Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Philippines	Wife's diet changed since coming to US	We're not in the US yet, but we've already started compromising with our tastes in food. I've learned to eat refried beans, black beans, burritos, tamales, and tacos from my husband's penchant for Tex Mex food. My husband has grown a love for noodle soups and stir fry Asian cooking	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-15 19:20:00
Philippines	Marriage in Phils	The affidavit in lieu of legal capacifty is the US Embassy's version of the needed requirement for foreigners to prove that they aren't currently married. Read this http://manila.usemba...v/marriage.html My husband did this process and he said it was literally just him swearing in front of a consul officer that he wasn't married. Everything you need to know is on that page.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-18 22:46:00
Philippines	Marriage Ceremony in The Phils after Civil Marriage in the US	I have no experience about that, but what I know is if already civilly married, the marriage certificate from NSO will suffice. Hence the need to report the marriage at a Philippine Consulate if not yet reported, which Apple21 stated already. The other Catholic-Church related requirements such as Baptismal Certificate, Confirmation Certificate, however, must still be provided. Plus sometimes, other churches have additional requirements which differ from the others. Your wife may also want to visit this site: http://www.weddingsatwork.com/ and consider joining the online community of Filipina brides (this is via Yahoogroups). I joined that community when I was preparing for our wedding. Members there are Filipinas (some are the groom though) from around the globe, getting married in the Philippines. While I was a member I encountered posts from other brides who were civilly married in the US sharing experiences about the process and the like. You can also get good recommendations about vendors and stuff in Cebu which could help you in your planning. Oh definitely have yoir wife join Weddings at Work yahoogroup the best resource for marrying in the Philippines! Having lived here for a long time the one thing that makes things happen is money. Go to the church, tell them that you are already married to each other and show them your marriage license. Tell them that you do not need any paperwork done and tell them how much money you would donate to the church for their time. If her family are members of the church have them go with you to talk with the priest. Dave01, throwing money at them is not necessary. Sad for you your spouse lives in such an area. Also, as long as you report your marriage abroad to nearest Philippine consulate, you are already recognized as married in the Philippines. No need for marriage license application and affidavit in lieu of certificate to marry from USEM. You have to check with the church you get married in though. They have their own specific requirements for a church wedding Good luck! Edited by ivyanddan, 24 January 2013 - 08:52 PM.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 20:50:00
Philippines	Bruno Mars Family Reunion	Wow. Thank you for sharing this. I haven't been to my country in half a year yet I already miss it so much sometimes. Hence, my thread on Filipino dishes I can make for my husband exists. Hahaha It was endearing to watch them spend time with people who have so much less. Makes you realize how much more you really have.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 21:31:00
Philippines	Please, I need advice bad, in God's name and his help!	No TB PCR?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 20:45:00
Philippines	Phil/Am Couples have you talked about having kids?	Actually I have a weird addition to this. As I think I've mentioned, my daughter is part Filipino - both her father and aunt are pretty obvious Filipino mixes especially when they tan, but my daughter looks a lot like my now Danish husband - she has fair skin, light eyes, and blond hair that is going brown. Her family is constantly comparing pictures of her and her cousin who looks a lot more Filipino and has darker skin and hair. They seem to prefer her looks, which I find a bit unsettling (they have huge pictures of her around their house). Always the fascination with what's different... i think that's the primary reason for this. I've also met this lady, whose husband is half-Filipino. However, their daughter looks a lot like this lady. Blond hair, blue eyes, Caucasian skin color. It was interesting to me as a medical professional... Brown eyes and dark hair usually occur in pairings like this. But, I guess you are lucky (if you see it that way) that she got your genes. I believe any relationship that is for the long term should come with an agreement on the issue of having children before marriage. My husband and I both want children. Definitely not right now, since we just married less than a year ago. We also want to completely know each other first before bringing in another human into our little family Edited by ivyanddan, 24 January 2013 - 07:57 PM.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 19:56:00
Philippines	NBI clearance question	Is a CEMAR required for CR-1 process? Or is this only for those who have been previously married?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-21 01:47:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	We missed that party, but always seems to be a Filipino party every weekend around here. This was a birthday party my wife, daughter and I attended Friday nite, It was self- catered and the lechon was tasty. If you lived here you'd never miss it, so much! Awww. That is just awesome! Hawaii, eh? Maybe my husband should look into moving there! Yeah the superbowl party will be more extreme than that. I went to a party here, and a ####### fight was the halftime show. Only thing that is hard to get now is bittier melon. Maybe Maui has some, coz it seem it is too cold on Kauai now for it to grow. Bitter melon! Haha... My husband is so not a fan. I thought all Americans didnt like it	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-28 07:46:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	I like some of the baked fish, but that's about it. I have tried just about all the Filipino dishes and don't really like anything. I can eat some, but rather just have a banana sandwich . Guess because of my Southern US appetite. Even the lechon baboy is bland compared to Southern hickory smoked BBQ pork. I can eat it after I make up some BBQ sauce, or get some buns and make some BBQ sandwiches. my husband is from Texas. But, his ultimate favorite kind of cuisine is Thai. The spicier, the better So, I guess he tolerates Asian food better. Hmmmm lechon baboy tastes different depends on where you are. Have you tried the scrumptious lechon from Cebu? Ahhhhh oh lechon, I miss you so much!!! Self-catered? Or did your wife act as head chef? Looks like an awesome party	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-27 20:51:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	You may also try Chicken Afritada. I cooked it last night and my husband loved it. He is also a great cook that's why it's my joy everytime he appreciates my recipe. Ah! We are the same. So far, I have cooked sinigang and tapsilog. And he has liked them. He was also pleasantly surprised with the pochero. I think i will be cooking more tomato-based stews in the future. what part of the chicken do you use for afritada? and nobody mentioned Halo-Halo.. (not that it's a dinner item) Haha! It can be... If you insist on it! Pansit, chopsuey, lenchon baboy, fresh fish/shrimp/crab is what I eat when I'm there. Not a big philippine food eater. Chop suey! Ah yes, I should learn that, too. Pansit might be too out there for my husband right now. I'm introducing the food with similarities to Spanish cooking first, hehe chicken/pork adobo!!! my favorite meal! Oh ours, too! You must try lamb adobo when you're in Manila then.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 19:48:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	the Asian markets sell the actual water spinach that is used in kangkong. you can even find some Chinese restaurants sell a similar dish. Ah I used bok choy and the regular spinach. We're in Japan, so that's prolly why I can't find kangkong Sadly, the nearest asian market is about 3 hours away. Small town living sometimes sucks. The husband and I both love kangkong (the vegetable, not the Filipino dish). Our favourite is a Thai-style stir-fry with garlic, yellow bean paste, small thai chillies and fish sauce. We make do with the spinach version in the US, but when we are back in Asia, we always eat way too much of the stuff to make up for it! Ah yes! Thai food is another cuisine I have yet to learn. Thailand is a very dear place for our romantic history. also, we afe fans of Thai food. Kaw pad gai and pad krapow... I miss those dishes! Lumpia shanghai and adobo are safe. I don't care that much for the greasier or sour dishes or any of the fish dishes. Husband used to just stick to lumpia and adobo. Try the tomato-based stews and sour soups. i've cooked sinigang and pochero and my husband loved them! Humba would be a great meat dish to make for him. Also if he enjoys spicy foods you can try Bicol Express, though you may not want to tell him about the bagoong (if he doesn't like seafood). If he does like seafood you can always make pinakbet. I love turon though you may not be able to get jackfruit in your area so you'll just have to make them out of bananas and lumpia wrappers. Personally I wish I could find a way to get more Filipino gulay, like malunggay. Oh yes, I actually wanna make pinakbet... Cause it's one of my favorites. But, I don't know if the bagoong in a bottle sold here is good enough. Do you guys use a specific bagoong brand? What are your recommendations? Bicol express... Hmmm that takes a lot of prepping, I think. Haha! Will do so when I'm in the mood to try very unfamiliar ground. Turon sounds awesome, too. Hmmmmm I am hungry now. Well the wife cooked chicken papaya with mulungay leaves inside. She was going to cook pinakbet, but no bitter melon. I think it gets a little to cold for the fruits to grow in the winter. We just have vines without fruit. But in the summer, we get too much. I have seen the kangkong grow wild here, but my wife does not eat it. I think she could cook sinigang, since it has been so cold lately. Ah yes! Cook sinigang or you can cook it for her! Would be such a lovely surprise.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-24 19:43:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	Have you guys ever tried pochero? http://panlasangpino.../07/10/pochero/ Do you think the husband can like it? He liked sinigang, adobo... But he hasn't tried meat stews like pochero, menudo, caledereta before. I'm really considering making this one of these days... Even tonight! Hahaha	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-21 19:36:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	This sounds delicious and I'm going to have to try it! I found a recipe for it online which sounds super easy. It appears we also have all the ingredients it calls for except for the pork. The USC husband seems slightly dubious about the recipe but we'll see. We already do a chicken adobo that we both enjoy so maybe he'll come around! I'll report back if and when we end up doing it. You will love it! The meat becomes sweeter than the usual adobo's meat. But, it's what makes humba absolutely delicious Chicken and pork adobo are favorites with me. My brother-in-law makes great pork adobo... Ah yes! My husband never leaves the Philippines without getting helpings of adobo. if you're ever in Manila, you should try this restaurant in Fort Bonifacio, Serendra called Abe. They make awesome lamb adobo! Almost forgot...siopao! I'm a sucker for some siopao. Ah! That takes cooking and kneading skills that I don't have. Hahaha! Although I have been dreaming of making siomai (our version of shrimp and pork dumplings)...	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-21 19:33:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	Maha Blanca and calderosa (SP??) Both very good in my mind. Bob Maybe you meant caldereta? Oooh yes! I miss that! kangkong, sinigang, giniling, sotanghon...so many tasty foods, but there's too many, high animal fat dishes. that stuff will kill ya. Haha! That's why I'm choosing ones which has lotsa veggies. Is there kangkong in the US or you guys substitute spinach? We have embutido quite often and my American tastebuds like that. Bangus relleno is good too, but probably quite time-consuming to make. You can't go wrong with the sisig or adobo. Americans like strong flavors so plenty of finger chilis and vinegar in whatever you serve will be appreciated - Bron (Makati/Utah) Thank you for the tip! I pretty much eat anything, but sometimes, I crave for Filipino cuisine. I wanna cook Pinoy but I don't wanna alienate my husband. So, thank you! i have been wanting to make embutido. Is what your wife makes the one with sausage and egg? My husband loves sisig and adobo in fact, he taught me how to make adobo! Haha Lots of great suggestions so far! One of my personal favorites that I haven't seen mentioned yet (unless I just missed it) is humba. I fell in love with it the first time I went to the phils, and when my wife (at that time fiancee) told me she knew how to make it, I was ecstatic. She makes it pretty regularly. Oh yes, humba!! Your wife must be from the Visayas then. I hope I can find ingredients here. I loved eating it back home cause that's how my mom knows how to make it... Not the classic adobo style.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-21 19:28:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	Chicken feet, chicken intestines, chicken head? Balut? actually, I refused to try any of these in Phil.. lol.. I'm Filipino, but I refuse to eat balut. Now, chicken feet & intestines... You're missing out!	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-20 09:46:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	I really liked sisig. It was the first filipino dish I tried. I really like Sisig too, and I'm glad I ate it several times before I read the menu and realized it's made with chopped up chicken liver and pigs ears! Ah yes, my husband loves sisig. He has it whenever he's in my country. Haha! I have learned to never tell an American what's in their Filipino dish before they eat it. But, it is very yummy, isn't it? Ahh makes me want one now I've liked just about everything as long as there's no seafood or liver in it. My favs being adobo and sinigang. Not a big fan of the Filipino desserts though. Thank you! Hmmm what dont you like about desserts? Maybe the rice cakes are not for you? You should ask your wife about halo halo, leche flan and pichi pichi my wife loves the kare kare or as she calls it here, care care.. in fact, she's already perfected cooking it herself.. Wow. I'm glad she did. Wish I can be someday have her skill level	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-19 19:48:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	Fried tilapia and chocolate meat (dinuguan) lol we tell the kids it's adobo Oh no! Haha! I've told my husband we have a dish from pig's blood and he doesn't want to ever try it! Hahaha Good for your kids though Leche flan! Yay! Yes, we love leche flan. We even tried making pumpkin leche flan for Christmas The kind my sis-in-law makes...lol. think it's with pork. Haha! Did it have thin noodles? I don't think my husband has tried pansit. Did you guys consider it a main entree? Pusit Kinilaw 'spicy' Aww. I do looove that dish a lot. But, my husband is really not into raw meat except if it's sushi/sashimi. Maybe if I sell the spiciness dish to him... Hmmm My friend was the one who made the bopis and I think she got the meat (pig's lungs and heart) from H-Mart in Chicago. It is really a tough meat to find so a butcher shop might be the best place to go for that kind of meat. Thank you! I might visit a Japanese butcher shop one of these days then I have mostly an american palate. The things I most enjoy in pinoy food are adobo, bistek tagalog, menudo (without liver), nilaga, and everyone's favorite lumpia. I like filipino food, but don't really want it every day. But those things I've listed come closest to what I would think most americans would like. Oh cool! Thanks for commenting! some of those are dishes I have been considering making, too.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-19 19:44:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	These are some of the dishes my husband and my friends' hubbies like as well -sopas, puto,afritada,giniling, tinola, empanada,siopao, bopis, kare kare, bistek, chopsuey, macaroni salad, cassava cake, lugaw you may also want to check this site out for more pinoy dishes, the cook here is a pinoy living in the US too - http://panlasangpinoy.com/ Wow! That's so good to know. My husband has only really tried adobo, sisig, lumpia and kare kare when we were in Manila a few times. He said he liked the sinigang I made... Wth the recipe from the panlasangpinoy site! Yey! Curious, what sort of meat did you use for the bopis? I had wanted to try making pork sisig but I can't find the meat for it	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-19 01:17:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	I love panset! (I don't know if I spelled that right...) It's spelled pancit or pansit but yey, i'm glad to hear that cause I was thinking of making pansit tomorrow! Which kind do you like?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-19 01:14:00
Philippines	Favorite Filipino food/dishes	Hello everyone! My husband is a great cook I've actually taken a liking to tamales, bean salads, etc, that he had grown up with, coming from Texas. He has also learned how to cook adobo, leche flan, and fried lumpia for me. I must admit I am a newbie compared to him in the kitchen. I really want him to try more Filipino dishes. But, I also need to learn how to cook them. haha! I've already made pork sinigang and he seems to have liked it. What other Filipino food/dishes do you think Americans are more likely to eat? (And please, no dog meat jokes, hehe) Edited by ivyanddan, 19 January 2013 - 12:17 AM.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-19 00:16:00
Philippines	Getting Married in Philippines	Artisan, that's a funny story! I wish I had the tenacity of your wife in these negotiations. Jon and Sol, the only times my husband and I have been ripped off was by those taxis at the airport. Everything went smoothly when we got married in Manila.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-18 21:07:00
Philippines	Getting Married in Philippines	They all have great answers to your questions. I'm Filipino. We got married in Manila. While I can tell you alll about how we got married... The best resource for all this is your fiancee's city or town hall where you will apply for marriage license and for certificate, etc. Visajourney isn't the place for that. Tell your fiancee NOW to ask ALL your questions in the Philippines, where she lives. Not to burst your bubble, but everything in the Philippines can delay your timeline if you don't research on the process well. Engage her in all your planning. Work your May 3rd schedule into it, of course. Edited by ivyanddan, 15 January 2013 - 01:26 AM.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-15 01:25:00
Philippines	Worse Case Scenario	Ivy...yea, the I-864 is something that a good lawyer could probably tear through, but precedents have been set, so unless you have a shark lawyer who knows the judge really well, it could be a nightmare and it definitely could be appealed up to the Supreme Court even. Having weighed everything, I am not worried about it anymore and plan to marry in the Phils. We're making our pig plans now...lol...how many pigs to buy? It's good to be worrying about these types of things instead of the shackles of laws. Thanks for your input... Don't forget about buying cows to roast, too Artificial contraception was a hot topic for almost a decade and have only recently been nationally passed into law. Divorce in the Philippines... I will be shocked if it will happen before I have grandkids. Tsk tsk Edited by ivyanddan, 16 January 2013 - 10:01 AM.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-16 10:00:00
Philippines	Worse Case Scenario	Yea, that is one thing I value regarding Enlightenment thinking and that is separation of church and state. I respect others religious opinions to the point where it impacts me personally. I feared it would directly impact me and that was the cause for concern. Your overthinking reminded me a lot of my husband's thoughts and concerns before we got married, hahaha! Ours was a different issue, but I actually admire you for being able to say what you're really thinking. I suggest you focus on the facts at hand. If you find out (as you already are doing) that you can't easily be out of a marriage if it was in the Philippines, will that actually matter on whether you marry your fiancee or not? If it's very important to you that you can still get divorced, strive to apply for a K-1 visa then. Just don't tell your fiancee that that is your primary reason for pursuing K-1. I must admit women are overly dramatic sometimes *guilty* As for bastards, well, I used the term because my girl friend's ex husband was a substance-addicted, irresponsible #######. However, for the women, it wasn't so much as them being money grabbers, they were, surprise surprise, philanderers. :-/	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-15 19:34:00
Philippines	Worse Case Scenario	I'm Filipino. We got married in the Philippines. Divorce is not existent in the Philippines. You can annul if you have to. But it costs a lot, according to some friends who had the misfortune of being married to bastards. I think you may have this assumption that going the CR-1 visa route does not require you to have as much money as a sponsor in a K-1 visa route. That assumption is wrong. Either route, you have to prove you can support your fiancee/wife.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-15 01:18:00
Philippines	Advanced Endorsement of Marriage Contract/ Certificate to NSO	Better yet, when they ask for the money, ask for a receipt... no receipt ... no money.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-07 10:57:00
Philippines	Advanced Endorsement of Marriage Contract/ Certificate to NSO	Okey you will file your marriage license and marriage certificate on your local civil registry ( it is where which bride or groom live ) then the local civil regisrty will forward the marriage certificate to the main NSO office in quezon city. **** mine was done in local civil registry in my home town in pampanga then forwarded in NSO main ********* This gives me a lot of hope. I don't want to be away from my love any longer. Thank you soooo much!	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-06 22:34:00
Philippines	Advanced Endorsement of Marriage Contract/ Certificate to NSO	^ That's great to hear. Which local registrar and which NSO office did you file with? 2,500 sounds like a lot. But I think it's a small price to pay compared with me getting all these documents done through Phil embassies abroad	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-06 20:15:00
Philippines	Advanced Endorsement of Marriage Contract/ Certificate to NSO	Response about my query, please?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-06 19:53:00
Philippines	Advanced Endorsement of Marriage Contract/ Certificate to NSO	We're getting married this month. And I wanted to get a new passport with my married name before I fly to be with him (non-US country at the moment). I've tried searching for updated information on this... even went on the NSO website. BUT, I never read anything that gave me enough information. I was hoping VJ members can help. What is the step-by-step process for having advanced endorsement of our marriage contract to NSO? We will be getting married in Manila, so I was hoping this can be done at least a month after our wedding.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-06 12:38:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	hi. how are you? i just confusing about the marriage certificate in the philippines. did you submit your I-130 with marriafe certificate from nso or from the local registrar? because im about to start my I-130 form and all the requirements. getting married soon and after the marriage my soon to be hubby want to send the application as soon as possible. hope you can help me,.. thank you We submitted our I-130 petition half a year after we married. So, we just sent in the NSO certified marriage certificate. However, according to people on here, you can send in the local civil registrar's certified copy of the marriage certificate. Maybe ask if you can have it in SECPA (security paper) but I think a certified copy one is also okay. Just make sure you have the NSO certified one when you are at the interview stage. This is what I got from researching on here. I hope others can chime in. My experience was a bit different.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2013-01-30 06:32:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	Just got back from Taguig City last month. Bonifacio High Street offers extensive options for great food. As for the athletic equipment shops, better luck finding what you need for races/meets in shops in Hong Kong or Singapore.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 21:43:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	Palo (Leyte) Municipal Hall and Tacloban City branch. I don't know if it works the same in Manila. I see. I do hope Manila works the same way, specifically Taguig City.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 19:22:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	My suggestion here is.. 1.) start with identification cards to change into married name. - postal ID (requirements: marriage certificate, barangay clearance and CEDULA/community tax cert, 2x2 photo ID) -PhilHealth (requirements: marriage certificate or MC nso copy, valid ID like postal the fill up membership form) then submit pay contribution like for 2 months.. then they can issue your Philhealth ID. as for NBI not sure if they accept Local Registrar Marriage Cert. if yes then you can comply NBI clearance with married name. just bring 2 valid ID. Thank you so much! Postal ID & Philhealth require only local registrar copies? Can they be photocopies, too?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 13:42:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	We did not get the red ribbon. Just a copy of what the registrar provides you. We had no RFE either. Marry Sep 29th. Sent in I-130 on 10/2. We could have sent it on 9/29 but we had to enjoy sometime to ourselves. Thanks for that info! Husband-to-be can send the petition as soon as he goes back home! Awesome! Now, just gonna concentrate on getting married... oh and searching for all those Western Union receipts, boarding passes, airline itineraries, pictures...	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 13:14:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	We sent in a photocopy of the Registar signed copy (NOT NSO).... With the I130... Then submitted the NSO certified copy during the NVC process. No RFEs... Regards, dc A second vote of experience with the registrar-signed copy! This is really great news! Did you have it red ribboned with DFA?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 12:47:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	In our case, we were given an "endorsement letter" by the local registrar to expedite our Marriage Certificate. We received our NSO copy a week later. Wow! That is fast!!! What municipality/local registrar? Which NSO branch also? as per advisory: TRAVEL agencies are assailing the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) directive informing them that they can no longer handle the processing of passports by the end of June 2012. meaning you need to go to DFA regional office to process your passport, they will capture your picture right from there (no need of passport size picture)and signature as well. and if you want to expedite your MC NSO authenticated, all you need to ask a little help from the secretary or official where you request your Marriage License, ask on how to expedite your MC to have an NSO copy and tell the reason that your going to use it for travel purpose asap. just don't get fooled by some other officials cuz they might rob you off..and when at NSO already all you need to do is submit request of endorsement at NSO customer care and they will process. Thank you so much for this. Sadly, corruption is still rampant in gov't offices. I hope I don't encounter one of those corrupt people as a roadblock to our plans Getting back to the orignal question. You can send in the local registrar-certified certficite. Send it in as a photo copy. This way you can start the I-130 right away. We did that. We also asked to have things expidited as others suggest. You will to do that to ensure that you have the NSO version for the USEM Intervew. good luck Awesome! Did you send anything else? Did you have it red-ribboned by the DFA? As what my husband is doing when it comes to documents from the Philippines, just go to Philippine Embassy (wherever you are) and have it notarize and sealed with red ribbon. then you can start your thing. Is this an advice to red ribbon the civil registrar-stamped copy? Yup,it's based in Manila. Its Juliatos travel and tours located in ortigas. But waht my wife did is email all tmhe requirements and pay thru their bank account and she met up with them at DFA on the day of her apperance. She told me that it's hassle free. She only took 30 minutes inside DFA. Yeah! Too bad. Looks like I will have to contend with another one of em long queues. Thank you all so much for answering. We've already been away from each other long enough. Hopefully, getting everything right the first time will make that wait a lot shorter.	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 12:45:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	She just renew her passport last june 11,2012. I advice you to get a agency for faster transaction. It will only take you 10-15working days to get you new passport. And less hassle! She's now starting to fix her NBI and she's done. good luck on you journey! Can you advise the name of the agency? Is she based in Manila?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 12:04:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	My wife got her Marriage certificate NSO copy after 3weeks. She expidite all our papers and you have to change all you IDs right after you get married. That's very important so that you wouldn't uave any problem in time of you visa process. Did she also renew her passport right away?	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 11:50:00
Philippines	I-130 petition: Do we need NSO marriage certificate?	You really need the marriage certificate from NSO because the embassy and immigration will be needing the one with the Barcode. You can request from you local civil registry to help you and expedite you marriage certificate copy fom NSO. Oh gee. NSO seems to take eons to make the electronic scans of new registrations Sigh. I am planning to expedite our copy. I hope it will really be done in 1-2 months. I don't want to be separated from him again for such a long time. Thanks for answering, kennypal!	ivyanddan	Female	Japan	2012-06-14 10:57:00