When Davin and I were planning our wedding, we were on a really tight budget. Looking back, one of the things that made our wedding costly was the fact that I was marrying a foreigner. Years into the marriage, there are still some incidences wherein I realize that marrying a non-Filipino is really costly.
Requirements depend on a nationality you’re marrying
To be honest, doing the paperwork was one of the most unromantic things I’ve had to do when we were planning the wedding. On top of that, we were serving as missionary teachers in a remote area of Luzon. We had classes to teach scheduled everyday for two months, three weeks before the wedding. Not only that, but we had to travel in a bus for 12 hours, six times during those two months in the mission field just to make sure the paperwork was all intact come wedding day. It was really nerve-wracking.
There’s a whole lot of websites offering information regarding the requirements to follow when getting married to a Filipino national in the Philippines. But there’s other extra stuff you need to do if you’re marrying a foreigner. And then a whole lot of other stuff if you’re marrying a Jamaican national.
How do I know this? Well, when I checked the requirements for American or Canadian citizens against the Jamaican citizens, I knew was in for a lot more paperwork than the usual. Simply put, more paperwork means more fees.
Beware of those reverends who have home offices located at the back of the city hall
One of the requirements we had to do before getting married was book an appointment with one of these reverends recommended by the city hall marriage official (that’s not what his position was called, but after a series of referrals to different offices, his advice made the most sense). We needed some sort of paper to let the consulate general of Jamaica know that this was legit and not some marriage scam, hence we need the favor of this
particular reverend.
We got there and we were asked to be in the “waiting room”, where we had ample time to observe his dog being fed, his neighbors singing some karaoke, a lady fanning some chicken innards being cooked on the grill, and a few curious ones who popped their heads in to greet Davin with a friendly, “Hey, Joe!” or “Hey, Kobe!”
As we were interviewed, I noticed he was keen on finding out about how we met and what we do for a living. At the end of the interview, he charged us Php10,000 (around $250). We were surprised. But according to him it was his flat rate. That no one else charges that low. We weren’t sold out to that so we bargained, trying to see if it was really a “flat rate” price. We pulled the “we-are-missionaries-we-don’t-make-a-lot-of-money” pitch on him, and he lowered it to Php 8,000… No more, no less.
As we were waiting for a receipt (which he said wasn’t really the receipt, but the real receipt was to be given in ten days, but that it will do for now), another couple was ushered in. An American guy, probably in his 70s and a really young Filipina, in her 20s.
We heard enough to know that this guy has some sort of hearing problem, but he has a lot of money, and that he needs to marry her really soon, like in two weeks.
A different rate for foreigners marrying Filipinos
We were to come back to the city hall after ten days and bring that “sort of receipt” from the reverend. We were then informed that we had to sit through a marriage counseling session before we get the papers we needed.
We were ushered into this big air-conditioned, amphitheater style room, where we saw other to-be-wed couples. We saw the same couple we met in our interview who sat close to us that afternoon.
As we were waiting for the marriage counselor, one Filipina asked another couple how much the reverend charged them. After awhile, couples were sharing how much they were charged.
Summary is those Filipinos marrying Filipinos were charged Php2,000 (around $22 USD) and the Filipinos marrying foreigners were charged Php 8,000-15,000 (around $200-$300 USD)
The old American guy was charged the “full price”.
Wow. How did they come up with that price?
Shopping with foreigners is always priced higher
Anyway, after our awesome “missionary” wedding, we fell into the more domesticated responsibilities of life. One of which is to go to the market and buy food.
Well, here’s a piece of advice: Never bring a foreigner with you when shopping. Prices are always higher than the usual.
For awhile, our tactic was this: Davin pretends he’s not with me, but he is within earshot of my conversation with the vendors. Once I get the price I wanted, he comes to the rescue to carry the stuff for me.
Of course, that always did not work. These vendors are smart, you know.
So we resorted to Davin learning the language and befriending vendors, and buying from the same vendors all the time. Most of the times it works, but it came with a cost of really getting out of our comfort zones if we wanted the price that was out of the vendor’s comfort zone.
Staying in the Philippines for more than 30 days comes with a cost
For Davin’s nationality, he was allowed to stay in the Philippines for 30 days without paying for anything. Anything beyond that will cost him.
How much? The first extension was Php 8,000 (around $200 USD). Sixty days later, we paid Php 4,000 (around $100 USD). The next 60 days later, we paid a little over Php 2,000 (around $50 USD). And for the rest of the year, we had to faithfully report at the immigration office every 60 days to pay for these extensions that always differ from the last time.
For us this was so expensive because $100 USD can feed us for a whole month and many other students.
On top of that, these extensions are not forever, either. After a year and a half of extending, he has to leave the country for at least 30 days, and then he can re-enter. As a Jamaican national, he can enter several Asian countries without a visa. We chose to go to Thailand because I knew more people there who can accommodate us. However, we found out later that he needed to apply for a tourist visa to enter this country.
Going with Davin meant paying for two round tickets from Philippines to Thailand. More expensive, yeah?
Well, it was. But one immigration officer gave us this valuable tip: If the foreigner is entering the Philippines with his or her Filipino spouse (who should also be a Filipino citizen), he or she gets to have a Balikbayan visa.
This meant Davin can stay in the country for a year without having to pay for those two-month extensions.
Of course there are other ways to get out of this mess
Like applying for a dual citizenship, or permanent residence. But frankly, we just never really bothered because it required showing a bank account that had lots of money in it, which we didn’t have.
So the best way really is this: If you’re a Filipino and you want to stay in the Philippines and you want a cost effective marriage? Marry a Filipino! 🙂
Or make sure to marry a financially-endowed foreigner, because as I have learned, foreigners does not always mean dollars. 😉
Truth be told, I don’t regret it.
This is the take-away: It was worth all those money to have Davin stay in the Philippines.
Why? Because we were able to minister to a lot of people who are so humble and open to the truth unlike we’ve seen in many other countries. The field is ripe for harvest in the Philippines!
That to me is worth all the price of extensions and trips we have to make just to reach the Filipinos.
How about you, do you have similar experiences? Let me know your story by leaving a comment below!
