Thursday, September 12, 2013

I'm Working on It

So yesterday, I went to DHL and asked how much is the fee for authentication (red ribbon) of my birth certificate and CENOMAR. It's only 650php for both documents. I expected like 500 each. So this is better compared to travel agencies (where I've read in some posts they paid 1,900 per document, imagine that!) I think my fiancee's birth certificate doesn't need to be authenticated and besides I cannot process it myself anyway.

Then I went to the National Government Center and requested for a local birth certificate 'coz it's needed for the red ribbon. I paid 50 pesos.

I then went to SM and requested for NSO birth certificate and cenomar. For both documents, its 375 pesos. It will be released on the 21st.

And good thing I found the list of translators from the German Embassy website. I emailed like 7 of them and so far received 3 replies. One was 700/document, the other was 750/document and the other one was 600/document (650 for the barangay certificate). So I only replied to the less expensive one and I told her I will let her know if the documents are already on hand.

What's left to do:

1. Get birth certificate of my fiancee. (request should be made by his parent)

2. Get barangay clearance.

3. After getting all requirements by the 21st, scan and email to translator. and pay the fees.

4. Then have cenomar and birth authenticated through DHL.

5. Get certified copy of passport.

6. Prepare 3 pcs passport sized photos

7. Make and print sketch

That's it!!! Still so much to do but I'm positive I'm going to finish everything in a month, probably less. :)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Getting There

So these are the things I need to do:

1. Get birth certificate for him and for me. And CENOMAR for me.

2. Get Barangay Certificate. (yup registration certificate is the Barangay Clearance) as what I've read in internet sites.

3. Ask DHL or other travel agencies how much red ribbon costs. I need about 3 documents to be auhenticated by DFA.
  a. Birth certificate (mine)
  b. Birth certificate (his)
  c. CENOMAR

5. Ask how much is the translation from English to German. I need 4 documents to be translated.
  a. Birth cert (mine)
  b. Birth cert (his)
  c. CENOMAR
  d. Barangay certificate

6. Then I need to secure the other requirements:
  a. sketch
  b. 3 passport size photos (w/ name & DOB at the back)

I think that's it! Oh and about the certified copy of passport I think mine is incorrect coz DFA-Bacolod just stamped the photocopies of my passport. We'll see....but I think I'm getting to understand the requirements better...

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Understanding Better

So I went to his dad's house yesterday and showed him the letter that was from Standesamt containing our requirements.

These are my takeaways from him: 

1. Only the birth certificate and CENOMAR should be authenticated by DFA Manila (red ribbon).
  In this case I will use a travel agency..I mean it would be cheaper I think..considering the roundtrip ticket (BCD-MNL, vice versa) plus hotel accomodations if I choose to process it myself..I heard documents will be released 3-4 days after processing..So a travel agency would be a much wiser choice.

2. According to his dad, I won't be needing an Affidavit for Parental Advice since by the time we get married, I'm already 25. But it was stated in the letter from ages 21-25 that a Parental Advice is necessary. So I don't know..I guess I'll follow his advice 'coz even if I secure the affidavit I don't know where to process it. (regional court, general console whattt????) So yeah..nevermind.

3. As for the Certified Copy of the Passport, I already have that and I hope it's correct.

4. Registration certificate..I'm not sure what this is..maybe like the voter's registration? or barangay clearance? or cedula? I'll make some research about this.

5. And lastly, I'll try to find a certified translator..I'll talk to my fiancee first which is better, if he'll be the one to have the documents translated there in Germany, or I'll have it translated here. Whichever's cheaper and easier would be the best choice.

So I'm not so confused anymore..I'll try to process whatever I can and we'll see what happens.