Utah Online Marriage Philippines SF ROM application Question: What is the Affidavit of Explanation of online marriage?

[RDTeam2023 0]

Hello everyone!

Me and my wife are beginning our journey here after getting married online through Utah's online marriage services and I hate to be a complete idiot but as I examine the checklist for the Philippines SF ROM form box number 4 indicates the following

"One (1) original and four (4) photocopies of a notarized Affidavit of Explanation, stating that the marriage was held online and that the Filipino spouse was not in the U.S. at the time of marriage."

Is this a custom document that I need to get drafted and then signed/notarized by both of us? And if so is there a good place to find an example of such?

Utah provides a letter of explanation but having spoken with the notary they say they can't notarize for that as it's not something I created but is from the Utah marriage offices and has their names on it. And for that document, they only provide an e-document with no option to notarize it.

So I'm at a bit of a loss. I apologize if this is easily understood and I'm missing an obvious piece of information. This whole process seems quite laborious, but I'd like to try and get it right first try. 

Thank you for the help!

[top_secret 2,384]

35 minutes ago, RDTeam2023 said:

Hello everyone!

Me and my wife are beginning our journey here after getting married online through Utah's online marriage services and I hate to be a complete idiot but as I examine the checklist for the Philippines SF ROM form box number 4 indicates the following

 

"One (1) original and four (4) photocopies of a notarized Affidavit of Explanation, stating that the marriage was held online and that the Filipino spouse was not in the U.S. at the time of marriage."

 

Did you get that checklist directly from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco or did you find it online somewhere????  Some time ago they eliminated that particular requirement but since the Philippines tends to constantly change all the rules for everything it is important to have very up to date information.  Unless you got that requirement directly from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco very recently, then you can ignore it.  If they have resumed that in the last few weeks (????) then take what they directly tell you very literally.  Information you find online even a few months old may not be up to date.  Generally the Utah online marriage are well understood and accepted by the Philippine government by now. 

Edited February 9 by top_secret

[RDTeam2023 0]

It comes from a pdf link for the ROM form that is linked directly to the SF consulate site, but that's on web search vs directly navigating the site. Navigating through the site the pdf lacks that checklist so its hard to be sure. On the brightside my wife has found the affidavit of explanation through a facebook group, so even if its outdated I can still provide it just in case. Thank you so much for the help! Heres to hoping the process can go as smooth as it can. Thanks for the quick reply Top-Secret.

[top_secret 2,384]

1 hour ago, RDTeam2023 said:

It comes from a pdf link for the ROM form that is linked directly to the SF consulate site, but that's on web search vs directly navigating the site. Navigating through the site the pdf lacks that checklist so its hard to be sure. On the brightside my wife has found the affidavit of explanation through a facebook group, so even if its outdated I can still provide it just in case. Thank you so much for the help! Heres to hoping the process can go as smooth as it can. Thanks for the quick reply Top-Secret.

 

 

Probably just outdated information then.  Originally the affidavit of explanation was required to excuse the absence of a US entry stamp in the Philippine Passport that they previously required.  By now they pretty much accept it as normal.  Utah online marriage are now going through the Philippine Consulate in SF, USCIS and US Embassy Manila, in large numbers with no problems.