the judicial route. Since your gal is in Manila, you could get an attorney involved to handle it - BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!! There seem to be 3 kind of attorneys in the philippines: 1) Incompentent ones 2) competent, but uninterested/unresponsive and 3) competent and responsive. You need #3, which are a distinct minority. There are many stories of filipinos who hired an attorney and trusted them to do their job and a year later, their paperwork was still sitting on the attorney's desk - untouched.

Also, regarding the diversity of recommendations you have received or heard about for getting this correted. Yeah...that's one of the most frustrating thigs about the Philippines. Every interation of a given process in the Philippines will take on a defination of its own, depending on which person at which office on which day you inquire. And, especially in the province, even the relationship between the person requesting and the person giving advice. Very frustrating to know that there are many ways to solve the problem, yet the person in front of you sits there and insists that there is only one way - his way. Acknowledging ignorance and flexability are not strong suits in the pilipinas culture. Going around is much easier than going through a blockade there.

Good luck!!! Keep remembering how much you love your gal.. That will help you get through the nightmare.

Hi tampamike,

My friend has the same situation as yours, vsmtghdy is CORRECT . follow her advice.

do not worry, it will only takes 1-2 months.Just make sure to gather all the requirements and follow up her case

[TinTin and Samby 11]

Hi tampamike,

My friend has the same situation as yours, vsmtghdy is CORRECT . follow her advice.

do not worry, it will only takes 1-2 months.Just make sure to gather all the requirements and follow up her case

Hi Krisahmiah,

I dont know what scenario you have followed, but there is no way this will get fixed in a month. There are SEVERAL different steps involved in the process that individually have 21 and 30 day waiting periods. 1-2 months to complete? - not even possible.

[garya505 2]

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I hope I don't offend, but are you sure your fiancee is a woman? There are a lot of guys over there pretending to be women and some of them look quite beautiful.

I'm serious. One of my friends spent quite a bit of time and money on one such person before he found out SHE was a HE!

[tampamike 1]

I have been waiting for that question to come up. She has no telephone. We chatted for several months online before she borrowed her cousin's phone so that we could talk to each other. One of the first things she told me on the phone was " I am a male", no mention of a birth certificate, just " I am a male". You can imagine the things running through my mind. The following week we were chatting online and I just came out and asked. I could see her laughing on the cam. She promised me that she was born a woman. She then explained the birth certificate problem. I spent two weeks with her earlier this summer. I never really felt comfortable with the situation until I did my own extensive examination. Her daughter and C-section scar kind of put my mind at ease. Hopefully, we get this birth certificate fixed and the story has a happy ending.

Mike

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I hope I don't offend, but are you sure your fiancee is a woman? There are a lot of guys over there pretending to be women and some of them look quite beautiful.

I'm serious. One of my friends spent quite a bit of time and money on one such person before he found out SHE was a HE!

[garya505 2]

I have been waiting for that question to come up. She has no telephone. We chatted for several months online before she borrowed her cousin's phone so that we could talk to each other. One of the first things she told me on the phone was " I am a male", no mention of a birth certificate, just " I am a male". You can imagine the things running through my mind. The following week we were chatting online and I just came out and asked. I could see her laughing on the cam. She promised me that she was born a woman. She then explained the birth certificate problem. I spent two weeks with her earlier this summer. I never really felt comfortable with the situation until I did my own extensive examination. Her daughter and C-section scar kind of put my mind at ease. Hopefully, we get this birth certificate fixed and the story has a happy ending.

Mike

I have my K1 package completed and ready to mail in. My fiance is from the Philippines. Her birth certificate has an error on it. The male box is checked instead of the female. I hear that birth certificate errors are quite common over there. She will be unable to get a passport with this birth certificate. Has anyone else encountered this problem before. Some people tell me that it will take a lawyer, big bucks, and a long time to fix. I know for a fact that NSO will not issue a gender corrected birth certificate without a court order. Others tell me that she can just get a sworn affadavit from two people that have known her since birth and attach it to the birth certificate, and this will allow her to get a passport. I don't want to send in my K1 paperwork until I feel pretty sure that we can have this fixed before she needs the passport. Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I hope I don't offend, but are you sure your fiancee is a woman? There are a lot of guys over there pretending to be women and some of them look quite beautiful.

I'm serious. One of my friends spent quite a bit of time and money on one such person before he found out SHE was a HE!

Ya, the C-section scar would probably be enough proof.