Courthouse wedding or civil wedding in Manila

[User444]

I just picked up my marriage license from Taguig and they told me to go to Pasig to join the raffle to get a judge to perform the ceremony. I heard in Quezon City that it can take up to 2 months before you can be married because there are so many civil weddings. I called Makati and Pasig City Halls today and they said "Come in to the office and we'll explain things." The Makati City Hall had a pdf on their website that said if the mayor does the wedding, it's free, but if a judge does it, it's 300 pesos. I just want a quick solution. Are there areas in Metro Manila where you don't have to enter a raffle but just apply for a date and the mayor or judge can perform the ceremony?

[medic3500]

Just got married a month ago in Quezon City. Was a piece of cake. Went to our Councillor of choice for our district at QC City hall. Took birth certificates for both of us, divorce decree for me and the final annulment award for her. also I had to go to the US Embassy and get a statement stating I am divorced and allowed to get married simple enough just showed my divorce decree at embassy at my appointed time. Took 15 mins and $50. Filled out the information document with the assistance of the councillor's secretary who was very helpful. Paid 8000 piso which covers all fees associated with the marriage including location and solemnizing officer. This office did all the paper work filling out and typing documents and filing with appropriate dept after the brief ceremony and obtain two certified copies of the final marriage license. There was a 10 day wait that was required from the time of filling out the original documents and actually getting married. We though it was a piece of cake. I shake my head when I hear about all of these other horror stories that people go through and we did not have to attend any type of classes that people talk about. Literally was a piece of cake.

[Steve & Myrlita]

Just got married a month ago in Quezon City. Was a piece of cake. Went to our Councillor of choice for our district at QC City hall. Took birth certificates for both of us, divorce decree for me and the final annulment award for her. also I had to go to the US Embassy and get a statement stating I am divorced and allowed to get married simple enough just showed my divorce decree at embassy at my appointed time. Took 15 mins and $50. Filled out the information document with the assistance of the Councillor's secretary who was very helpful. Paid 8000 pesos which covers all fees associated with the marriage including location and solemnizing officer. This office did all the paper work filling out and typing documents and filing with appropriate dept after the brief ceremony and obtain two certified copies of the final marriage license. There was a 10 day wait that was required from the time of filling out the original documents and actually getting married. We though it was a piece of cake. I shake my head when I hear about all of these other horror stories that people go through and we did not have to attend any type of classes that people talk about. Literally was a piece of cake.

Your experience supports the fact that every jurisdiction has their own rules thus nothing is standard. Here in Bacolod, Myrlita & I had to attend class. Get this, at the time, I was 49 and Myrlita was 53. They did show us respect and valued our input for the other couple's benefit. That was 11 years ago.

[User444]

Thanks guys. Yes, I did attend the family planning class and paid $50 for the document at the embassy. Applied for the marriage license last month. It took 5.5 hours. We had to go to a family planning class. It was in Tagalog so I didn't get anything from it. There were 25 couples. Just me and a Korean guy were the foreigners. On the roster, you had to write down how many kids you have. 20% already had kids. They didn't need that class! I waited 10 days and now have my license. I'm trying to figure out how to get an officer to solemnize the certificate. I don't want to travel to every city hall to check on their requirements. Makati said to email them at om@makati.gov.PH with my letter of intent and my marriage license but I haven't heard anything back from them yet.

[User444]

8,000 pesos seems kinda steep. Our marriage license was 270 p and I read that the mayor will perform it for free or the judge will do it for 300 p.

I went to the Pasig City Hall today. What a total waste of time. On the pasig.gov.ph website, it shows that Mayor Bobby Eusebio is the mayor. On the Contact Us page, it shows that his wife, Maribel Eusebio, is the mayor. He became mayor in 2016 and they haven't updated the Contact Us page??? I did send them a message on that page and of course, no reply was ever received. When I applied for my license at Taguig City Hall, they said to go to Pasig City Hall to add my name to the raffle. Ok. There are plenty of pictures on their website of civil weddings performed by the mayor. So I called them on Monday. How do I schedule a wedding at the mayor's office? The lady on the phone transferred me to the civil registrar's office and she said it would be better if I came into the office.

Hello!!! Telephones were invented for communicating with with people that are in different locations so I don't have to be in the same room as you. Oh well, I thought. This is the Philippines. I'll try it their way. I go to the civil registrar's office today and ask an employee "How do I schedule a wedding with the mayor's office?" I already have my marriage license. I just need a solemnizing officer to sign it. He asks me where my fiance is. She is at work. He said that I can talk to the judge because they also handle civil weddings. Ok.

I walk over to the Court. But I'm wearing shorts. The city hall is ok with shorts but the court is not. The securtiy guard does not let me in. I walk around to a market and buy some sweatpants for $4. I go back to the Court and they let me in. I go to the office of the court clerk on the 8th floor and show them my license. They ask me where my fiance is. She is at work. They look at it and say that I need a document from the US Embassy called Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage. The US embassy only provides the Affidavit in Lieu of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage. I showed her the document. She says that will not work. On the Embassy's website it says "The Philippine government has generally accepted this affidavit as satisfying the requirement to certify the U.S. citizen’s eligibility to marry in the Philippines." Taguig City Hall accepted it. But Pasig's court does not. I asked her if any American has ever married in Pasig in the past 10 years and she said that she's not aware of anyone. Wow. The marriage license says it's valid anywhere in the Philippines. Except for the Pasig courthouse. I leave and go back to the city hall and to the mayor's office.

I go to the window and there is a lady in front of me being helped. She is finished so I take a step forward and the employee behind the window goes and sits down. She pulls out her phone and starts playing a game or something. Another male employee is sitting there with his phone out. I'm waiting and this other lady is exiting the office and asks me what I need. How to schedule a wedding with the mayor's office?It's 1:25 PM and she tells me to wait 30 minutes because the lady who handles this is out at lunch. I wait and she never comes back from lunch so I ask another person at the window. She asks me where my fiance is. She is at work. She says the mayor is really busy and doesn't have time this month. I told her I just want to put my name in the raffle or sign up for a wedding schedule. She said that in October he may be free. I said Great! I'll be here in October. Then she said, Um, but maybe not. Have you talked to the civil registrar's office? Yes, I told her. I've already been there. She wants to go with me, so we head downstairs.

She talks to a lady in the office and they said they also follow the court's requirements. If you're both Filipino, you're good, but if your embassy doesn't provide you with a document, Pasig doesn't honor it. And Taguig uses the same judges so they won't honor it either. But Taguig City Hall saw that we were an American/Filipina couple and told us to go to Pasig! They said to try Makati or try a pastor. Wow. What a total waste of 4 hours. Never go to Pasig for help. 

[bigrod]

I am going to assume you read the following on the Embassy site.  It used to state a few of the municipalities that did not accept the affidavit.

https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/getting-married/

Chuck

[User444]

Thanks Chuck. Yes, I did read that site. They must have updated the website because I don't see a list of municipalities that don't accept that document.

[User444]

I found the list on a visa website:
There were reports posted on the U.S. Embassy web site that three local civil registrars had refused to accept the Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry. The three registrars listed were Makati City, Quezon City, and Davao City. 

[User444]

Maybe they should add Pasig to that list. And they were talking about the marriage license. I already have that. Just trying to get a mayor or judge to sign the license.
I found this on another blog in the comments section (she included her email but when I sent her a message, the email bounced):
Me and my husband just married last March 12, 2009, just a civil though here in Quezon City,Metro Manila.If your fiancee from QC, when u go to US embassy for ur certificate in lieu, be sure to ask the person giving it to write CERTIFICATE instead of AFFIDAVIT because QC City Hall doesnt accept "affidavit" anymore. I really dont understand why when actually the content is just the same and Im sure the person from US embassy knows what document should be given when an american asked for a cert. in lieu. We were supposed to be married by judge, but because of the "affidavit" thing, we had to be married by a Reverend, licensed and registered..i made sure he was. Be sure to make sure that every spelling are typed correctly because there were some errors in my husband's name so they had to re-type it. If you dont have enough time and need to go back to US, you can ask your fiancee to start the application for marriage license. That's what I did. My husband stayed here only for 21 days and we wanted to marry on his first week so while he was still in Las Vegas, I started calling the city registrar to ask for the requirements and the step-by-step process. If yoor situation is the same as ours, I would be willing to give you more info.

[Steve & Myrlita]

Check here in Bacolod City.

[mikbal]

Angeles city is not far from Manila and US citizens don't seem to have a problem getting married there.

[mikbal]

This from another website circa 2015

"Your best bet for a quick and stress-free civil wedding is at a Municipal Trial Court (MTC) in a small municipality. In these places, there’s usually only a single judge, so there’s no need for a raffle. And with a smaller population, there’s likely no other couple ahead of you in the schedule. Also, the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) in these places likely isn’t busy, and you may be able to get your personal copy of your marriage certificate a few hours after marriage."

[User444]

Well, I went to the Makati City Hall today and it seemed better than Pasig. I first had to go to Immigration at SM Aura because my 30 day "free" visa expired on Sunday and I forgot to go last Friday. I extended it for another month but I had to pay a 1,000 peso fine and a 1,000 peso mandatory express lane fee. Total bill: 4,040. If I had done it on Friday, only 2,040. Not bad for an extra month. Still cheaper than a flight leaving the PH. I did this earlier in the year and they put a sticker in my passport. This time, they said they ran out of stickers so they just stamped my receipt. But I still had to pay for the sticker even though I didn't get it. : ( They told me it would take 2 hours to process everything so I told them I'd come back later.

I caught a Jeepney to Ayala MRT, then took the MRT to Gaudalupe, and then another Jeepney going to Makati City Hall (Jeepney signage Leon Guinto). The Makati City Hall is much larger than Taguig or Pasig. When I called the mayor's office last week, they said to go to the 21st hall for the mayor but said I needed to stop by the 3rd floor and have the Civil Registrar's Office check my documents. I didn't see why they needed that so I wanted to go up to the 21st floor first. There are 7 elevators in the City Hall Lobby. Only 3 were working. There is a long queue to get into these elevators and there are two long lines. I get in one line and wait and wait and wait and finally get to the elevator. It was probably 7 minutes. There is a small sign above the elevator door that says floors 1-9. Whatever. I get in and the employee pushing the buttons says that he only goes to the 9th floor. Hmmm. There is a person that is paid to push buttons?!?! And it's an oven in the elevator. You can hear a small fan going but the employee had a manual fan that he kept waving towards himself. Anyways, I go up to the 9th floor and go back down to the lobby, only to get in the other long queue. I wait 15 minutes and there is some order, but people are cutting in line and employees are trying to get back to work and must get preference. The whole thing is maddening. You have to line up to go upstairs?! Two elevators service floors 1-9 and only 1 elevator services floors 1-22. Great.

I get up to floor 21 and there is an aide who takes my documents and goes behind some closed doors. She comes out and says I have to go back to floor 3 and talk to Mrs. Coppada. She has to sign my letter of intent in order to get married by the mayor. Ok. I wait for the elevator and go down to floor 3. I walk around a bit and find the CRO. I ask for Mrs. Coppada and they let me go into the workers area and wait for her outside her office. Another aide takes my marriage license and wonders why I'm coming to Makati if I applied for my license in Taguig. I told her that the Taguig CRO told me to go to Pasig and they told me to go to Makati. She asks me to write my letter of intent. I wrote one sentence (just Googled for one) and then she asks her boss something. I hear Taguig mixed in with the Filipino language. She then tells me that I need to rewrite my letter and include my address, why I'm choosing the Makati mayor to perform the wedding, how I knew that the mayor performed weddings, and 3 possible dates I would like for my wedding. I rewrite it and she takes it into Mrs. Coppada's office. Mrs. Coppada is talking with another gentleman and the aide comes out and says I need to wait. I wait for 20 minutes and the phone rings beside the desk. Another lady comes over and mentions something about Taguig on the phone. The aide comes back with the document and Mrs. Coppada has signed it. I heard the word Taguig 5 times from three different people. She wrote that they checked the Taguig CRO's signature with the one that had on file and it matched. They also verified the NSO seal to make sure the watermark was correct and that the forms looked original. I'm not sure how many people are trying to forge fake marriage licenses and go to different cities to try to pass them off, but it seemed like that was their concern.

Anyways, I have to go back up to floor 21. I'm waiting by the elevator and pushing all the buttons on all 7 elevator keypads and nothing is happening. This older guy sitting nearby said that I was a young guy and could walk up to floor 21 from floor 3. It's possible but not probable. Finally the elevator shows up. I ask the attendant how he knew I was there because the buttons weren't working. He said someone called him on the intercom and told him to stop at floor 3. Wow. That's efficient. I get up to floor 21 and see the original aide I had spoken with. I show her my signed letter of intent and she goes back behind closed doors and comes back and says the person who works with the mayor's schedule is not there. No surprise there. She said that they will contact me to see if one of my three dates will work for this month. We'll see. I went back to SM Aura, picked up my passport, and went home.

[Steve & Myrlita]

But it's more pun in da pilippines!

[User444]

I saw a reddit post about a judge in marikina city hall that could sign the paper within a week. "we went to the marikina city hall to schedule a civil wedding. lady on the desk told me the next opening was for about a month. she said if I'm in a rush there is a guy who officiates marriage in one of the private notary offices behind the city hall. the guy is an incumbent judge and does the ceremony in english, we just walked in and scheduled our wedding for the following week and paid the fee (1,250 pesos), his assistant filed all the paperwork afterwards. Best wedding ever, took like 15-20 minutes."
So I called Marikina Civil Registrar's office and asked for the judge's number. They wouldn't give me the guy's number. Their solution? Come into the office so we can explain things. Ah yes. That makes A LOT OF SENSE!!! Not!
Also, I saw on Taguig's Facebook page, a lot of Kasalang Bayan videos. It's a group wedding that the mayor officiates. It seems like they have videos posted every other month of this. I called the Taguig Civil Registrar's Office to ask about this because it was not explained to us when we were in the office and told them in our marriage application interview that we wanted a civil wedding. They told us to go to the Pasig Courthouse to schedule it. So I called Taguig's CRO and asked about kasalang bayan. Their solution? Bring your fiance into the office and we'll give you the schedule. Can you just give me the schedule over the phone? No. Ah, that makes perfect sense.

Anyways, the Makati Mayor's office called me right after this and said they have a slot for us and can do a quick civil ceremony this month. Woohoo!!!! Take THAT Taguig and Pasig! Boo-yah!